A heartfelt thank you and exciting future ahead
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
We sincerely appreciate everyone’s support during our Giving Day campaign on February 20. Whether you made a gift, helped spread the word, or cheered us on, we truly appreciate you. Your generosity and encouragement are essential to the work we do at the Center for Coastal Solutions. Because of you, we’re advancing our mission to protect and preserve the coastlines we all love — and we couldn’t be more excited for what’s ahead.
This spring, we’re celebrating a new cohort of graduates who are ready to take on the toughest coastal challenges. These students are not only talented — they’re passionate, dedicated and equipped with the skills to create real change.
Students like:
Leighton Levering, a marine sciences undergraduate who spent three years working in the Altieri Lab, contributing to coral reef research in Panama and the Florida Keys with support from a UF Undergraduate Scholars program. He’s heading to James Cook University in Australia to do a master’s degree, where he will study the effects of different types of stress events on coral reef communities. He was recently selected for the Graduate Education Fund Scholars program of the American Australian Association Graduate Education Fund, which provides financial support and assistance to American and Australian individuals to undertake innovative and transformational graduate studies.
Gabrielle Quadrado, a graduate student in the lab of CCS affiliate Katy Serafin, whose research examines how extreme total water levels — driven by waves, tides and storm surge — vary across space and time and how these fluctuations impact coastal flooding and erosion along U.S. shorelines. This work helps improve understanding of coastal hazards, supporting efforts to enhance resilience and mitigation strategies. After graduation, Gabrielle will join the Coastal Risks & Engineering (CoRE) Lab at the University of Central Florida as a postdoctoral researcher in Thomas Wahl’s lab, using altimetry and machine learning to analyze storm surges and extreme water levels globally.
From coral reef restoration to cutting-edge coastal technology, these students are making an impact.
We’re excited to celebrate Leighton, Gabrielle, and all of our upcoming graduates by sharing more of their stories throughout the spring and summer. Stay tuned for updates on the incredible work they’re doing — alongside our dedicated researchers and collaborators — to move coastal science forward.
Our students are ready to shape the future and your support makes it all possible. We look forward to sharing more soon!
Andrew H. Altieri
Interim Director
Center for Coastal Solutions