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I was raised in South Florida beginning
my life in Miami and moving to Gainesville in 1967. Currently, I am an
Associate Professor in Environmental Engineering Sciences, and direct the programs in Systems Ecology and Ecological Engneering
From 1980, when I received my doctorate degree until 2006, I
was a research scientist and Associate Program Director with the University of Florida’'s Howard
T. Odum Center for Wetlands. In the spring of 2006 I was
appointed Director of the Center for Environmental Policy.
My research has centered on three areas that can be broadly described
as natural resource management, including systems ecology, ecological
engineering, ecological economics, environmental planning,
environmental policy, and wetlands ecology. I have served as
consultant on environmental issues to the EPA, USAID, Governments of
Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Venezuela, and numerous
private consulting firms world-wide. For six years I was consulting
ecologist to The Cousteau Society working with their research teams to
develop appropriate solutions to a wide array of resource management
problems that affect marine resources throughout the world.
My current research includes projects to develop ecological indicators
of wetland ecosystem health, development of indices of success for
restored wetlands, restoration of drastically altered landscapes, and
quantitative evaluation of natural capital and environmental services.
Recently we were awarded an NSF-IGERT project titled "Adaptive Management: Water, Wetlands, and Watersheds. See AMW3-IGERT.
The IGERT program is a multidisciplinary education and training grant for PhD students that involves faculty and students from 18 academic departments in 4 colleges across the UF campus.
Most importantly, I am foremost a teacher. My students are the core of
our program. I believe that graduate education is far more than taking
classes and doing a research project...it is a dialog between student
and professor, between student and student. Through this dialog, we
learn and grow, and our understanding of the biosphere increases. Much
of what I do and the advances we make in understanding how to better
interface humanity and environment has come about because of this
dialog and the hard work of my students. This student/teacher
relationship is self-reinforcing, and the most rewarding part of this
job.
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