2022 Knauss Fellow Spotlight: Gray Vickery

Hometown: Decatur, Georgia Areas of study: B.A. Environmental Science; M.S. Environmental Science and Policy; Graduate Certificate, Project Management   Tell us about your background, previous professional experience and research? I’ve worked in the environmental field for the last seven years, give or take, although I’ve bounced around plenty during that period. After finishing my undergrad…

Sea Grant leads call to action on Greater Amberjack, public input needed

Image credit: Greater Amberjack by Diane Peebles By: Lourdes Rodriguez, 954-577-6363 office, 954-242-8439 mobile, rodriguezl@ufl.edu A gap of knowledge surrounding the status and future of the Greater Amberjack (Seriola dumerili) is the driving force behind a $10 Million project involving the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Florida Sea Grant. The…

Florida Sea Grant mourns the passing of LeRoy Creswell

LeRoy Creswell was a Florida Sea Grant extension agent in St. Lucie County from 2000 to 2011. From 2011 until his retirement in 2019, he was a regional extension program manager for Florida Sea Grant. He passed away last week after a long illness. An educator and researcher, his work focused on aquaculture, water quality, and youth and adult environmental education.   Some of his many accomplishments during his career with Florida Sea Grant included creating and managing a…

Florida Sea Grant, DOH launch outreach to help dog owners protect pets from becoming a blue-green algae fatality statistic

By: Lourdes Rodriguez, 954-577-6363 office, 954-242-8439 mobile, rodriguezl@ufl.edu Some dogs love to swim in the water, and some may even take a bite from fish they locate floating on the water’s surface. The danger comes when dogs are exposed to waters with blue-green algae that are emitting toxins. That blue-green algae, also called cyanobacteria, can…

Some climate change questions answered as hurricane season peaks, wildfires rage

By: Brad Buck, 813-757-2224, bradbuck@ufl.edu, 352-875-2641 (cell)  Wildfires out west? Check. Tropical storms or hurricanes hovering – seemingly everywhere? Check. Those are just two of the potentially catastrophic events caused in part by climate change, say University of Florida experts.  “Our climate is changing and, with that, comes more extreme events,” said Ashley Smyth, an assistant professor of soil…

UF/IFAS wants to hear from those impacted by the red tide of 2017-2019

  By: Brad Buck, UF/IFAS Public Relations Specialist, 813-757-2224, bradbuck@ufl.edu, 352-875-2641 (cell)    University of Florida researchers want to hear from marine businesses impacted by the 2018 red tide event that occurred between October of 2017 and January of 2019.   Respondents will have until September 25 to complete the appropriate online questionnaire.  “We will run the surveys statewide with an initial focus of our analyses in Southwest Florida and then a longer,…

FFWCC awards UF/IFAS Florida Sea Grant $92K to create communication plan alerting public of expected Florida red tide events

FORT PIERCE, Fla. – Harmful algal blooms (HABs) of the toxin-producing dinoflagellate Karenia brevis occur regularly within the Gulf of Mexico. Despite the frequency of these red tide events and the amount of publicly available information, there persists a gap in knowledge about the organism itself, management actions, and the real and perceived health risks to Florida’s residents and tourists.   …