Andrew Altieri, Ph.D., is an environmental engineering sciences assistant professor and leads the center’s nature-based solutions program, which harnesses natural features to sustainably manage ecosystems and promote their resilience. His childhood adventures snorkeling and scuba diving sparked his passion for coastal environments.
Areas of expertise:
- Coral reef ecology
- Anthropogenic impacts
- Coastal resilience/restoration
- Nature-based solutions
Program lead: Nature-based solutions
Christine Angelini, Ph.D., associate professor of environmental engineering sciences, leads a Presidential Strategic Initiative to develop digital twin technologies in collaboration with multiple units that inform decisions for Florida’s natural resources, community’s health, economic prosperity and sustainable urban planning. She is a Peloton buff and has always felt her best at the ocean.
Areas of expertise:
- Water quality
- Nature-based solutions
- Coastal engineering
- Marsh ecology
Program lead: Florida’s Digital Twin
David Kaplan, Ph.D., environmental engineering sciences professor and director of the H.T. Odum Center for Wetlands, spearheads the center’s optimizing water quality solutions program to inform decisions for improved water quality management at Lake Okeechobee.
“It’s a cliché to say water is life, we like to add water quality is health.”
Areas of expertise:
- Water quality
- Harmful algal blooms
- Hydrology
Program lead: Optimizing water quality solutions
As lead of the forecasting coastal hazards program, Maitane Olabarrieta, Ph.D., associate professor in civil and coastal engineering, plays a key role in delivering forecasting systems for tropical cyclone impacts to enhance hurricane response and community preparedness. In her free time, she enjoys traveling in her R/V.
Areas of expertise:
- Coastal hazards
- Hurricanes and tropical cyclones
- Coastal and oceanographic engineering
Program lead: Forecasting coastal hazards
Sharon Ryan steers strategic planning, action planning and stakeholder engagement for large-scale, multidisciplinary projects, and leads communications and partnership initiatives for the center. Her facilitation approaches are designed to be inclusive of multiple perspectives, support teams to do their best thinking, and foster ownership of results.
Areas of expertise:
- Facilitation
- Strategy
- Science communications
- Partnerships | Development
Nina Stark, Ph.D., assistant professor in the civil and coastal engineering department, co-manages the CCS field operations and serves as the faculty lead of the coastal and marine geotechnics research group at the University of Florida. Her hands-on work promotes more resilient infrastructure in the face of rising coastal hazards.
“Since I get to do field work all over the globe, I think I’ve visited some of the most unique places in the world during my job.”
Areas of expertise:
- Coastal and marine geotechnics
- Seabed mechanics
- Beach trafficability
- Coastal and riverine morphodynamics and structure-seabed interaction
- Geotechnical storm and flood reconnaissance and mitigation