Affiliated Faculty

Affiliated Faculty are organized into the research areas of Ecology, Coastal Physical Science, Public & Environmental Health, Policy, and Water Quality. Please use the drop down menu to filter by any one of these categories. You can also find profile information by clicking on the images or plus sign.


Photo of Carrie Adams

Carrie Adams
Associate Professor, Environmental Horticulture Department

  • Associate Professor, Environmental Horticulture Department
  • Affiliates: School of Natural Resources and the Environment, Nature Coast Biological Station, and the Water Institute
  • Research interests: Wetland ecology, Plant community dynamics, and Restoration ecology
  • Webpage

Photo of Peter Adams

Peter Adams
Assoc. Professor, Geological Sciences

  • Research areas: geomorphology, coastal processes, climate change
  • Website

Photo of Andrew Altieri

Andrew Altieri
Asst. Professor, Env. Engineering Sciences

  • Research areas: Coastal ecosystems, resilience, ecosystem services, anthropogenic impacts and natural environmental gradients
  • Website

Photo of Christine Angelini

Christine Angelini
Assoc. Professor, Env. Engineering Sciences

Christine Angelini is an Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Coastal Solutions (CCS). Founded in 2020, CCS works across disciplines–ecology, engineering, health, computer sciences, policy and communications–to develop and deliver research and technology solutions that support coastal communities in addressing hazards and environmental degradation. A hallmark of the center’s innovation is the integration of large data sets, artificial intelligence and supercomputing to rapidly simulate coastal environmental scenarios and produce data driven solutions. The Center counts on strong partnerships with 30 plus organizations in the public and private sector at the local, state and national level to move the needle on coastal challenges.…

Photo of David Arnold

David Arnold
Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Research areas: Micro/nanotechnology, Energy-harvesting, nanocomposite materials, rapid on-site detection of fecal indicating bacteria for coastal water quality monitoring
  • Website

Photo of Shirley Baker

Shirley Baker
Assoc. Professor, SFRC Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences

  • Research areas: effects of water quality on shellfish productivity, physiological mechanisms that underlie those effects, provision of ecosystem services by shellfish, development of models to predict impacts of water quality parameters on shellfish productivity and provision of ecosystem services
  • Webpage

Photo of Tracie Baker

Tracie Baker
Associate Professor, Environmental and Global Health

  • Associate Professor, Department of Environmental and Global Health
  • Research interests: Developmental biology, environmental toxicology, genetics, and animal health.
  • Webpage

Photo of Donald Behringer

Donald Behringer
Professor, Sch. of Forest, Fisheries, & Geomatics Sciences

  • Research interests: Disease ecology and epidemiology, Marine community resilience and restoration
  • Lab webpage

Photo of Jiang Bian

Jiang Bian
Assoc. Professor, Health Outcomes & Biomedical Informatics

  • Research areas: data science with heterogeneous data, information and knowledge resources
  • Webpage

Photo of Thomas Bianchi

Thomas Bianchi
Professor, Geological Sciences

  • Jon L. AND Beverly A. Thompson Endowed Chair of Geological Sciences
  • Research areas: Biogeochemistry and processing of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in coastal, oceanic, estuarine, and riverine environments.
  • Website

Photo of Joe Bisesi

Joe Bisesi
Assistant Professor, Environmental & Global Health

  • Research areas: Gastrointestinal system and microbiome in physiological response to toxicants; nanomaterials and organic chemical contaminants in biological systems
  • Website

Photo of John A. Bowden

John Bowden
Asst. Professor, College of Vet. Medicine

  • Research interests: mass spectrometric methods, endocrine disruption, environmental chemistry, wildlife and human health
  • Webpage

Photo of Anna E. Braswell

Anna Braswell
Assistant Professor, Florida Sea Grant Extension Specialist

  • Anna Braswell is a coastal macrosystem ecologist, interested in the connections between upland, marine and human systems. 
  • Research interests: formation, persistence, and degradation of coastal ecosystems; understanding legacy effects of humans on coastal marsh geomorphology and biogeochemistry; historical development of coastal towns and communities; the effects of disturbance on coastal marshes; and coastal vulnerability to sea level rise.
  • Webpage 

Photo of James Cahill

James Cahill
Lecturer, Env. Engineering Sciences

  • Research interests: metagenomics, particularly sediment DNA and conservation-oriented population genomics

Photo of Ed Camp

Ed Camp
Assistant Professor, SFRC Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences

  • Research areas: Recreational fisheries, oyster populations, aquaculture, and fisheries, cooperative management, socioecological systems and trade-offs
  • Website

