Endowed Professorships
Actionable solutions for the coast start here
The Center for Coastal Solutions (CCS) at the University of Florida is dedicated to supporting Florida’s coastal communities. Founded in 2020, CCS is focused on delivering impacts in four program areas: Optimizing water quality investment and management decisions, forecasting coastal hazards, developing nature-based solutions for coastal resilience, and building Florida’s Digital Twin to simulate scenarios solutions that prepare communities for an uncertain future.
In response to the urgent coastal hazards facing Florida, the center’s CCS experts collaborate with partners in the public, private and nonprofit sectors to understand the dynamics of coastal regions and deliver transformative solutions aimed at improving water quality, restoring coastal ecosystems, and building community resilience.
In just over four years, CCS has experienced rapid growth, generating $27 million in funding and solidifying a network of some 51 partners. This support not only enables CCS to advance the science used to diagnose root causes of water quality hazards across watersheds, riverine and coastal systems but also to develop integrated tools, models and approaches for water quality improvements and restoration along Florida’s coasts.
Our red tide detection system, developed by CCS research scientist Ron Fick in collaboration with Zhe Jiang and Guangming Zheng, for example, combines in-situ sampling with satellite imagery and machine learning to predict and monitor red tide blooms in order to minimize bloom severity and exposure.
CCS scientists have led 32 research projects that have produced over 140 peer-reviewed publications in high impact journals. One such paper, co-authored by Angelini and published in Nature showed how the return of sea otters to California’s Elkhorn Slough slowed the erosion of the salt marsh by 69%.
CCS experts provide customized, data-driven and optimized solutions to decision-makers to predict and prevent potential hazards and plan for an uncertain future.
Support an Endowed Professorship
To continually improve the quality of our work and drive the discovery of new solutions for our coasts, we must offer competitive compensation and support to our exceptional team of experts. Endowed professorships are a powerful tool for recruitment and retention, as they recognize and reward outstanding faculty members.
If you pledge an endowment today, you can help the University of Florida build its reputation as a leader in coastal research and protection, ensuring a sustainable and resilient future for Florida’s coastal communities. Your support will make a lasting impact, fostering innovation and excellence in our mission to safeguard our precious coastal environments.
| Endowed Gift | Minimum Amount | How Your Gift Helps |
|---|---|---|
| Rising star professorship | $500,000 | Your support helps CCS recruit, retain and reward premier junior faculty whose early career achievements have already begun to make a notable impact in their fields. |
| Professorship | $1 Million | Endowed professorships enable CCS to support, sustain and strengthen its culture of excellence in research and scholarship. |
| CCS directorship | $1.5 Million | This fund provides the CCS director with ongoing support for research, equipment, or other crucial priorities. |
Donor Spotlight
Learn more about this giving opportunity
Contact Sarah Johnson, Interim Executive Director of Advancement to discuss your philanthropic goals or funding opportunities tailored to your areas of giving interest at sjohnson@eng.ufl.edu.