The Institute of Water and Environment (InWE) is a preeminent program within the School of Environment, Arts and Society and the College of Arts, Sciences & Education. InWE houses the Sea Level Solutions Center (SLSC), Southeast Environmental Research Center (SERC) and the Center for Coastal Oceans Research (CCOR).
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Our researchers can't work without their...
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Researchers go into the field sometimes with just a backpack, other times with suitcases full of gear. Some tools can cost less than $1. Other specialized equipment can be worth thousands. We asked our researchers, “What is the one thing you cannot work without?”
Find out what our scientists' favorite items are, here.
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Some Trees Can't Survive Sea Level Rise
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Sea level rise is killing bald cypress trees, according to an FIU study.
As sea levels rise, high salinity can sometimes cause plants to absorb too many nutrients from the soil and, at other times, not enough nutrients. This phenomenon — known as nutrient stress — is potent enough to kill bald cypress trees, said FIU ecologist Lu Zhai, who led the study...
“Different species can be killed by salinity in different ways,” said Zhai, a scientist in FIU’s Southeast Environmental Research Center. “Adding nutrients to areas where bald cypress trees are dying can help mitigate the impacts of salinity.”
Read the full FIU News piece, here.
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AUGUST PUBLICATIONS AND FUNDING HIGHLIGHTS
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PUBLICATIONS
- Gilberto Vasconcelos Villar, Natalia Quinete, and Piero R. Gardinali. (2018). Using Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) Pellets to Create an Absorption Model for the Determination of Equilibrium Concentrations of Dissolved Contaminants in the Aquatic Environment. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. See full publication.
- Niclas Engene, Ana Tronholm, and Valerie J. Paul. (2018). Uncovering cryptic diversity of Lyngbya: the new tropical marine cyanobacterial genus Dapis (Oscillatoriales). The Journal of Phycology. See full publication.
FUNDING HIGHLIGHTS
- Dr. Pallab Mozumder has received a new grant from the National Science Foundation to perform Collaborative Research: Organizing Decentralized Resilience in Critical Interdependent-infrastructure Systems and Processes.
- Dr. John Kominoski has received a new grant from the National Park Service to quantify how variability in hydroperiod and fire mediate plant-soil biogeochemical cycling and productivity in boundary wetlands of Everglades National Park.
- Dr. Robert Burgman has received a new grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to investigate the sensitivity of NMME seasonal predictions to Ocean Eddy Resolving Coupled Models.
- Dr. Kevin Boswell has received a new grant from the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust to study depredation mortality associated with catch-and-release angling on offshore Permit (Trachinotus falcatus) spawning aggregations in the Lower Florida Keys, USA.
- Dr. Suzanne Koptur has received a new grant from the University of Georgia to study the companion planting of native insectary plants to benefit crop plants; exploring the promotion of beneficial insects in agricultural communities via trophic resource enhancement.
- Dr. Tiffany Troxler has received a new grant from the University of Florida to investigate the effects of saltwater intrusion on Everglades peat soil.
- Dr. Shimon Wdowinski has received a new grant from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation to explore coastal flooding hazards in Florida.
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Six Things to Know About Florida Red Tide
Gov. Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency due to Florida red tide in seven counties, including Charlotte, Collier, Lee, Manatee, Monroe, Pinellas and Sarasota counties. Florida red tide blooms have struck the state’s west coast, leaving discolored, smelly water and dead wildlife in its wake. The governor’s actions mobilize available funding and resources to address the impacts of the harmful algal bloom.
FIU experts Kathleen Rein and Jeremy Kiszka offer insight on the sudden and massive growths of Karenia brevis— the microscopic algae causing the Florida red tide.
Read the full FIU News article and watch the video, here.
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South Florida’s natural ecosystems can provide affordable protection from chronic flooding
As part of an op-ed series, FIU News shares the expertise and diverse perspectives of members of the university community. In this piece, Tiffany Troxler, director of science of the Sea Level Solutions Center, offers her perspective on the need for collaboration to combat sea level rise. This piece first appeared in The Invading Sea, a collaboration of South Florida Sun Sentinel, Miami Herald, Palm Beach Post and WLRN Public Media. The opinions expressed in the piece are her own.
