Severna Park Native Honored With Environmental Award

I can bring over a piece of line and teach a simple knot to a kid, and they get it, and then I see that spark too. A little nautical knot is going to now empower a kid to feel like, ‘Hey, I can do this. I can have fun and be outside.’”

Bryan Gomes

When Bryan Gomes accepted the 2022 Jan Hollmann Environmental Education Award on September 27 at the Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center in Millersville, it was a full-circle moment for the Severna Park native.

Gomes recalled a visit to the same outdoor center on a field trip in elementary school. It was a visit that he describes as a powerful experience.

“I’m accepting an award at a place that kind of made me realize how fascinating and engaging spending time in nature is,” Gomes said.

Gomes has spent the last four years as the education coordinator at ClearShark H2O, a Hanover-based environmental nonprofit whose mission is to provide hands-on programs designed to enhance students with a passion and understanding of Maryland's waterways. Prior to that, Gomes worked at the Oyster Recovery Partnership, where he helped establish the Shell Recycling Alliance.

It’s his work with Anne Arundel County students, along with his more than 20 years of environmental advocacy, that spearheaded his nomination for the annual Jan Hollmann Environmental Education Award. Gomes became the 28th recipient of the award, which recognizes an individual or organization that has been especially effective in achieving environmental education in Anne Arundel County.

Michelle Weisgerber, a 2017 recipient of the Jan Hollmann award, worked with Gomes when she was the signature program facilitator at Broadneck High School.

“Bryan’s longstanding commitment to environmental education is commendable and makes him stand apart,” said Weisgerber, who is on the committee for the award. “He put himself on the map with his work with oyster restoration and has continually educated himself on the environmental issues we face both locally and globally.”

Gomes’ love of the outdoors didn’t come from the classroom. He has undergraduate degrees in psychology and marketing and a master’s degree in education.

“My science is all osmosis,” Gomes said.

But it was also family, especially his late mother and his uncle, who inspired Gomes to appreciate nature. Gomes even calls his mom’s older brother, his uncle George Gavutis Jr., his “outdoor idol.”

So it was a rewarding moment for Gomes to have his uncle, who is now retired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, come from his 22 acres in New Hampshire, where Gavutis Jr. taps his own maple sugar trees, to introduce Gomes at the ceremony.

“All his family and associates are very proud of him and all he has accomplished, especially in the pursuit of environmental education and his work on oyster restoration,” said Gavutis Jr. “I know he has positively influenced innumerable young lives during his outstanding career.”

Gomes’ work with area students, where he averages about a dozen educational programs a month for elementary to high school age kids, focuses on various topics such as the importance of oysters, the natural history of the Chesapeake Bay, and carbon emissions and plastic pollution in waterways.

“I know that every time I work with a kid, that I’m making a difference in their life,” Gomes said.

He admits that he sometimes sees a bit of himself in the students when he notices that spark in their eyes. But he feels even more passionate when he sees the disengaged child, and he thrives on working to show them that nature is fun.

“I can bring over a piece of line and teach a simple knot to a kid, and they get it, and then I see that spark too,” said Gomes, describing the self-confidence boost that he observes. “A little nautical knot is going to now empower a kid to feel like, ‘Hey, I can do this. I can have fun and be outside.’”

During the winter months, Gomes does a presentation for environmental groups in Ocean City, where he centers the talk around “getting comfortable being uncomfortable in the great outdoors.” It’s also a mantra that he believes is important for both students and teachers to take to heart.

From Gomes’ high school days as being a self-described “pond rat” to college breaks spent lifeguarding at the Olde Severna Park beach, where he recalls seeing children catching soft-shell crabs and squealing with delight, his outdoor adventures haven’t stopped in his adult years. Gomes has since thru-hiked the entire Appalachian Trail, which runs from Georgia to Maine. He’s kayaked the entirety of the Chesapeake Bay from Havre de Grace, Maryland, to Virginia Beach. Gomes has also spent time in New Zealand, learning about aquaculture and sustainable resource management, and the Galapagos, learning about Darwin’s studies of evolution and the island’s biodiversity.

“I think everyone needs to find a personal space outside where they can go when they’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed,” said Gomes, emphasizing the unique nature that the Chesapeake region offers. “You can’t drive more than 10 minutes in this county without going over a bridge, a creek or a stream.”

The connected waterways theme is an important thing that Gomes shares with students in the classroom environment as well. It’s the same kind of connection that led Gomes from a wide-eyed child learning about nature at a local outdoor center to years later accepting an environmental award at the same location.

“It was a pleasant surprise, and I’m definitely honored and humbled by that award,” Gomes said.