Indian River Lagoon Symposium Kicks Off in Fort Pierce

Florida Tech Well Represented with 12 Sessions, Presentations

MELBOURNE, FLA. — Florida Institute of Technology, home of the Indian River Lagoon Research Institute, is offering presentations on a variety of topics at the 2015 Indian River Lagoon Symposium today and Friday at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute’s Johnson Education Center in Fort Pierce.

John Windsor, a professor and program chair of Marine and Environmental Systems at Florida Tech, was one of eight people on the symposium’s steering committee, which helped define the goals for the two-day gathering. Those goals include fostering collaborations and discussions among scientists, students, education and outreach professionals, and decision makers and increasing public awareness of the IRL and its ecological and economic importance.

Florida Tech is well represented in presenting technical and poster sessions, as well, with the university leading or participating in 12 different talks. The topics are varied, from a look at the muddy muck that is so prevalent in the lagoon to an examination of the “biology and conservation status” of one of the lagoon’s more mysterious denizens, the Florida East Coast diamondback terrapin.

The theme of the symposium is, “Indian River Lagoon: Lessons, Challenges, and Opportunities.” Registration has closed for today’s sessions, but the afternoon session is available via live streaming at https://echo.fau.edu/ess/echo/presentation/90e82042-9ed3-44be-b41c-c243a051d22b.

Many area residents are expected at a public forum from 9 a.m. to noon Friday.  The forum will focus on “citizen science,” or how the public can participate in lagoon-based scientific research.

To learn more about Florida Tech’s Indian River Lagoon Research Institute, which is a collaboration of the university’s scientists, engineers, coastal resource managers and educators working independently and with community organizations to improve and sustain the health of the Indian River Lagoon, please visit http://research.fit.edu/irlri/.

For more information on the symposium, please visit www.indianriverlagoon.org/Symposium.html.

Editors/Producers: A listing of Florida Tech-led sessions is available by contacting University News Bureau Chief Adam Lowenstein at adam@fit.edu or (321) 674-8964.

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