Photo of Alberto Canestrelli

Alberto Canestrelli
Asst. Professor, Civil & Coastal Engineering

  • Geomorphology, river engineering, numerical modeling of coastal and estuarine hydrodynamics and morphodynamics
  • Dr. Canestrelli studies the long term modeling of the morphodynamic evolution of river estuaries and back barrier basins, with a particular focus on salt marsh erosion and progradation. His research also focuses on the storm surge forecast, and on modeling of the long term evolution of beaches, with a particular focus on beach recovery.
  • Webpage

Photo of Ray Carthy

Ray Carthy
Assistant Unit Leader, Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

  • Courtesy Assistant Professor, Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Department
  • Assistant Unit Leader, FL Coop Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
  • Research interests: Coastal and wetland ecology, human intervention on wildlife habitats, conservation and management of endangered and threatened species, foraging ecology and physiological responses of marine turtles.
  • Webpage

Photo of Mark Clark

Mark Clark
Associate Professor, Soil & Water Sciences

  • Wetland nutrient assimilation and storage processes, vegetative succession dynamics, ecological engineering design using wetland processes to improve water quality and enhance ecological function of altered landscape
  • Webpage

Photo of Eric Coker

Eric Coker
Assistant Professor, Environmental & Global Health

  • Environmental epidemiology, environmental health and exposure science, spatial and field epidemiology
  • Webpage

No Photo Available

Carolyn Cox
Coordinator, Florida Climate Institute

Photo of Justin Davis

Justin Davis
Research Assistant Scientist, ESSIE, HWCOE

  • Research Assistant Scientist, Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment (ESSIE), Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, UF
  • Theory and technological development necessary to advance science, education, and observation of the coastal and estuarine environment
  • Numerical modeling, Sensor networking, cyberphysical laboratory testing, ESSIE/Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering IT Support: Networking, Unix/Linux System Administration, HPC Cyberinfrastructure Manager, UF NHERI Experimental Facility
  • Ph.D., Coastal and Oceanographic Engineering (Minor in Computer Engineering)
  • Webpage

Photo of Katherine Deliz Quiñones

Katherine Deliz Quiñones
Assistant Professor, Env. Eng. Sciences

  • Katherine Deliz Quiñones earned her BS and MS in Biology at the University of Puerto Rico and her PhD in Environmental Engineering Sciences at the University of Florida. She started her academic career at UF in fall 2017, after working four years in Environmental Consulting, as Project and QA Manager. Her research in environmental biotechnology focuses on fate, transport & remediation of pollutants and pathogens. Additional research interests include resilience, sustainability and public health.
  • Research areas: Water Systems, Systems Ecology & Ecological Engineering
  • Research interests: 
  • Dynamics of integrated natural, build and human systems
    • What is the effect of anthropogenic activities and pollutants on environmental microbiomes and biochemical cycles?

Photo of Nancy Denslow

Nancy Denslow
Professor, College of Vet. Medicine

Dr. Denslow’s research involves developing and using molecular biomarkers to evaluate changes in gene expression depending on stress or exposure to contaminants.

Webpage

Photo of Warren Dixon

Warren Dixon
Professor, Mech. & Aerospace Engineering

  • Newton C. Ebaugh Professor and Department Chair
  • Adaptive nonlinear control, robotics, human-machine interactions, biomedical, visual servo control
  • Webpage

Photo of Lili Du

Lili Du
Assoc. Professor, Civil & Coastal Engineering

  • Transportation system analysis and network modeling
  • CV/AV/CAV/EV related network modeling and platooning control
  • Big data analytics for traffic ow analysis
  • AI applications in transportation systems
  • Resilient civil infrastructure networks
  • Mobility as a service
  • Webpage

Photo of Z. Hugh Fan

Z. Hugh Fan
Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

  • Research areas: microfluidics, environmental monitoring, detection of pathogens.
  • Webpage

Photo of Peter Frederick

Peter Frederick
Emeritus Professor, Wildlife Ecology & Conservation

  • Wetland processes, community dynamics, conservation, management, restoration
  • Webpage

Photo of Crystal Goodison

Crystal Goodison
Associate Director, GeoPlan Center

  • Associate Director of the GeoPlan Center, a research and teaching center specializing in geospatial systems and technologies.
  • Research areas: geospatial data, tools, and technical training to assist State, regional, and local governments with sea level rise and coastal resiliency planning efforts.
  • GeoPlan Center website: https://www.geoplan.ufl.edu/

