Springs and Karst Rivers
Florida boasts the highest density of 1st magnitude springs in the world, and some of the most storied springs in the world (Silver, Wakulla, Rainbow, Ichetucknee). As we've made progress understanding these systems, their environmental properties (unparalleled thermal, discharge, and chemical stability; extraordinarily clear water) make them absolutely incredible model systems, a fact reflected in their use in H.T. Odum's early work on ecosystem metabolism and trophic structure.
Isolated Wetlands
Geographically isolated wetlands are critically imperiled ecosystems; by virtue of being small and not always obviously hydrologically connected, they are under-valued by our regulatory framework for wetlands protection. However, they are particularly well situated to confer to all of us the many services that wetlands provide, and because they are small and only intermittently flooded, they provide a critically important habitat setting, supporting far more than their share of threatened and rare taxa.
Forest Watersheds and Streams
We work in the Santa Fe River, a river in north Florida that adopts the character of a black-water system at times, and is more similar to a spring-fed river at others. We use sensors to document the temporal variation of solutes that are both ecologically meaningful (nutrients, dissolved organic carbon), and that also serve as proxies for water source, their concentration can assist in deconvolving the provenance of water at all times.
Big Cypress and Everglades
Our work in the Everglades, and the Big Cypress National Preserve, is fundamentally focused on autogenic patterned landscapes. These sites exhibit surface topography and spatial patch arrangements that can only be understood as emerging from local and spatial ecological interactions. Restoration requires that we understand the underlying processes and appropriately diagnose when they are in decline.
At this time, we have need of students interested in challenging field work. Occasionally there is a need to fill a lab technician slot, with a range of tasks including sample preparation, routine instrument work, and laboratory assistance.
Check back frequently - several pending projects are expected to begin shortly.
A four-year funded PhD is being offered in the topic area of riverine nutrient processing in the context of Florida's new numeric nutrient criteria. Please visit the Water Institute Graduate Fellows website for more information.
If you're interested in a general sense in working in the lab as a post-doc, email me with CV, cover letter and some relevant reprints via email.