Protecting the
Everglades
FIU scientists race to save a national treasure under threat
V
Viviana Mazzei
iviana Mazzei spends her days with one of the Florida Everglades’ tiniest residents. The biology Ph.D. student uses microscopic algae to pinpoint areas of the Everglades most susceptible to sea level rise. Mazzei is one of two 2016 Everglades Foundation FIU ForEverglades scholars. Bradley Strickland is the other. He is investigating how the American alligator influences its environment through burrowing and moving through marshes. Their efforts, along with those of dozens of other FIU students, faculty and staff, are helping shape policy and conservation for one of the most imperiled ecosystems in North America.
The Everglades is the most important freshwater source for people in Florida. According to FIU research, the ecosystem serves as a buffer against sea level rise by building peat soil and storing carbon. But the peat is disappearing under pressure from saltwater intrusion. With a long history of flood control that has altered water flow and now rising sea levels, the Everglades is at a tipping point. For three decades, FIU scientists have been studying the Everglades. They have been tracking these rapid changes and helping managers protect this critical resource. Our scientists lead the Florida Coastal Everglades Long Term Ecological Research Program, conducting some of the longest and largest studies on how climate change, biological functions and the actions of people interact to affect the ecosystem. All of these efforts are coordinated through the FIU Southeast Environmental Research Center (SERC), a core component of the college’s Institute of Water and Environment. Fulfilling the need for scientific investigations in threatened environments, SERC researchers recently published their 800th research paper, a major achievement in a decades-long commitment to one of Florida’s most fragile natural resources. Their ultimate goal is simple — save the Everglades and the critical services it provides to people. To achieve this, FIU researchers continue to foster increased public participation and will continue their efforts to improve water quality and expand biodiversity monitoring.
FIU researchers are leading efforts to produce scientific predictions about possible realities for the Everglades, and enable actions that can slow, stop or reverse changes driven by decades of freshwater diversion and increasingly rapid sea level rise in South Florida. To learn how you can support these efforts, including our Everglades Foundation FIU ForEverglades scholars, contact givetocase@fiu.edu | 305-348-4349.