Photo of Yi Guo

Yi Guo
Associate Professor, Health Outcomes & Biomedical Informatics

  • Research areas: Electronic health records (EHR)-based phenotyping and risk stratification, Causal modeling and inference, Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in clinical and public health applications.
  • Webpage

Photo of Thomas Hoctor

Thomas Hoctor
Research Assoc. Professor, Landscape Architecture

  • Research Associate Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture
  • Director, Center for Landscape Conservation Planning
  • Research areas: GIS applications for identifying conservation priorities and implementation actions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services, recommendations for expanding protected lands to address climate change impacts, and conservation strategies for ensuring effective conservation in a future with continuing conflicts with land use change and habitat loss
  • Website

Photo of Vanessa Hull

Vanessa Hull
Assistant Professor, Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

  • Associate Professor,  Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
  • Affiliates: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Global Human-Wildlife Interactions Lab
  • Research interests: Biodiversity conservation, wildlife ecology, natural resource management, and human-wildlife interactions.
  • Webpage

Photo of Peter Ifju

Peter Ifju
Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

  • Research areas: Experimental mechanics, moire interferometry, compositie materials
  • Webpage

Photo of Md Jahidul Islam

Md Jahidul Islam
Asst. Professor, Elec. & Computer Engineering

  • PhD, Robotics, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
  • Research interests: robot perception, machine vision, underwater robotics, machine learning, subsea inspection, environmental monitoring, autonomous explorations
  • Leads the RoboPI (Robot Perception and Intelligence) group
  • Webpage

Photo of John M. Jaeger

John Jaeger
Associate Professor, Geological Sciences

  • Areas of Interest: Sedimentary Geology, Marine and Coastal Geology, Oceanography
  • Dr. Jaeger’s research group integrates subsurface data (samples, logs, drill core) with geophysical data and numerical models of surface processes to test source-to-sink concepts of how strata are formed. We also use highly resolved temporal data (cores, air photos, digital elevation models) from modern settings to document the role of current climate change on sedimentary processes. Our research is highly interdisciplinary and involves collaborators in all fields of geosciences at U.S. and international institutions.
  • Website

Photo of Myoseon Jang

Myoseon Jang
Assoc. Professor, Env. Engineering Sciences

  • Research areas: Atmospheric Chemistry, Aerosol Modeling, Health Effect, Aerosol Climate Forcing, Algal Aerosol, Mineral Dust Particles, Organic Aerosol, Sea Spray Aerosol
  • Webpage

Photo of Zhe Jiang

Zhe Jiang
Assistant Professor, Computer & Information Science & Engineering

  • Primary research area: Data mining 
  • Research areas: Data mining, database, data science and informatics, interpretable AI, machine learning
  • Research interests: Data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence, spatiotemporal data mining, interdisciplinary applications 
  • Ph.D., Computer Science, 2016, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
  • B.E., Electrical Engineering and Information Science, 2010, University of Science and Technology of China
  • Webpage

Photo of Antarpreet Jutla

Antarpreet Jutla
Assoc. Professor, Env. Engineering Sciences

  • Primary research area: Water systems 
  • Other research areas: Coastal & Oceanographic Engineering, New Infrastructure Planning and Management, Systems Ecology & Ecological Engineering
  • Research interests: Hydrology, water resources, remote sensing, public health, water- and vector-borne diseases, hydrologicalmodeling

Photo of David Kaplan

David Kaplan
Assoc. Professor, Env. Engineering Sciences

  • Research areas: Systems Ecology & Ecological Engineering, Coastal Ecosystem Dynamics, Water Systems, Hydrology, Ecology, Modeling, Water Management
  • Watershed Ecology Lab
  • Departmental webpage

Photo of H. Dail Laughinghouse IV

H. Dail Laughinghouse IV
Asst. Prof., Agronomy

  • Assistant Professor, Ft Lauderdale Research and Extension Center, Dept of Agronomy, Applied Phycology
  • Research areas: Cyanobacteria, cyanotoxins, systematics, environmental influences on macroalgae and microbial photoautotrophs, bioremediation, detection and effects of bioactive compounds
  • Webpage

Photo of James C. Liao

James Liao
Assoc. Professor, The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience

  • Dr. Jimmy Liao graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in biology at Wesleyan University. He earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in biology from Harvard University. He was a postdoctoral fellow and research associate in the department of neurobiology at Cornell University.
  • Research: One aspect of my research looks at how fish can recycle the energy of turbulent flows to save swimming energy. Since navigating turbulence relies on sensing flow fluctuations, another part of my research looks at the organization and function of neurons in the flow-detecting lateral line hair cell system in fish.

