Background Information

From the Florida panhandle, in the state’s extreme northwest, to its most southern point nearly in the tropics, we will explore an incredible diversity of habitats that contain an unmatched variety of rare plant and animal species. This includes black bears, American alligators, gopher tortoises, Florida panthers, ospreys, bobcats, manatees, and a dizzying variety of other creatures. Ranging from endangered and rare birds and insects in the sky to fish, corals, and amphibians in the state’s diverse aquatic habitats, our team will undertake field studies on foot, canoe and airboat, camping and living completely outdoors, immersed in Florida’s spectacular subtropical ecosystem.

One of the reasons for Florida’s unmatched habitat diversity is its dynamic recent geological history. As ice ages came and went throughout the past several hundred thousands of years, much of the state was repeatedly consumed by the sea as global sea levels rose and then exposed again as they fell. Sandhills, for instance, are essentially remnants of ancient coastal sand dunes which today are found inland and are home to one of the state’s most threatened ecosystems and its associated plants and animals. As ongoing climate change threatens to drive sea levels up once again—in a state where much of the land is only several feet above the current water line—the geologic past will almost certainly be repeated. The big difference now is that millions of people live in the most at-risk areas. Where will these people go when coastal cities are inundated by the sea? And what will become of Florida’s wild coasts, forests, and wildlife as the physical and cultural environments are dramatically shifted? Our field studies will focus on how to make sense of this great challenge, as well as the changes that are occurring throughout the region even without the added effects of climate change, as we explore some of the most biodiverse and unique, yet increasingly threatened, ecosystems on Earth.