Sonja Cox fondly remembers tromping through the marshes on St. Simons Island as a child with her mother, who taught her about the hundreds of fiddler crabs burying into holes and coastal ecology.
Now, years later, she turns her knowledgeable eyes on the exact spot as more than a nature lover, but also an environmental protector.
For the past week, Cox has slipped into the shoes, or rather, mud boots, of the new Altamaha Riverkeeper. Out of 17 qualified applicants, Cox was hired to take over the position held 11 years by James Holland, who created the nonprofit organization and retired in May.
Cox was chosen because she showed a clear commitment to environmental protection, said Debra Shepherd, executive director for the Altamaha Riverkeeper, with headquarters in Darien.
"She spent her education and working career acquiring skills that will be very useful in the job working with citizens to help protect our fabulous watershed," Shepherd said.
The mission of the Altamaha Riverkeeper is to conserve and protect the Altamaha watershed, the largest in the state. It flows from the Oconee, Ocmulgee and Ohoopee rivers into the Atlantic Ocean.
Cox, who spent several years working as an attorney who dealt with environmental laws, watershed protection regulations and water policy issues, said she is not intimidated by the scope of her job.
"I'm respectful of the fact that it's a big job and it's going to take some time to get my head completely around it," she said. "We're in the planning stages to re-orient this organization and re-populate the board of directors with some really great people."
She said she wants to guide the organization toward more preventative actions rather than responding to pollution after the fact.
"We want to see if we can get out and advocate in better practices on the front end," Cox said.
She said she is still mapping out how to allocate the time and resources of the office and what her daily duties will entail.
In the meantime, pollution will not go unchecked and the organization's membership with not remain stagnant, she said.
"Whenever someone calls us with a pollution event, we're going to check it out and follow up on that and spend as much time making as many friends as possible," she said. "One of our biggest missions is to reach out to the people in the watershed and make them aware of and enthusiastic about the river and how important it is and what a critical resource it is."
The Altamaha River serves major industries in the Golden Isles, Cox said.
"This river is a critical economic resource for this whole state," she said. "It supports the tourism and recreation industry and is a major resource for those in the fishing industry. It just wouldn't be possible for the ecological beauty to exist without that river, and that's a large part of what draws people here."
Although Cox spent a large part of her life visiting the coast, she said she is grateful Holland is training her as she begins exploring the coast's waterways and settling into what she calls her "dream job."
She said she will carry on his educational visits to local schools.
"It's very important to educate young people on the environment and ecological issues because they grow up to be the decision-makers," she said.
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