Tampa Bay Watch Announces Executive Staff Changes

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL — Tampa Bay Watch has announced changes to its executive-leadership staff.

Dwayne Virgint has been promoted to the CEO position and will be responsible for overall organizational leadership and implementation of strategic direction for Tampa Bay Watch. Peter Clark will continue as president and founder of Tampa Bay Watch with a new focus on major development activities, community outreach and bay restoration initiatives for Tampa Bay Watch (TBW).

Virgint began work as executive director of the Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center on the St. Pete Pier in 2019. As CEO, Virgint will focus on the growth and demands of the organization which has more than doubled in size over the last year. His goal is to enact impactful change in support of the organization, the community and the environment. Virgint will be guided by TBW’s new strategic plan and is committed to moving Tampa Bay Watch to the next level of growth, addressing needs and infrastructure to ensure it will be an environmental mainstay in the area for next generations.

“I am pleased and excited by the opportunity to expand my role at Tampa Bay Watch and enhance our commitment to the regional watershed,” said Virgint. “Peter Clark has created an organization that has achieved incredible results, supported by a passionate staff and dedicated community. Surges in Red Tide and the loss of marine life demonstrate that our work is needed now, more than ever.”

Virgint earned a bachelor’s degree in advertising from the University of Bridgeport. He brings more than 35 years of award-winning experience in leadership, operations, development and management of mission-based organizations including zoos, aquariums and museums. He served more than 12 years as the executive vice president and chief operating officer at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, Indian Pueblos Marketing and its affiliated companies in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Clark founded Tampa Bay Watch and has led the organization for 28 years. He will now focus on major gifts and development; a skill he has successfully developed over the years. He will apply this expertise to develop a new capital campaign and fundraise to create additional restoration and education programs in our community. Clark will also focus on community outreach and advocacy, as well as work closely and provide support for restoration, education and development leadership to help achieve their goals.

“Tampa Bay Watch has grown tremendously over time, requiring that our organization evolve in order to address the current and future demands of restoring and protecting the Tampa Bay estuary,” said Clark. “Providing organizational and strategic leadership, Dwayne will help take our organization to the next level, and together our goal will be to ensure its environmental and community impact for the next 100 years.”

Under Clark’s watch, the organization has coordinated more than 250,000 volunteers, students and campers, installed 15,000 oyster reef units and 2,500 tons of oyster shell to create more than two miles of oyster shell reef communities, and planted more than 1,000,000 salt marsh grasses to restore 250 acres of coastal tidal ponds to Tampa Bay.

In 2005, Tampa Bay Watch completed construction of the $4 million Marine and Education center in Tierra Verde, and in 2020 the new $3 million Discovery Center on the St. Pete Pier.

Until 1993, Clark served as director of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council’s Agency on Bay Management, an alliance of agencies charged with protecting the bay. He has a bachelor's degree in marine biology and has written for more than 50 professional publications on natural resource restoration, water quality and environmental planning.

He also initiated the nomination, which ultimately led to the inclusion of Tampa Bay into the EPA’s National Estuary Program. Clark holds a U.S. Coast Guard Master Captain's License, received the Outstanding Environmentalist of the Year award from the Florida Marine Research Institute Environmental Excellence Awards program in 1994, and the NOAA Fisheries / American Fisheries Society Nancy Foster Habitat Conservation Award in 2005.

Tampa Bay Watch is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and restoration of the marine and wetland environments of the Tampa Bay estuary through scientific and educational programs.

Incorporated in 1993, Tampa Bay Watch performs habitat restoration and protection activities throughout the year, relying heavily on the efforts of community volunteers.

The Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center, which opened in July 2020, has a public exhibit gallery to showcase the economic and ecological value of the Tampa Bay estuary to residents and visitors, and a classroom to expand educational outreach programs to Tampa Bay area schools.

For more information, visit www.tampabaywatch.org, or call 727-867-8166.