Riley Plank grew up in Sarasota fishing, boating and spending as much time on the water as he could. He says he started fishing before he could walk, and as he got older, that time outdoors fed an interest in understanding the natural systems around him.
By the time he reached Sarasota High School, that interest became action. In the spring of 2021, while still a high school student, Riley joined Sarasota Bay Watch as a volunteer. He helped with clam releases and other projects, then became part of the Youth Leadership Program. The experience that stayed with him most came at Jim Neville Preserve, where Riley and other Youth Leaders joined the restoration work during the project’s early stages.
Riley remembers then Executive Director John Ryan talking with the group about what it meant to restore the island. He told them their work would have a lasting impact on the preserve and that years later, they could come back and see the results.
“From time to time, I’ll visit the area to check on the project’s progress, and it never ceases to amaze me how incredible it was to be a part of something so grand,” Riley said.
Sarasota Bay Watch was not Riley’s only exposure to environmental work during high school. In 2022, he volunteered with Sarasota High’s Sailor Bay Club on an invasive plant removal project. As a senior, he and fellow student Tyler Isaacson developed a science project examining antifouling paint formulations, work that received recognition at the 2023 State Science and Engineering Fair of Florida.
After graduating from Sarasota High in 2023, Riley enrolled at Florida Gulf Coast University and studied environmental studies with a concentration in water resources. His coursework and research took him deeper into the science behind many of the issues he had encountered outdoors, including freshwater and estuarine dynamics, nutrient fluctuations, coliform and algae.
He also stayed connected to Sarasota Bay Watch. While at FGCU, he brought other college students to Jim Neville Preserve because he wanted them to experience the work for themselves.
“I wanted the people around me, whether at college, in my circle of friends, or anyone interested, to see what drives me, to see why we do these things,” he said.
At FGCU, Riley became president of the university’s student chapter of the American Water Resources Association, where he gained experience with surface water monitoring, field methods and data analysis, work that aligned with his focus on water resources. In 2025, the Florida section of AWRA named him a recipient of its William V. Storch Student Award.
Riley now works as a laboratory technician with Sarasota County’s Mosquito Management Program, collecting specimens, identifying mosquito species and applying the field and laboratory skills he developed in college. Looking back, he sees a connection between the student who volunteered with Sarasota Bay Watch and the career he has begun to build.
“Conservation isn’t just a definition in a textbook or words spoken aloud, it’s something that has to be seen, felt, experienced,” Riley said. “Working with Sarasota Bay Watch when I was younger helped navigate me towards the path of environmental stewardship.”
Riley came to Sarasota Bay Watch with a fishing rod, a love of the outdoors and plenty of curiosity. The work gave him a chance to put those interests to use and see what stewardship looks like when people show up and do the work. Years later, he is still doing it.