The
ERF 2001 Conference Steering Committee Has Many Partners
U.S. Geological Survey Coastal Center
in St. Pete
Kimberley Yates
The U.S. Geological Survey established a coastal research center
in 1988 next to the University of South Florida (USF) Marine Science
Campus in St. Petersburg, FL. The Center was initially established
to extend the presence of the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology
Program (CMGP) to the Southeastern US and Gulf Coastal States.
Starting with a staff of 3 in 1988, the Center has grown to over
90 research and support personnel in the ensuing decade and a
half and now routinely works on issues both national and international
in scope.
The Center is leading the way in the Tampa Bay Pilot Project,
an effort to integrate science from all the disciplines to focus
on the complex, interdependent research issues for estuaries along
the Gulf Coast. The Center has been active in the South Florida
research initiative since its inception and has a well-established,
continuing research effort in corals throughout the Caribbean
and in the Pacific U.S. protectorates. Of recent note, scientists
at the Center have hypothesized an effect of atmospheric dust
and aerosols on coral reef health and have developed a means to
measure coral reef respiration in-situ.
The USGS is actively pursuing a research agenda that will strengthen
the role of estuarine research within the Federal science agency.
Foremost is the incorporation of the Biological Research Division
(BRD) into the Survey's traditional mapping, hydrologic, and geologic
disciplines. Biologists are actively being recruited to the Center
staff and the Center has close working relationships with the
USGS Florida Caribbean Science Center in Gainesville, FL and the
USGS National Wetland Research Center in Lafayette, LA.
The Center first moved into the Studebaker Building, a historic
20,000 sq. ft structure built in the 1920's, and more than doubled
its space in 1996 with the second Gettings Building, preserving
the architectural style. The building is located at 600 Fourth
Street South next to the USF St. Petersburg campus. ERF 2001 conference
attendees are invited to visit the facility.
For more information about the USGS Coastal Center see: http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/
For more information about South Florida research see: http://sofia.usgs.gov/
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