Amanda Bixby ’02
By Laurie Morrissey

Amanda Bixby went to the beach after graduation more than three years ago—and she never left. But she’s not just catching rays. Armed with a ticket book, shovel, trash bags, and educational signs—and a thorough knowledge of tide charts and beach codes—she keeps a close eye on everything that happens on Nantucket’s 15 town beaches, from clamming to kayaking.

Born and raised on the island, with her own memories of long summer days at the beach with her family, she could not be better suited to her job as the town’s beach manager. "My family would load up our truck around 9:30 with everything we could possibly need at the beach, including stuff for s’mores. We would eat lunch and dinner there and stay until we watched the sunset over the western side of the island. It’s that memory of Nantucket’s traditions that makes this position worthwhile and gratifying," she says.

During college, the sociology major worked summers for the town’s endangered species project, helping to protect the least terns and piping plovers that breed on the shoreline. Now, she works for the town year-round and lives a short walk from Codfish Park Beach. She manages all the town-owned beaches and a few private beaches that have easements, a beat that adds up to about 8 miles. Her off-season tasks include serving as a shellfish warden and writing reports on beach erosion and shorebird populations. Recently, she drafted Nantucket’s first official beach management plan.

"The two Nor’easters we had this year had a large effect on the survival rates of not only our piping plovers, but our American oystercatchers and terns as well," Bixby says.

Plovers, nearly hunted out of existence in the 1800s, are endangered by habitat loss, nest disturbance, and predation by pets. Each year, Bixby hires 10 summer employees to help with the endangered species program. "We put a lot of effort into the program. We had one beach where we were able to say that all of the chicks that hatched survived," she says. "Considering how Mother Nature started our season, I was very pleased with our accomplishments."

Besides her 4x4 pickup truck, Bixby’s most important equipment is 30 SPF sunscreen: four large bottles a year.