FIU Institute of Environment

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From the coral reefs in the deep ocean to the wetlands of the Everglades, the FIU Institute of Environment is advancing the science and technology needed to address complex water and environmental issues locally, nationally and globally.

Six FIU researchers, led by Dr. Heather Bracken-Grissom, dove aboard the submersible Alvin to the Beebe/Piccard hydrothe...
09/24/2026

Six FIU researchers, led by Dr. Heather Bracken-Grissom, dove aboard the submersible Alvin to the Beebe/Piccard hydrothermal vent field, the deepest known on Earth at over 5,000 meters. There, they studied how vent shrimp navigate total darkness without conventional vision.

“It felt as if I left Earth and was transported to a different planet,” said Bracken-Grissom.

Read the full story, link in bio.

ATTENTION GRAD STUDENTS AND PLANT LOVERS❗️🌱Applications are now open for Tropical Botany 2027, a 50 year legacy course i...
09/22/2026

ATTENTION GRAD STUDENTS AND PLANT LOVERS❗️🌱

Applications are now open for Tropical Botany 2027, a 50 year legacy course in tropical plant biology and systematics at FIU’s International Center for Tropical Botany at The Kampong (ICTB).

Reviewed on a rolling basis starting in late October. Questions? Contact: [email protected]

APPLY NOW, link in bio.

This summer, former FIU graduate student Demonica Brown was back in the pineyards of Abaco — this time asking how a rece...
09/18/2026

This summer, former FIU graduate student Demonica Brown was back in the pineyards of Abaco — this time asking how a recent wildfire influenced Abaco Parrot nesting.

Abaco Parrots are the only parrots in the Western Hemisphere that nest underground, in limestone cavities. Her thesis asked which landscape features shape nest-site selection — not just the limestone cavity, but the pineyard around it. One of her key findings: time since fire mattered. Nest sites were more likely to occur in recently burned pineyards.

That result is what sent her back into the field. This summer she returned after a wildfire to test the fire–nesting link more directly, comparing nesting activity in burned and unburned pineyards, with surveys from before the fire as a baseline.

She also piloted a study using acoustic recorders to characterize parrot vocalizations and track space use and movement within their breeding range. This will also improve understanding of how the birds move through the year between pine forest and coppice (their non-breeding habitat). Demonica has since returned to The Bahamas to continue supporting avian conservation locally.

This work was funded by: DOD Northern Command, USDA, Forest Service Cooperative Agreement 22-CA-11132762-395; UGS/ORED; Wilson Family Foundation; LACC and the Tinker Foundation, Inc.; Neotropical Bird Club; Wilson Ornithological Society; Parker Foundation; Zoo Miami

Mosquitoes that bite frogs may hold the key to detecting the diseases that threaten them. FIU MS student Astrid Lisondro...
09/10/2026

Mosquitoes that bite frogs may hold the key to detecting the diseases that threaten them. FIU MS student Astrid Lisondro, from the Catenazzi Lab, is testing which mosquito-collection techniques work best, and are least invasive, for identifying a fungus affecting frog populations worldwide. Her work contributes to a better understanding of Neotropical amphibians, and to their long-term conservation.

All photos in this post courtesy of Astrid Lisondro.
🦟🐸🔬

09/08/2026

How fast can a forest heal itself?

Nicholas SirLouis, PhD candidate at ICTB, studies forests that are regrowing naturally after being cleared across the lowlands and highlands of Costa Rica.

Along with his team of local collaborators, Nicholas measures tree size to estimate carbon storage, identifies species to track biodiversity, and studies leaf, wood and root traits to understand forest function, things like water filtration and carbon capture.
His research helps guide conservation priorities and strengthens Costa Rica’s Payment for Ecosystem Service program.

Not all plants live on the ground, some live on the trees! 👀🌳 In close collaboration with the Jardín Botánico de Quito...
09/03/2026

Not all plants live on the ground, some live on the trees! 👀🌳 In close collaboration with the Jardín Botánico de Quito , FIU and NYBG PhD student Meredith Preve spent the summer in the hyper-diverse but threatened cloud forests of Ecuador surveying plants in the family Araceae (aroids) that climb and cling to trees. Odds are good you’ve met an aroid before, as many are popular houseplants.

Meredith’s research combines conservation and fundamental ecology. In the field she recorded abundance, richness, age class, and life form of all aroid individuals on host trees across five land use types (think undisturbed forests all the way to pastures) to determine which aroids are most resilient and which are in the greatest need of urgent conservation action at a landscape scale. This work may someday help in making conservation decisions for other plant families with similar growth habits.

This work was made possible with the collaboration of Mashpi Lodge (Mashpi Lodge | Quito Rainforest Hotel ), Chontaloma Reserve (ChontaLoma Reserva ), Mashpi Shungo Reserva (Mashpi Chocolate ), and Fundacion FCAT (Fundación FCAT ), and with support from The Garden Club of America, the Tropical Fern and Exotic Plant Society, and the Coral Gables Garden Club.

08/20/2026

Meet Kevin Montiel, PhD student at FIU, studying how microbes interact with soil and sawgrass roots.
Kevin study these plants literally from the seed. In his project, seeds are collected, processed, sterilized and grown in the greenhouse. Once mature, plants are measured and their roots scanned to study their complexity and structure.

Why sawgrass? It’s part of our dear “river of grass” that flows from the northern Everglades all the way to the Florida Bay. It’s an important component of this ecosystem and the Everglades depend on it. But remember, even though it’s called sawgrass, it’s not a grass but a sedge!

What lives beneath Biscayne Bay?Dr. Jessica Cardé from FIU’s Marine Ecology Lab is studying how human activity, prey ava...
08/13/2026

What lives beneath Biscayne Bay?
Dr. Jessica Cardé from FIU’s Marine Ecology Lab is studying how human activity, prey availability, and predation risk shape the way bottlenose dolphins use one of South Florida’s most urban waterways.
To understand dolphin behavior, researchers also need to understand the underwater world dolphins are moving through. That includes the fish and marine life present at different sites, as well as the predator landscape they share with large sharks.
The team is using BRUVs, or baited remote underwater video systems, across Biscayne Bay. For this project, a BRUV is a baited stainless steel frame with a GoPro attached that records marine life below the surface.
So far, the team has placed BRUVs at more than 200 sites across Biscayne Bay, from Haulover Inlet to Barnes Sound. The footage helps researchers document what marine life appears, where it appears, and how activity changes across the bay.
This work is also powered by undergraduate interns, who help review and annotate hours of underwater footage while gaining hands-on experience in marine ecology research.
In a bay shaped by both wildlife and people, research like this helps reveal the hidden connections beneath the surface.

08/11/2026

Meet Carludovica palmata, the tropical plant behind one of the world’s most iconic hats. Its fibers are traditionally used to make the famous Panama hat. which, despite its name, actually originated in Ecuador.

Arctic permafrost has stored carbon for thousands of years. As it thaws, that carbon is released into the atmosphere, an...
08/06/2026

Arctic permafrost has stored carbon for thousands of years. As it thaws, that carbon is released into the atmosphere, and current climate models don’t fully account for it yet.
That gap has real consequences for South Florida. As Dr. Jayantha Obeysekera, Director of FIU’s Sea Level Solutions Center said in this interview for the Miami Herald, “We’re very flat, so a few inches in sea levels rise matter a lot.”

Link in bio for the full article.

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11200 SW 8th Street
Miami, FL
33199

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Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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