In Friends of the Bay’s newsletter, Currents, Christine Suter, the new executive director, introduced herself:
“Greetings everyone. I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Christine Suter and I am proud to be the new executive director of Friends of the Bay.
Many of you already know me but for those of you who don’t, allow me to provide you with a little bit of background about myself.
I have always been a nature lover, especially anything marine science related. I was born and raised in Huntington and grew up swimming in Long Island Sound and the bays and harbors surrounding my hometown. My passion for marine conservation ultimately led me to earn a Master’s degree in Marine Conservation and Policy from Stony Brook University in 2020. Upon graduating, it was my goal to work for an environmental nonprofit, specifically a local one. I have always been driven to preserve and protect the environment where I live.
Oyster Bay has always been a familiar place to me. My grandparents lived in Bayville and I spent many days of my youth visiting them. Every trip to their house during the summer included a stop at Bonanza’s for an Italian ice.
In September of 2021 I started working for Friends of the Bay as the program coordinator and during the summer of 2022 I moved to Oyster Bay. In 2023 I became the assistant director and in February of this year I was named executive director.
Now that I am a full-time resident of Oyster Bay, it is truly an honor and a privilege for me to be at the helm of an organization whose mission is to preserve, protect and restore this beautiful bay and estuary that we call home.
I have enjoyed many aspects of working for Friends of the Bay, but I have especially enjoyed my time conducting water-quality monitoring on the bay, collaborating with other environmental organizations and engaging with the public while coordinating beach cleanups and giving presentations.
It is an auspicious time for me to be assuming the role as executive director as this is a particularly exciting time for our organization and for Oyster Bay. The Town of Oyster Bay is going to be building a new oyster and clam hatchery and the prospect of establishing new oyster spawner sanctuaries is on the horizon. This year we are going to be collaborating with numerous organizations and institutions including the Town of Oyster Bay Department of Environmental Resources, Stony Brook University School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, The Nature Conservancy and Pew Charitable Trusts to support projects that are geared toward water-quality improvement and restoring oyster populations in the bay.
One of my personal goals as executive director is to develop more programs geared toward citizen science and educating the public about our local environment. We have a large volunteer base and I would like to include more of our volunteers and members in our advocacy and conservation efforts. I find that the more people learn about their environment and become engaged with it, the more invested they will become in protecting it. I’m excited to continue working with members of our community to preserve and protect our beautiful bay and watershed.”
—Submitted by Friends of the Bay
