Although the Atlantic hurricane season has officially ended, Floridians’ woes over severe weather and soaring homeowners’ insurance costs still linger. A new Florida Atlantic University survey finds hurricanes and other climate-related threats are causing many Floridians to consider moving.
Dean Valery Forbes, Ph.D., Ines Haberle, Ph.D., a biological sciences postdoctoral fellow, and undergraduate student Lorena Martins attended the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) North America Annual Meeting in Portland.
Researchers from the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science used drones and field surveys to study how environmental and human factors affect loggerhead sea turtle nest site selection on a high-density beach in Boca Raton.
The project is led by Michelle L. Petersen , Ph.D., assistant research professor in the Department of Biological Sciences , Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, and director of the Environmental Science Program in the School of Environmental, Coastal and Ocean Sustainability.
Nearly 70 faculty members from Florida Atlantic University have been recognized among the world’s top 2% of scientists, including 18 experts from the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science whose research spans psychology, astrophysics, urban planning, complex systems and brain sciences, biochemistry, geosciences, environmental science and theoretical physics.
More than a decade of acoustic recordings of grouper grunts are providing new insight into how sound can be used to monitor and manage vulnerable fish populations. The research by Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute focused on the red hind (Epinephelus guttatus), a commercially important Caribbean grouper species.
Andia Chaves-Fonnegra, Ph.D., an associate professor of biology at Florida Atlantic University ’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute and Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College has been awarded a five-year, $720,446 grant from the United States EPA to support a pioneering project aimed at restoring sponge populations in Florida Bay through a genetics-based approach.
A manatee that had been successfully rehabilitated after a suspected boat strike injury was released Wednesday, Sept. 25, at Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce.
“Shark skin is far more dynamic than people realize,” said Marianne E. Porter, Ph.D., senior author and an associate professor of biological sciences in FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. “Our study shows that as bonnethead sharks grow, their skin doesn’t just get bigger – it transforms in ways that improve swimming performance and provide greater protection.
As sand temperatures continue to rise, concerns about the future of sea turtles are growing. Hotter nests not only skew sex ratios – producing more females – but also reduce hatchling survival, slow growth, and increase the likelihood of physical deformities. Yet one important and often overlooked question remains: does this heat also affect cognitive ability – how well hatchlings can learn, adapt and respond to the rapidly changing world they face from the moment they emerge?