When she moved to Martha’s Vineyard full-time in 2006, Jessie (Kanozak) Holtham ‘06 began working in shellfish restoration by day and in restaurants by night. As she served oysters and clams grown in the waters she worked to protect, she quickly observed a contradiction: costly shells were being purchased for important habitat restoration projects while shells from local delicacies were being discarded.
“At the MV Shellfish Group where I worked, we were remote setting oyster larvae on old shell,” she says, “a lot of which was shell purchased from off-island and trucked over by ferry to the island. At night, I would serve oysters and clams primarily from Vineyard waters.” Once consumed by customers, the empty shells would be tossed into the trash–eventually making their way to a landfill.
“I noticed the disconnect of purchasing shells from far away to be planted in our saltponds to rejuvenate the water quality while throwing our own locally sourced shell resources away,” she says.
Motivated to change this process, Holtham launched a grassroots shell recycling initiative, the Martha’s Vineyard Shell Recovery Partnership, in 2011. Between working her bartending shifts and kayak tours, she collected discarded shells from local restaurants, secured grants, and educated both restaurant staff and patrons about the value of returning shells to the ecosystem. Despite some hesitation from local restaurant operators, public support for her initiative helped propel the project forward.
“In some of the busiest bars, it was the customers who pushed for this change,” she says. “That’s how much Islanders love their shellfish.”
Holtham eventually created a system to quantify how much shell she was collecting and published reports at the end of each season. “I had learned a lot at URI about shellfish pathology,” she says. “I coordinated shell curing locations–glorious piles of shells sitting out in fields getting rained on, baked by the sun, for six or more months until it was pathogen free and safe to place in the water.”
Her team collaborated with each town’s shellfish constable, using the shell for oyster sets and for crucial habitat replacement. “It was a very passionate project,” Holtham says, “and an exciting time for me as I was able to marry my interests into this passion project of social change.”
Today, over a decade later, the Martha’s Vineyard Shell Recovery Partnership program is thriving: it has evolved to include public shell drop-offs, shell curing sites, data tracking, and even multi-state research trips to strengthen the program’s process.
Despite her contagious passion for marine science, Holtham’s URI journey did not begin as an aquaculture and fisheries science major. In 2002, she was fixated on pursuing a “financially-sound” future, noting that while her academics were strong, she lacked passion for the topics she was learning about and couldn’t envision a future for herself.
Feeling at home in and around the water, she decided to make the switch to major in aquaculture and fisheries science out of “comfort and curiosity.” She recalls taking classes with Professor Michael Rice that energized her budding passion for the field. “The combination of science with nature, bivalves, and water quality science energized me and I felt motivated to go to class for the first time.” she says. “The course content was interesting, approachable, and completely new to me. Professor Rice and others got me thinking about natural processes and real-world applications.”
Holtham notes that it was the field trips to the shoreline, hands-on lab work, and professors who brought science to life that sparked her passion for the field. “Professor Marta Gomez-Chiarri was inspiring as a water-woman with strong science knowledge,” she recalls. “I admired her expertise in her field and enjoyed her classes. I would often travel to Martha’s Vineyard on weekends and breaks, and upon graduating I moved to the Vineyard full time and took the job with the MV Shellfish Group.”
Fast forward a decade, and Holtham’s grassroots efforts with shell recovery has grown into a thriving community-driven program complete with tracking systems, curing sites for shell sanitation, public recycling bins, and regional partnerships. She has since stepped back to focus on family, but the program has been carried forward by Emma Green-Beach, evolving into a fully supported island initiative with dedicated staff and continued impact.
Now based out of West Tisbury in Martha’s Vineyard, Holtham works as a real estate agent on the Vineyard and serves as a board member for the Town of West Tisbury Shellfish Advisory Committee, noting that her degree is still informing her work and passions.
“As a real estate agent advising clients on finding a Vineyard property, I often use my knowledge of the natural systems as we navigate the intricacies of land ownership. I have a propensity for thinking about the water, its potability, topography as it relates to runoff, soil conditions as it relates to filtration, and considerations for wastewater and its effects on the ecosystem.”
“And I can recommend the best raw bars,” she adds.
As for current URI students who resonate with Holtham’s journey, she offers this advice: “Trust your instincts, trust yourself. If you vibe with a professor, follow that interest, visit their office hours and seek their guidance!”