SNRE Administration's Activies

By James C. Cato, PhD

One of our goals as managers of the School of Natural Resources and Environment is to continually make contributions beyond the borders of the campus. We do this by contributing to state or national committees or boards and through service to non-governmental organizations. This keeps us and our students “connected” to real-world and current problems and issues. For example, Steve Humphrey, Director of Academic Programs, serves as a trustee to both the Florida Chapter of the Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB). I currently serve as an appointed member of the Florida Oceans and Coastal Council (FOCC) which advises Florida’s state agencies and other ocean research organizations on coastal and ocean research priorities and issues to achieve more effective coastal management.

Steve has been on the TNC board since 1982, was board chair from 1987-89, and now serves on the executive committee and chairs the nominating committee. Florida TNC works in the private real estate market to purchase environmentally sensitive lands for conservation. He started on the SCB Board in 1990 as Chief Financial Officer, became trustee in 2003 and continues to manage the organization’s endowment. The SCB is an international scientific society that publishes a highly respected journal, Conservation Biology, and a popular magazine, Conservation, supports chapters on each continent and holds global and chapter scientific conferences for the membership and other interested persons.

The FOCC has recently been involved in two projects of high importance to the state. The first is a study completed by the National Ocean Economics Program that determined the economic value of Florida’s ocean and coastal economy. Florida’s coastal economy (all economic activity in the state’s 35 coastal counties) contributed over $562 billion in gross state product in 2006 (including the multiplier effect). This represents 79% of all economic activity in the state and means that this activity is occurring in 35 of Florida’s 67 counties. Florida has 20 major population centers and 15 of them are located around a bay, an estuary or the mouth of a river that flows into the ocean. Florida’s ocean economy (economic activity using ocean resources as an input) contributed $25 billion in economic activity in 2005. Florida is number one in the nation in cruise ship passengers, recreational saltwater fishing, beach visits and seasonal homes. In fact, 72 percent of the ocean economy is generated in the tourism and recreation sector and another 18 percent in marine transportation. I presented these data on behalf of the FOCC to Governor Charlie Crist and the Cabinet in late September. A key point of the discussion was the importance of our natural ocean and coastal resources and the need to use them in a sustainable way. They make a huge contribution to our state’s economic activity; people either use them directly or want to live close to them because of their non-market value. The complete study is on the FOCC website at http://www.floridaoceanscouncil.org/ .

The second project currently underway is a report on the effects of climate change on Florida’s ocean and coastal resources. The goal of this project is to provide a foundation for future discussions of the effects of global climate change on Florida’s ocean and coastal resources, and to inform Floridians about the current state of scientific knowledge regarding climate change and how it is likely to affect Florida. It provides important information for legislators, policymakers, governmental agencies, and members of the public who are working to address, or who are interested in issues related to climate change in Florida. The report will be presented to the new Florida Energy and Climate Commission. Four principal drivers of climate change are analyzed. They include increasing greenhouse gases, increasing atmospheric temperature and water vapor, increasing ocean temperature and increasing sea level. For each driver, three scenarios are presented: what we know; what is probable; what is possible. All the information in the report is based on published scientific evidence. Examples of the effects of climate change on ocean and coastal resources include ocean acidification, altered rainfall and runoff patterns, coral bleaching and disease and threats to coastal water supplies. The report is scheduled for completion in January 2009 and will be available on the FOCC website.

Additional Information
James C. Cato, PhD
Senior Associate Dean and Director
School of Natural Resources and Environment
(352) 273-3467
jccato@ufl.edu

Stephen Humprehy, PhD
Director of Academic Programs
School of Natural Resources and Environment
(352) 392-9230
humphrey@ufl.edu