UF Howard T. Odum Center for Wetlands

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/.

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! 🐊

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

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

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.

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.

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.

🌿 Wetland science season is officially underway!

The Howard T. Odum Center for Wetlands at the University of Florida has launched field operations for the 2026 National Wetland Condition Assessment (NWCA), part of a nationwide, EPA-funded effort to evaluate the ecological condition of wetlands across the United States.

This summer our field crew will travel across Florida sampling over 50 wetlands in forests, floodplains, marshes, and coastal systems to help build one of the most comprehensive wetland monitoring datasets in the country. The work supports long-term wetland science, restoration, management, and protection efforts at state and national scales.

This year’s crew is learning the ropes from lab OG Alexis Jackson and includes new members Gavriel Cambridge, Abby Worth, and Isabella Saldarriaga, along with legendary field botanist “Barefoot Tony” Davanzo leading plant ID.

This is the kind of hands-on science that the Center for Wetlands has been proud to help lead for decades. Keep your eyes peeled for more updates from the field, and remember: Get your feet wet!



UF Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure & Environment- ESSIE

UF Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering

Congratulations to Renee Price, Ph.D., a from the UF Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure & Environment- ESSIE!

Her research focuses on hydrologic variability, monitoring strategies and ecological recovery in geographically isolated wetlands across Central Florida. By linking hydrology, vegetation and monitoring, her work advances how we set restoration targets, assess performance and manage wetland ecosystems over the long term.

During her doctoral journey, Renee has been nothing short of remarkable — working full-time while earning her Ph.D. and delivering thoughtful, high-quality analyses every step of the way. Post-graduation, she will continue her work as a Senior Scientist V at RES. We are so proud to celebrate her achievements and excited to see what comes next! 🐊🎓