    These hair cells are identical to those found in human ears with one exception: the lateral line system is much more simple and experimentally accessible.

Photo of Kai Lorenzen

Kai Lorenzen
Professor, School of Forest, Fisheries, & Geomatics Sciences

  • Professor of Integrative Fisheries Science, UF
  • Associate Director of the School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, UF
  • Research interests: integrative, trans-disciplinary approaches to address complex fisheries management problems; quantitative ecology; human dimensions; management initiatives
  • Lorenzen Lab Website

Photo of Forrest Masters

Forrest Masters
Professor, Civil and Coastal Engineering

Photo of Julie Meyer

Julie Meyer
Assistant Professor, Soil and Water Sciences

  • Research interests: microbial ecology, marine microbiology, coral disease, symbiosis, genomics, probiotics, wetlands and aquatic ecosystems
  • Faculty profile
  • Lab website

Photo of Elise Morrison

Elise Morrison
Asst. Professor, Env. Engineering Sciences

  • Research areas: Microbial Ecology, Organic Biogeochemistry
  • Webpage

Photo of Patrick Musgrave

Patrick Musgrave
Asst. Professor, Mech. & Aerospace Engineering

Photo of Ellen Nodine

Ellen Nodine
Director, Programs & Training, Center for Public Interest Communications

  • Master of Education, UF, specialization in education technology and curriculum design
  • Developed and directed the UF’s College of Journalism and Communications online master’s with a concentration in public interest communications
  • Adjunct faculty member at the Management Communication Center, UF Warrington College of Business, teaching Professional Speaking
  • 8 years as lead organizer for the frank gathering, a 3-day conference uniting communication strategists, behavioral and social scientists, artists, funders, agencies, business leaders and advocates working to drive positive social change
  • 20 years in the Caribbean doing community work and co-founded a not-for-profit K-12 school

Photo of Maitane Olabarrieta

Maitane Olabarrieta
Assoc. Professor, Civil & Coastal Engineering

  • Research in Dr. Olabarrieta’s Coastal Hazards Lab focuses on the processes that drive coastal erosion and flooding under extreme storms and longer-term (seasonal to decadal) inlet and estuarine morphodynamics. One of the main goal is to improve numerical models used to predict coastal change, erosion and flooding.
  • Webpage

Photo of Todd Osborne

Todd Osborne
Assoc. Professor, Soil and Water Sciences

  • Research areas: sea level rise, soil carbon storage, salt marsh restoration in coastal Florida, restoration of water quality via shellfish, sea grass & mangrove habitat restoration and mitigation.
  • Webpage

Photo of Brian Phillips

Brian Phillips
Associate Professor, Department of Civil & Coastal Engineering

  • Associate Professor, Department of Civil & Coastal Engineering
  • Research interests: Structural Dynamics, Experimental Methods, Optimization, Protective Systems, Wind Engineering, and Earthquake Engineering.
  • Webpage

Photo of Edward Phlips

Edward Phlips
Professor, SFRC – Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences

  • Dr. Phlips has initiated a toxic algae research program, with the goal of evaluating the distribution, causes and consequences of harmful algae in both freshwater and marine ecosystems.
  • Webpage

Photo of Laura Reynolds

Laura Reynolds
Asst. Professor, Soil and Water Sciences

  • Research interests: Carbon Dynamics and Ecosystem Services; Wetlands and Aquatic Ecosystems
  • Webpage

Photo of Tara Sabo-Attwood

Tara Sabo-Attwood
Professor, Env. & Global Health

  • Relevant research areas: molecular mechanisms that drive various health impacts associated with environmental exposures to agents which include endocrine disruptors, mineral fibers, and nanomaterials; nano-enabled applications relevant to improving water quality in aquaculture settings
  • Professor and Chair of the Department of Environmental and Global Health and a member of the Center for Environmental and Human Toxicology and Emerging Pathogens Institute at the UF
  • Associate Dean of Faculty Development, Cultural Affairs, and Wellness Programs
  • Webpage

Photo of John Sansalone

John Sansalone
Professor, Env. Engineering Sciences

  • Relevant research areas: interactions of hydrology, chemistry and control/treatment/reuse of rainfall-runoff and snowmelt; green materials and infrastructure systems in the urban environment, such as engineering permeable pavement systems; in-situ geoenvironmental systems for hydrologic and chemical cycling; soil modification; unit operations and processes for storm water and wastewater; storm water TMDL analysis and sampling methods; adsorptive-filtration phenomena; control of metals and nutrients; anaerobic digestion; urban drainage systems and solidification/stabilization
  • Teaching interests: storm water system design, wastewater systems design, geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering, environmental hydrology, and urban hydrologic cycling. 

