Join us for our first Evenings at the Homestead of the 2021-2022 season!

Recognizing the importance of water quality as a significant component of South Florida’s current and future economy and quality of life, the University of Florida’s newly established Center for Coastal Solutions (UF-CCS) and SCCF have entered into a strategic collaboration to address coastal water quality hazards in order to strengthen the resiliency and sustainability of Southwest Florida’s unique coastal area. This summer, leading a new multi-sector flagship initiative, UF-CCS formed a Comprehensive Coastal Observing Network (CompCON) in close coordination with SCCF to monitor, model, and immediately deliver data products useful for informing decisions related to addressing coastal hazards. SCCF’s RECON data-collection capabilities paired with UF’s data analytics capacity are a perfect fit for this partnership.

Another initiative came to fruition this fall, as an inaugural semester course called the Coastal Policy Lab has brought together six law students from the UF Law Conservation Clinic and six engineering graduate students affiliated with the Center for Coastal Solutions to address coastal resiliency on Sanibel and Captiva islands.

The presentation, led by Christine Angelini, Director of UF-CCS and a UF Environmental Engineering Assistant Professor, will include an overview of the UF-CCS partnership, why it’s important to the Southwest Florida region, and how the partnership can help to improve water quality in our area. Thomas Ankerson, UF Law Professor, and Eric Milbrandt, SCCF’s Marine Laboratory Director will also address the Coastal Policy Lab project, current and future research collaborations as well as current graduate student projects.