For 17 years as an Extension agent with the Florida Sea Grant program at University of Florida, Betty Staugler has been based at the UF/IFAS Extension’s Charlotte County office, helping coastal residents and people whose livelihoods depend on the marine ecosystem deal with issues including harmful algal blooms in southwest Florida.
Sea Grant is a program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that’s administered in Florida through the University of Florida.
Staugler is now taking on a new role now as NOAA’s Harmful Algal Bloom Liaison, where she’ll work with two other NOAA programs to coordinate harmful algal bloom communications: the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), and the NOAA CoastWatch/OceanWatch/PolarWatch Program (NOAA CoastWatch).
Her work will include developing new data-driven communication tools about harmful algal blooms to better serve decision-makers in addressing this growing concern.