Photo of Jorge Sefair

Jorge Sefair
Associate Professor, Industrial & Systems Engineering

  • Relevant research areas: network optimization, combinatorial optimization, integer programming, and interdiction games. Operations research applied to environmental/urban planning, public policy, and service systems. 
  • Teaching expertise: Operations research, mathematical programming, discrete optimization, network optimization, and multistage optimization. 
  • Associate Director at the Center for Applied Optimization

Photo of Katherine Serafin

Katherine Serafin
Assistant Professor, Geography

Dr. Serafin is a coastal scientist who researches extreme sea levels and coastal hazards to better understand how our coastlines are changing and the resultant consequences for people and places. She combines observational datasets with statistical and numerical models to understand the frequency, drivers, and impacts of coastal flooding and erosion events. Some of her interests include compound flooding hazards, extreme value analysis, coastal processes, human-natural coupled systems, flood risk management in a changing climate, and climate adaptation and resilience.

Webpage

Photo of Matt Sheehan

Matt Sheehan
Managing Dir., Center for Public Interest Communications

Matt Sheehan, a journalist who has spent his career working in established and emerging media helping organizations make strategic shifts in digital, is a member of the journalism faculty at the University of Florida. He serves as managing director of the Center for Public Interest Communications and interim administrator of the UF Consortium on Trust in Media and Technology. With his colleagues, he provides strategic advice and training using insights from behavioral, cognitive and social sciences to help partners using strategic communication for the greater good.

Photo of Alex Sheremet

Alex Sheremet
Professor, Civil & Coastal Engineering

  • Michael K. Ochi Professor of Coastal Engineering
  • Research areas: Coastal and oceanographic engineering, coastal ecosystem dynamics
  • Webpage

Photo of Ashley Smyth

Ashley Smyth
Asst. Professor, Soil and Water Sciences

  • Assistant Professor of Biogeochemistry in the Department of Soil and Water Sciences at the IFAS Tropical Research and Education Center
  • Florida Sea Grant Affiliate
  • Research areas: coastal biogeochemistry, shellfish, water quality, biogeochemical response of restoration and management activities, effects of climate variability and sea level rise on biogeochemistry of South Florida’s coastal habitats
  • Webpage

Photo of Kathe Todd-Brown

Kathe Todd-Brown
Asst. Professor, Env. Eng. Sci.

  • Research interests: coastal carbon model, marsh accretion rates
  • Website

Photo of Arnoldo Valle-Levinson

Arnoldo Valle-Levinson
Professor, Civil and Coastal Engineering

  • Physical oceanography, observations and numerical modeling of estuarine and coastal hydrodynamic processes, estuary-ocean exchange, competition between buoyancy and mixing.
  • Ph.D., Oceanography, SUNY at Stony Brook
  • Website

Photo of Hannah Vander Zanden

Hannah Vander Zanden
Assistant Professor, Department of Biology

  • Department of Biology and Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research
  • Research interests: animal migration, sea turtles, stable isotope ecology
  • Vander Zanden Lab webpage: Animal Migration and Ecology Lab

Photo of Michael Volk

Michael Volk
Research Assoc. Professor, Landscape Architecture

  • Research Associate Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture
  • Associate Director, Center for Landscape Conservation Planning
  • Research areas: Sustainability (built environment resilience), climate change and resilient design, regional conservation planning, community resilience, and actionable climate change information for landscape architects and educators 
  • Website

Photo of Benjamin Wilkinson

Benjamin Wilkinson
Associate Professor, Geomatics, SFFGS

  • Dr. Wilkinson specializes in the collection and processing of data using geospatial sensors, with emphasis on airborne and terrestrial photography, lidar, and unmanned aerial systems (UAS), particularly 3D scene reconstruction using photogrammetric techniques as well as data adjustment, fusion, and uncertainty estimation.
  • PhD, Geomatics, University of Florida
  • Personal/Lab Website: Geospatial Mapping and Applications Lab

Photo of Dapeng Oliver Wu

Dapeng Oliver Wu
Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering

Photo of Xiao Yu

Xiao Yu
Assistant Professor, Civil & Coastal Engineering

  • Research areas: nearshore processes, sediment transport, physical-ecological coupling of ecosystems
  • Webpage

Photo of Xilei Zhao

Xilei Zhao
Asst. Professor, Civil & Coastal Engineering

  • Research area: Transportation engineering 
  • Research interests: Data science, transportation and resilience
  • Website