Felicia Coleman, director of Florida State's Coastal and Marine Laboratory.

NATO

When the North Atlantic Treaty Organization wanted to assess the best technology for aiding the environmental cleanup of retired Soviet military installations in Eastern Europe, it turned to Roy Herndon and John Moerlins of Florida State’s Institute for International Cooperative Environmental Research.


NOAA

When the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration wanted to develop better predictors of
seasonal hurricane activity, it turned to James O’Brien
of Florida State’s Center for Ocean-Atmospheric
Prediction Studies.


PEW CHARITABLE TRUST

When the Pew Charitable Trust wanted to gauge the
effect of recreational fishing for reef species against
that of commercial fishing, it turned to Felicia Coleman of Florida State’s Coastal and Marine Laboratory.

RETHINKING TYRANNOSAURUS REX

Using novel analytical techniques, Florida State biology professor Greg Erickson has changed the way people think about dinosaurs, showing us that the tyrannosaurus rex and its relatives were not merely big lizards. In his research, which was featured in Science in 2006, Erickson analyzes the bones and teeth of dinosaurs and works with ecologists to paint a vivid picture of the life cycle of these unique creatures.

ANTARCTIC SEDIMENT CORES

A research destination for scientists from around the world, Florida State’s Antarctic Marine Geology Research Facility in Tallahassee was established by the National Science Foundation for the storage and study of marine sediment cores. Since the facility’s creation in 1963, it has housed one of the world’s largest collections of marine sediment cores and is the sole repository in the United States for marine sediments from the Antarctic region. These cores capture 80 million years of history for the Antarctic continent.

Florida State geologist Professor Woody Wise inspects one of hundreds of marine sediment cores permanently stored in near freezing temperatures at the Antarctic Marine Geology Research Facility in Tallahassee.



Professor Louis St. Laurent's research was described in a 2007 issue of Nature.

DYNAMIC OCEAN CURRENTS
Florida State oceanography professor Louis St. Laurent has found evidence that deep-water turbulence swirling in the small passageways of undersea mountain ranges is generating much of the mixing of warm and cold waters in the Atlantic Ocean. St. Laurent’s research was described in a 2007 issue of Nature.


DIGITIZING FLORA AND FAUNA

Through National Science Foundation funding, Austin Mast is digitizing records at Florida State’s Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium and merging them with similar records in the Southeast. Plant research that currently takes months will soon be possible with only a few mouse clicks. Using sophisticated satellite and computer methods, our geography faculty members are also documenting flora, fauna and other important natural features in an environmental inventory that will be crucial in documenting global change.

SPONGE DECLINE HURTS REEFS

In a study of Caribbean sponges that has drawn the attention of marine ecologists worldwide, Florida State assistant professor Janie Wulff has made some startling discoveries about the health of coral reefs. Her 14-year study documented a big drop in the number of species and abundance of sponges, an important discovery because sponges filter small particles, including bacteria, out of the water; glue living corals onto the reef; and help regenerate damaged reefs.



Florida State’s T.N. Krishnamurti is internationally recognized as a pioneer in numerical weather predicting.

SUPERENSEMBLE HURRICANE FORECASTS

Meteorology professor T.N. Krishnamurti is internationally recognized as a pioneer in numerical weather predicting. His innovative Superensemble forecasting method has shown enormous potential in accurately predicting hurricanes, droughts and floods. In 1999, he became one of the few Americans ever to win the International Meteorological Organization Prize, the world’s top meteorology award.

CARBON BALANCE IN MINNESOTA

Florida State faculty scientists Jeff Chanton and William T. Cooper, through a National Science Foundation research grant, are studying the carbon balance in Minnesota’s peatlands. The pair’s research is a creative method of examining potential effects of global warming and predicting the future magnitude of that warming.

HURRICANE HAZARD MITIGATION

Bob Deyle, a professor of urban and regional planning, is an expert on hurricane hazard mitigation and disaster recovery planning. He has developed a model risk-based emergency management assessment program for officials whose decisions could have billion-dollar consequences. Deyle’s research has also received national attention from county managers and the insurance industry.

DEBATES OVER FISHERIES

The Florida State-Mote International Symposium in Fisheries Ecology series explores emerging problems in fisheries science. Leading scientists from around the world meet in Florida to debate controversial questions whose answers are needed to drive policy. As a result, new ideas generated at past symposia have shaped research on many critical issues in fisheries science.


AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY

Anthony Socci (Ph.D., ’82), a senior science and communications fellow with the American Meteorological Society, is a national and international expert on global climate change. He hosts monthly environmental sciences briefings on Capitol Hill and co-hosts a series of workshops aimed at improving the media coverage of science.

CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL

One of the world’s most distinguished conservationists, Claude Gascon (Ph.D., ’90) is senior vice president of field support programs and the neotropics division for Conservation International (CI), a non-profit organization working to protect the environment and life on Earth. He coordinates technical support functions for CI’s field programs in more than 40 countries on four continents.

NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER

As a past director of the National Hurricane Center, meteorologist Max Mayfield (M.S.,’87) was the person millions of Americans depended on to keep them informed and safe when a hurricane was approaching.
During his seven years as director, Mayfield coordinated a team of experts who used satellites, radar, computers and other scientific tools to gather the most accurate and up-to-date hurricane information possible.


Anthony Socci (Ph.D., ’82)


Mark Thiemens (Ph.D.,'77)

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-SAN DIEGO

As a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the dean of the University of California-San Diego’s Division of Physical Sciences, Mark Thiemens (Ph.D.,’77) ranks among an elite group of scientific leaders who help guide the nation’s agenda in research. Thiemens is also a founder of UCSD’s Center for Environmental Research and Training.

GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY

As head of the School of Environmental Planning at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, Neil Sipe (Ph.D.,’96) is an FSU graduate who influences environmental policy and research beyond U.S. borders.
Sipe is an authority on environmental issues involving
transportation, landfills and sustainability.

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII

An internationally recognized oceanographer with the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, David Karl (M.S.,’74) was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2006 for his work in environmental sciences and ecology.

WATEREUSE ASSOCIATION

Lauren Walker-Coleman (B.S.,’96 and M.S.,’02), the state of Florida’s primary water reuse specialist, has been named the 2007 “Person of the Year” by the WateReuse Association – the nation’s pre-eminent association for water reuse.


Lauren Walker-Coleman (B.S.,’96 and M.S.,’02)

Florida State University’s new medical school building.

Home to members of the National Academy of Sciences; the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Pulitzer Prize winners; Nobel Prize winners; and Oscar winners

$200 million a year in funded research

$16 million a year in environmental sciences research

40,000 students, of whom 8,000 are graduate students, from across the nation and around the world

College of Law has the nation’s 10th best environmental law program, according to U.S. News & World Report

Environmental sciences agenda includes global carbon budgets, water reuse, aquatic nutrient levels, ocean circulation and underground aquifers