Environmental Policy

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Landscape Ecology/Ecosystem Modeling and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
The Center has a fully equipped facility for GIS analyses and has extensive experience in the application of these techniques for both assessing historical changes in landscapes and developing the framework for making sound management decisions at the landscape and regional basis. Our systems modeling efforts have been conducted at regional, state, national and global scales and have included several internationally important projects as an assessment of the sustainability of a Thai reservoir and an energy analysis of the entire Amazon Basin.
Dr. Mark T. Brown (Environmental Engineering Sciences)
Larry Harris (Wildlife Ecology and Conservation (Emeritus)

Sustainable Development/Appropriate Technologies
Not only has the Center long been a leader in the area of ecological economics, but through the use of energy analysis, a modeling technique developed by H.T. Odum, we have been building integrative models linking social, economic and ecological factors for development of sound management practices for wetlands, lakes and estuaries. We have always operated with the belief that humans are an integral part of any ecosystem management plan of both the developed and developing world. Our programs in Brazil, Mexico, Spain, and Uganda, among others, have given us a great deal of experience with the realities of the human dimension in wetland conservation and sustainable utilization. We are currently developing strategies for development of harvestable products from wetlands that can lead to sustainable conservation programs for endangered ecosystems. Our research in Florida has been instrumental in demonstrating the multiple use capacity of wetlands in a urbanized landscape and has led to the development of Orlando Wilderness Park, a nature conservation area and waste water treatment wetland for the city of Orlando, Florida.
Dr. Mark T. Brown (Environmental Engineering Sciences)
Dr. Thomas L. Crisman  (Environmental Engineering Sciences)

Wetland Management Policy
The Center has been instrumental in helping numerous Local, State and National governmental agencies develop policy, legislative and regulatory frameworks for the protection of sensitive lands, including wetlands. Working with scientists from Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, planners from the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, and attorneys from the Center for Governmental Responsibility, the Center has developed model Wetlands Protection Ordinances and Model Codes, for local governments as well as provided significant contributions to State and National wetlands policy through task forces of governmental environmental agencies. The Center works closely with the Center for Governmental Responsibility (CGR), University of Florida, for developing enforceable environmental legislation based on sound ecological information. Staff of the CGR have played key roles in development of wetland and coastal development legislation in Florida, and we are capitalizing on this experience to serve the legislative needs of the developing world. We have been working closely with various states of Brazil to tailor the Florida legal experience to meet the realities of their governmental institutions.
Dr. Thomas L. Crisman  (Environmental Engineering Sciences)
Dr. Mark T. Brown (Environmental Engineering Sciences)
Joe Schaefer (Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation)

Environmental Planning
The Center's involvement in environmental planning over the past 25 years has been a main area of research and policy initiative. Research and teaching in this area includes developing techniques for planning and designing sustainable communities and regions as well as developing theories of spatial and temporal organization of systems of humanity and nature. The Center has been involved in numerous research projects that have explored quantitative methods for the evaluation of environmental impacts and analysis of carrying capacity of economic development throughout the world. Research interests include:

* Spatial and Hierarchical Models of Organization
* Temporal Models of Development
* Carrying Capacity Analysis
* Sustainable Development
* Environmental Impact Assessment
* Ecological Design
* Water Management
* Florida's Environmental, Regualtory, and Policy Framework

Dr. Mark T. Brown (Environmental Engineering Sciences)

USIA Funded Work on Wetlands
The Center for Wetlands has a great deal of experience with USIA funded projects dealing with the management of wetland ecosystems:

*Africa. The Center was a cooperator with two centers for African studies, University of Florida and Boston University, in a USIA funded project examining historical trends in land/water management. We coordinated a study tour for approximately thirty scientists from throughout subsaharan Africa designed to learn of the Florida experience with wetland conservation and management. Much of this tour was to sites throughout Florida to see first hand our environmental problems and how such problems are being tackled by state and local agencies.

*Brazil. The Center worked as a cooperator with the Center for Governmental Responsibility, University of Florida on a USIA funded project dealing with management issues for the world's largest wetland, the Pantanal. This project worked closely with governments and universities of two Brazilian states, local non governmental conservation groups and federal agencies concerned with legal and ecological ways to preserve the Pantanal. A large part of this project was to use the Florida experience with wetland management and conservation in general, and the particular experience with the Everglades, as analogs for the Pantanal situation. In addition to workshops in both Brazil and Florida, considerable effort was placed in matching Floridian and Brazilian counterparts so that the latter could come to appropriate state agencies and universities for upgrading of techniques and experiences for dealing with the problems with the Pantanal.

*Uganda. The Center was involved in a USIA funded exchange grant awarded to the Center for African Studies, University of Florida to build a linkage program with Makerere University, Uganda. Again, this was a cooperative effort among social and policy faculty at UF in order to use the Florida experience with environmental management to help Ugandan universities and government develop sustainable resource policy and programs. This linkage has led to faculty exchange and a long term relationship between the University of Florida and Makerere University.

*Uruguay. At the request of USIA, Dr. Crisman traveled to Uruguay to develop linkages with both the University of the Republic and PROBIDES, a non governmental group created to promote sound conservation and management of coastal wetlands and lakes. Through this valuable interchange of experiences for management of subtropical aquatic ecosystems, Dr. Crisman returned to Uruguay to advise the UNDP and World Bank and to perform a detailed evaluation of the PROBIDES program.