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Natural infrastructure can help reduce impacts from climate change and sea-level rise throughout South Florida.
But what does natural infrastructure even mean? It’s just a way of describing natural ecosystems such as the Everglades or mangrove forests in Coral Gables and around Miami-Dade County.
However, instead of considering their value from a habitat or an ecological perspective, we assess these ecosystems as social and economic assets. They’re an inexpensive way to defend the region from the potential financial damage of chronic flooding while preserving or enhancing the environment in which we live, work and play.
Read the full opinion piece, here.
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Will Flooding From Sea-Level Rise Impact Your House? This App Lets You Find Out
When it comes to sea-level rise, planners in South Florida typically use the benchmark of two feet in the next 40 years, but there’s a chance it could be less -- or more -- than that.
To help homeowners and businesses plan for the impact of the rising seas on their property, a team at Florida International University developed an app called Eyes On The Rise. WLRN’s Kate Stein spoke with one of the app’s creators, journalism professor and digital media specialist Susan Jacobson.
With the local coding group Code For Miami, Jacobson also has worked on another app, Will It Flood?. That app helps homeowners and businesses understand when their neighborhoods see flooding because of high tides.
Read the full WLRN interview with Dr. Jacobson, here.
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Meet our SERC scientists: Dr. Jennifer Richards
Dr. Jennifer Richards likes to immerse herself in new and foreign worlds, exploring the unknown and experiencing the unexpected. So it’s no wonder she found herself dissecting the secret lives of plants.
Richards is a researcher in the Southeast Environmental Research Center and a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. She studies the responses of plants to changes in their environments, including the consequences of climate change and of people altering natural ecosystems. She also looks at how specific plant species grow and reproduce and how to control them. Her work is critical to informing how wetland restoration will affect wetland ecosystems over time.
As Richards explains it, plants are hard to wrap your head around unless you’ve taken a dive into their lives. They can indicate a thriving environment or a threatened one. They are alien lifeforms just waiting to be discovered and Richards is just the gal for the job.
Read Dr. Richards' interview on CASE News, here.
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Researchers participate in Congress AQUATROP meeting
For three days, scientists and researchers from across the world came together to discuss the significant changes in freshwater ecosystems in the tropics and subtropics of the Americas. They met during the first "AQUATROP Congress: Ecosistemas acuáticos tropicales en el antropoceno" (Tropical Aquatic Ecosystems in the Anthropocene) from July 23-26 in Quito, Ecuador.
The event was organized by the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) and the Universidad de las Américas (UDLA), in collaboration with about 20 local, regional, national, and international organizations, such as the Red Macrolatinos (RML), the Society for Freshwater Science (SFS), and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The goal of AQUATROP was to bring scientists and researchers from various countries to exchange information on the causes, effects, and possible solutions to ongoing drastic changes in the aquatic ecosystems of the Americas that are occurring due to human activity, such as hydropower construction and agriculture.
Read the full CASE News piece, here.
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Where: Bayfront Park, Miami Florida
When: September 8th 2018
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OPPORTUNITIES
The Sea Level Solutions Center is recruiting for two postdoctoral positions: Land-Ocean Systems Modeling PostDoc & Storm Surge Modeling PostDoc. The SLSC (slsc.fiu.edu) is a hub for local, regional, national and international research, collaboration, education, communication and outreach and works.
Interested candidates are encouraged to see the formal announcement posted in https://hr.fiu.edu/careers. Search for "Sea Level Solutions Center" to find open SLSC positions.
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Where: MMC - FIU, Miami Florida
When: September 8th 2018
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The Southeast Environmental Research Center has opened the application for SERC Graduate Student Research Fellow for 2018-2019. Graduate student research fellowships for up to $7,500/yr will be made available under the name of the Cristina Menendez Fellowship, to graduate students working directly under the mentorship of SERC faculty conducting Everglade’s relevant research.
Deadline is October 2, 2018. Click here for more information.
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The NSF-funded CREST Center for Aquatic Chemistry and Environment (CAChE) has a number of graduate student fellowships available in multiple departments, including Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth & Environment, and Public Health. In addition, we have one graduate fellowship available to work with the STEM Transformation Institute on the Education and Training components of the Center.
Deadline is ongoing. Click here for more information.
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