Quogue Junior Ambassadors POV
Junior Ambassadors: Teagan, Ellie, Helen, Lake, and Chase plant spat-on-shell oysters in the bay after documenting and counting the individual oysters on each shell.
This summer, local teens, Teagan Lynch and Oggie Leness, who participated last year in our inaugural cohort of Quogue Junior Ambassadors, have taken a leadership role in recruiting and organizing this year’s group of volunteers, who will be helping to deploy SOS oysters, and spread awareness of this important work. Here, they recount their experience:
“Hi, I’m Teagan — one of the Junior Ambassadors for the Quogue Stewardship Program. This is my second year volunteering with the Back to the Bays initiative. I enjoyed the experience so much last summer that this year, I stepped into a leadership role as a Lead Junior Ambassador!
The program brings together students who care about the environment and gives us the tools to make a real difference. From cleaning up shorelines to educating the community, we’re trained to be both stewards and spokespeople for the bay and its ecosystems.
This summer started off strong with our orientation, where we met our new crew and learned about the season’s goals. One of the highlights that day was participating in a Seahorse Stewardship session, which was both educational and hands-on — we even built seahorse hotels!
My favorite day so far has been the Reef Planting. We got our hands dirty counting oysters and placing spat-on-shell oysters into the reef. These reefs help filter the water, support marine life, and strengthen our coastlines. One of the coolest moments was seeing how much the oysters we planted last summer had grown — it was a full-circle experience!
Jr. Ambassadors Ellie (left) and Eliza (right) representing Back to the Bays at the Quogue Village Beach Party, offering shell painting and spreading awareness of our important work.
Another part of the program I’ve really enjoyed is connecting with new people and spreading awareness about what we do. A lot of people don’t realize how important oyster reefs are to the health of our bays — it’s amazing to see their interest spark when they learn more.
Being a Junior Ambassador is more than just a title. It means being part of a community that cares deeply about our environment. We don’t just talk about change — we’re out here making it happen.”
~ Teagan Lynch
Oggie Leness, Co-lead Quogue Jr. Ambassador for Back to the Bays
“The Back to the Bays Quogue Ambassadors Program has been amazing for me the past two years. I joined it after a family friend had recommended it to me. It really became interesting to me when I started to learn more about the program and realize all the good work it does for the bays I've grown up boating and swimming in. An event I remember especially is the oyster deployment that a bunch of my friends and I helped with last year, as restoring our oyster population is one of the most important steps in cleaning up the bays.”
~ Oggie Leness
We are incredibly grateful for the help we receive from our Quogue Junior Ambassadors and are proud to have such dedicated young people working with our team at Back to the Bays. Special thanks to our supporters for fostering this partnership!
