FGCU water school

Weather dictates much of what we are able to do outside in Florida. Storm events, like Hurricane Ian, obviously cause major disruptions. But even an off-shore breeze can prevent a job on the water from being done. That was the next hurdle when it came to deploying FGCU’s newest artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Water School at FGCU recently deployed a new artificial reef complex eight miles off shore from the county line between Collier and Lee. While WGCU is producing a documentary about the reef and the scientific research it hopes to study, we will keep folks informed of the progress of the reef (past and present) with Dispatches from Kimberly’s Reef. Here is the third dispatch which tells how the FGCU reef team hired a marine construction company to make the reef a reality for the fall of 2022.

This spring, The Water School at FGCU deployed a new artificial reef complex eight miles off shore from the county line between Collier and Lee. While WGCU is producing a documentary about the reef and the scientific research it hopes to study, we will keep our friends informed of the progress of the reef and the documentary with Dispatches from Kimberly’s Reef. Here is the second dispatch which tells the story of the creation of the reef complex from cement culverts donated by Oldcastle Infrastructure in Cape Coral.

Florida Gulf Coast University celebrated World Water Day to bring awareness to problems facing global efforts to provide drinking water to all.

Florida Gulf Coast University began installing the base of its new artificial reef, named Kimberly’s Reef, in the Gulf of Mexico. Groups of concrete culverts will create an 11-acre underwater laboratory for scientific experimentation and research.

A major regional climate conference this week brought together a diverse collection of people and their ideas to work together to find a sustainable way of life in the future despite some differing beliefs how to get from here to there. Dozens of community members from environmental nonprofits, academia, community groups, and local, state, and federal governments attended the day-long Southwest Florida Climate and Community Summit in Naples.

In a talk at Florida Gulf Coast University's The Water School, Maya K. van Rossum urged students and staff to become involved not only in a statewide effort to change the Florida Constitution to include the right to access clean water, but to work to ensure everybody can experience a healthy environment.

Storm surge from Hurricane Ian torn through Vester Marine Research Station, taking research data, samples and more with it.

Dr. James Douglass of the FGCU Water School, along with two FGCU biology students, Tori Guarino and Carter Oleckna, are on a mission to restore the pond at Fairwinds in Bonita Springs, from both a plant and water quality standpoint. The project could become a model for other communities in Southwest Florida.