Reflecting on our Oyster Restoration Symposium

By Liv Woods, Executive Director

It was about halfway through our symposium last week. The breakout sessions were over and I was futilely trying to get everyone’s attention to tell them time was up. I clapped and raised my voice but everyone was too busy talking and working together. I needed them to stop so we could go on to the next phase, but then it struck me: this was what I wanted. People from oyster restoration groups from across the country talking and engaging over shared issues and challenges.

Our 2024 Oyster Restoration Symposium attracted more than 50 people representing 20 organizations from across 10 states. We spent the day at the New England Aquarium hearing talks, working in groups, and breaking down the silos we all work in every day.

Right from the beginning, we acknowledged the gaps that existed in the work that is happening. Dr. Rachel Smith from UC Santa Barbara delivered an awesome keynote about her research into shellfish restoration work. She highlighted gaps that exist in the way we work, in particular how we approach monitoring / metrics and approaches to education. But people didn’t take this as frustrating. It was inspiring that there is still so much we can do! But it will only happen if we work together, like setting up standard metrics for restoration monitoring or applying for joint grants.

Our breakout sessions focused on Research and Monitoring, Building Capacity, Community Engagement through Citizen Science, Finding Funding Opportunities, Partnering with Local Governments. One of my biggest fears was that more established organizations wouldn’t find the conversation helpful. What does a multi-million dollar organization like Maryland’s Oyster Recovery Partnership have to learn from us? But throughout the day attendees from groups big and small pulled me aside to share with me some small tidbit or strategy they hadn’t thought about before. As we wrapped up, I could tell everyone was enthusiastic to build on what we were doing.

Two months after I started at Mass Oyster Project, I was on a site visit in Wellfleet with one of our partners, 11th hour racing. We reviewed our success getting the season’s shell recycling set up. As we walked back to the car, they asked me what’s next. I was still getting my feet under me, but I said, “there needs to be more collaboration and conversations.” They said immediately they would support something like that.

A year and a half later, I led off the symposium on the same note: “Success today is about making connections, learning best practices, starting relationships, building on the good work already happening and collectively being better together.” It wouldn’t have been possible without 11th hour’s support as well as the work and enthusiasm of all our attendees. This is just the beginning. I’m hoping we can continue to build off of this effort, bringing in more organizations from across the country for the next Oyster Restoration Symposium.

I also can’t write anything without thanking the teams at Conservancy and The New England Aquarium. They played a huge role in making the event such a success.