UF Howard T. Odum Center for Wetlands

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UF Howard T. Odum Center for Wetlands

Interdisciplinary wetlands research & education, emphasizing sustainable patterns of humanity & env.

09/03/2026

How are climate change and human activities reshaping the world’s freshwater resources?

Join us for a livestreamed webinar featuring Fangfang Yao, Ph.D., assistant professor in the School of Geosciences at the University of South Florida.

In “Understanding the Changing Water Cycle and Water Crises in the Anthropocene,” Dr. Yao will explore how climate warming, dams, water use and river diversions are changing freshwater availability from mountain headwaters to lakes and reservoirs downstream. He will also discuss how advances in remote sensing and hydrological modeling are helping researchers track these changes and better understand their implications for ecosystems and societies.

📅 September 9, 2026
🕚 11:45 a.m.
💻 Watch live on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com//streams

08/25/2026

Did you know? Peat can develop rapidly beneath maturing mangrove forests.

Join us Sept. 2 for the first Water, Wetlands, and Watersheds Seminar of the fall semester with Mike Osland, Ph.D., research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Wetland and Aquatic Research Center.

Osland will share research on 25 years of ecosystem change in maturing mangrove forests and the rapid development of peat beneath them.

📅 Sept. 2 from 11:45 AM to 12:35 PM ET
📍 Phelps Lab 101 (University of Florida for in-person attendance)
💻 Livestream available at https://www.youtube.com//streams

08/21/2026

In 1973, Howard T. Odum (pictured) started the Wetland Seminar at the University of Florida. This fall, we continue that tradition with another great lineup of speakers and topics for the Water, Wetlands, and Watersheds Seminar (W3).

Seminars will be a combination of in-person and livestreamed via YouTube and Zoom and will take place once a month from 11:45 a.m. to 12:35 p.m., ET at UF’s Phelps Lab 101.

The first seminar will take place on September 2 with Dr. Mike Osland from the U.S. Geological Survey. Dr. Osland is a research ecologist who will speak about how maturing mangrove forests can rapidly build peat.

See the fall lineup in the graphic or visit https://cfw.essie.ufl.edu/seminars/.

08/17/2026

Please help us welcome Abby Worth to the UF Center for Coastal Solutions!

Abby is one of our newest Research Fellows and will be working with Dr. David Kaplan to better understand and manage Florida's coastal wetlands through field research and spatial analysis.

Her journey into coastal research started with an undergraduate internship studying mangrove ecology in Miami, where she discovered she could turn her love of the coast and the outdoors into a career.

A fun fact about Abby? She grew up exploring the Great Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee. So while the mountains were her first playground, Florida's coasts have become her passion.

We're excited to have Abby as part of the CCS community. Welcome to the Gator Nation! 🐊

08/05/2026

Dispatches from the Field | 2026 National Wetland Condition Assessment

Isabella Saldarriaga says that it has been great working outdoors in unpredictable environments. This is her report from the field.

🕷️ "One day you're brushing through vines, and the next day you're avoiding the spider webs! Sure, we have our aerial maps that give us a gauge for what to expect, like if we're dealing with a forested or scrub/shrub environment. But oftentimes, field observations differ from what you would get from a desktop."

🥾 "Not to mention, no one could have prepared me for the hiking and the muck! I have learned some handy skills in how to walk with stability on unstable terrain, including things like the cypress knees and rather large debris."

🌿 "All in all, I thoroughly enjoy inputting vegetation data and recognizing the common and uncommon wetland plant species."

Stay tuned for more Dispatches from the Field as we follow Florida's crew throughout the 2026 field season.

Pictured below is Isabella at Tate's Hell State Forest and Cypress knees in Volusia County, Florida

07/29/2026

Congratulations to Scott Lee Young and co-authors on the publication of their paper, "The Annual Modulation of Subtidal Estuarine Dynamics by the Gulf Stream," in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans!

Featured in the journal's July 2026 issue, the study explores how the Gulf Stream influences Florida's St. Lucie Estuary. The team found that the Gulf Stream plays a much bigger role in shaping estuarine dynamics than previously thought, even explaining more of the estuary's subtidal water-level variability than river discharge or local winds.

These findings improve our understanding of how estuaries function and have important implications for predicting water quality, contaminant transport, sediment movement, and coastal resilience. They also highlight why offshore ocean processes should be part of the conversation when managing estuaries.

Congratulations to the research team on this exciting contribution!

To read the paper, visit https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JC023813

07/27/2026

Dispatches from the Field | 2026 National Wetland Condition Assessment

Science happens one water sample at a time.

Abby and Gavriel have developed a great system as they work together to gather water samples that will help to assess the health of wetlands in Florida and across the United States.

07/20/2026

Dispatches from the Field | 2026 National Wetland Condition Assessment

Meet the Florida crew!

From left to right are Abby Worth, Anthony “Barefoot Tony” Davanzo, Gavriel Cambridge, and Isabella Saldarriaga.

This photo was taken at Potts Preserve along the western banks of the Withlacoochee River in central Florida. The crew is taking part in a nationwide survey conducted by the EPA to assess the ecological health of wetlands across the United States.

Stay tuned for more Dispatches from the Field as we follow the crew throughout the season.

07/15/2026

The 3rd Annual Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS) Student Virtual Conference will take place July 31–August 1, 2026. Organized by the SWS Student Section, this free virtual conference provides an opportunity for students to:

• Present their research through oral or poster presentations
• Build professional development skills through workshops
• Network with students and professionals from around the world who share an interest in wetland science
• Daily Plenary sessions

Graduate and undergraduate students are encouraged to submit an abstract (no fee) for the student presentation competition, where winners will receive a $75 cash prize.

Whether you're looking to share your research, receive feedback, or expand your professional network, we'd love to have you join us!

Conference Website and abstract submission link at https://sws.org/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=2063370

We look forward to seeing the exciting research being conducted across the wetland science community!

It is not a requirement to present to be a participant in the conference. If you are interested in attending, register by using the conference website.

07/07/2026

We are proud to once again lead Florida's participation in the 2026 National Wetland Condition Assessment - a nationwide survey conducted every five years to assess the ecological health of wetlands across the US, led by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Learn more about this nationwide effort and the students, researchers, and faculty at UF making it possible.

Address

1953 Museum Road
Gainesville, FL
32611

Telephone

+13523922424

Website

https://cfw.essie.ufl.edu/

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