Science Team Research Initiatives
Please note that you are about to enter an area of the Everglades Foundation website that is specifically written for those with a scientific background. We encourage collaboration and communication with those in the scientific field who may be working on research studies and provide information to support efforts by Foundation scientists described below.
The Foundation employs five Ph.D. level scientists to serve as technical expert sources for the environmental community. These resources include providing sworn expert testimony in legal proceedings, testimony at public heariings and general education and training for environmental partners. The Foundation also provides fellowships and internships to graduate students from regional and national universities working on Everglades projects, all to ensure that the next generation of Everglades experts will be well trained to face the mission in front of them well into the first half of the century. Areas of fundamental interest in the science program are: hydrology, natural resource planning, water quality and ecology.
Please find below, a little background on each scientist's area of expertise.
Leading Research Initiatives
HYDROLOGY
What needs to be done to fix the Everglades? Hydrology and engineering allows us to look for solutions to restore the "River of Grass."
Thomas Van Lent, Ph.D., -- Senior Scientist -- Everglades Foundation. Click here for Tom's curriculum vitae, list of other projects and articles and publications.
ECOLOGY
Ecological research at the Everglades Foundation is centered on understanding how human impacts such as the introduction and spread of exotic invasive species, urban development, ORV use, oil and gas activity, water management and nutrient inputs have affected plant and animal life across the Everglades. To do this, we partner with agencies, academic institutions and environmental organizations across the region and tap into the extensive body of scientific information and peer-reviewed research. In addition, we analyze data and provide input regarding various social and political issues that may offset the current ecological balance of the Everglades or thwart progress of Everglades restoration.
Stephen E. Davis, III, Ph.D., -- Wetland Ecologist -- Everglades Foundation. Click here for Stephen's curriculum vitae, list of other projects and articles and publications.
WATER QUALITY
Apart from being a crucial water source for South Florida, the Everglades is an ecologically important subtropical wetland supporting a variety of rare and threatened species whose survival also depends on the water quality of the Everglades.
Melodie Naja, Ph.D., – Water Quality Scientist - Everglades Foundation. Click here for Melodie's curriculum vitae, list of other projects and articles and publications.
1. HIGH-SENSITIVITY SENSOR FOR PHOSPHATE AND ORGANOPHOSPHATE IN EVERGLADES WATER
Phosphorus-induced eutrophication is the major problem occurring in the Everglades.
In order to provide cost effective, time-saving and affordable organic and inorganic phosphorus detection, a new technique based on activated nanoparticles is proposed for a phosphorus sensor. A rapid, low cost, easy-to-use, multi-array, magnetic electrochemical sensor in a lab-on-a-chip format will be developed through collaboration with Prof. Chenzong Li from the department of Biomedical Engineering at the Florida International University. Magnetic nanoparticles coated with chemicals would have a higher affinity for phosphorus enabling its effective pre-concentration and highly sensitive detection using small sample volumes. The new phosphorus “probe” (Figure 1) will feature significantly higher sensitivities and accuracy in the phosphorus concentration range lower than 1 part per billion.
It will be capable of detecting particularly inorganic forms of phosphorus (PO43-, HPO42- and H2PO4-) that are mainly responsible for the degradation of Everglades waters as well as toxic organic phosphates.
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS) / REMOTE SENSING / PLANNING
The Geographic Information Systems (GIS) program at the Everglades Foundation started two years ago, as part of the science program, in order to support environmental restoration efforts in the Everglades region. The Geographic Information Systems program was established with various reasons in mind, including mapping, analytical and modeling capability for our science program, and also to provide mapping resources to our environmental partners. There are several projects that require Geographic Information Systems and remote-sensing analysis from our program for the next two or three years: in the water quality area, we are developing a phosphorus cap and trade program, and this will require the implementation of watershed assessment models for non-point solution program, based on land use, soils and topography data. In the land-acquisition area, GIS efforts will be instrumental to the U.S. Sugar Corp. acquisition as well as research projects in Lake Okeechobee and C-111/Florida Bay areas.
Last year, we conducted a research project about changes in Lake Okeechobee. Using a geospatial approach, the science team investigated changes to the physical features of Lake Okeechobee from 1913 to current conditions relative to the Lake’s historic hydrologic function. Our research focused on historic changes to the physical features of the Lake by integrating various sources of data into a Geographic Information Systems analysis, including written historic accounts, engineering reports and historic bathymetry, maps and data from U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The objective of this research was to evaluate historical function of the Lake in perspective to potential Everglades restoration options, particularly in terms of water storage needs and potential treatment.
Rosanna Rivero, Ph.D., -- GIS Specialist -- Everglades Foundation. Click here for Rosanna's curriculum vitae list of other projects and articles and publications.
1. Mapping of groundwater/nutrients/vegetation interactions related to coastal groundwater discharges in the Southern Everglades region with the use of satellite imagery (Collaborators: Rene Price, Fernando Miralles, Shimon Wdowinski with funding from NASA Waterscape program and Planet Action).
Importance to Everglades Restoration Research: Saltwater intrusion into the freshwater coastal aquifer results from a combination of increased groundwater withdrawals and sea-level rise. These occurrences may also be fueled by the release of phosphorus as a result of coastal groundwater discharges. A better understanding of the relationship between the hydrology, bio-geochemistry and ecology of the Southern Everglades is required in order to quantify the impacts of these discharges. This can be done by using remote-sensing techniques that improve the predictions, the coverage and the spatial resolution of both mapping and quantitative measures.
