150 high schoolers from four counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore are ready to take action—now or in their future careers—to protect our local environment. The riverkeeper organization ShoreRivers held its annual Upper Shore Youth Environmental Action Summit on Thursday, arming students with a new network of organizations they can get involved with, inspiration from student leaders before them, and examples of out-of-the-box environmental careers.

The students came from counties that include miles and miles of Chesapeake Bay shoreline, like Kent, Talbot, Dorchester, and Caroline. Their everyday lives are tied to the Bay, and many came to the summit, held at Chesapeake College in Wye Mills, looking for ways to make a difference.

A wide range of workshops were offered to show students specific career paths or actions they could take. At “Planting with Purpose: The Power of Native Plants,” students were taught how turf lawns, making up more than 1 million acres in Maryland, aren’t doing anything for the environment. Replacing them with native plants would encourage birds and bugs for a healthier ecosystem, they learned.

At the “Scientific SCUBA Diver” workshop, a real-life diver demonstrated how difficult it is to study oysters in low-visibility waterways like the Chesapeake Bay. Students were blindfolded and asked to grope around on the ground to find oyster shells among debris and trash.

Outside in a field, the “Sniffing Out Success” workshop featured an adorable German short-haired pointer who is trained to sniff out invasive species like the large rodent nutria, as well as rare plants like the small whorled pogonia, which is federally listed as threatened. The working dog and his handler, Trevor Michaels of USDA Wildlife Services based in Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, demonstrated their tracking technique (and made time for the students to reward the dog with belly rubs).

USDA, ShoreRivers, The Maryland Park Service, and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Horn Point Lab were among the agencies, organizations, and companies who made themselves available for students to network with.

At a career panel, interesting environmental jobs were on full display. Nancy Morales represented Defensores de la Cuenca, Spanish for Watershed Defenders. Sustainable organic vegetable farmer Andrea Davis-Cetina was there from Quarter Acre Farm in Greensboro, Maryland. Greg Brown, the owner of Baltimore vegan soul food restaurant Land of Kush, was there representing the nonprofit Black Veg Society. Andrea Garcia, an environmental literacy specialist from the Maryland Coastal Bays Program, writes environmental curriculum and works with students on what their career path might look like.

The student participants we spoke with were all enthusiastic about the environment, but some see it as a direction for their career path, while others just want to get involved in their communities. Ava, a Kent County High student, plans to major in marine and environmental science. She attended the summit for its inspiration and connections. Lucy, a student at Colonel Richardson High School in Caroline County, says the environment won’t be her chosen career path, but sees it as a fun hobby. “So many resources are accessible here,” she tells us.

ShoreRivers communications director Bethany Ziegler also emphasizes that the youth summit isn’t only about showing students possible career paths for years down the road. “Students can find opportunities they can do right now, volunteer work or internships.”

The keynote speaker at the summit was James “Porkchop” Ronayne, a Bay storyteller and photographer for Chesapeake Bay Magazine, environmental science major at Cornell University, advocate, and oyster grower who tackled numerous Bay causes before he even graduated high school. He capitalized on opportunities as a young person, beginning with engaging his waterfront neighbors to raise baby oysters in cages, and making a name for himself on his home-restored yellow skiff, F/V Porkchop. His high school activism ranged from an internship with Coastal Conservation Association’s Maryland Chapter to leading oyster reef-building events and lobbying for protected oyster sanctuaries at the state level.

Ronayne told the students, many of whom are only a year younger than he is, not to wait to engage with environmental causes. He encouraged students to “start telling the story of the environment” by talking to new people, saying yes to experiences, being curious, and sharing what you learn.

Patty Dongarra, an Easton High School senior and one of the student leaders who helped organize the summit, underscored the main message of the event as she addressed her peers: “There is something everyone here can do to save the Earth.”