Mission Statement

lThe mission of the Coastal Watershed Institute is to address regional concerns regarding the use and conservation of coastal watersheds by supporting undergraduate and graduate education in marine science and coastal watershed study; by focusing and coordinating university research on coastal environments and the conservation of natural resources; and by disseminating information to the citizens of Southwest Florida to engage and inform them about the health of coastal watersheds and related issues.

About the Coastal Watershed Institute

The Coastal Watershed Institute was created in recognition of the FGCU's unique service area, encompassing all or portions of the following watersheds: Charlotte Harbor including the Peace and Myakka Rivers, the Caloosahatchee River and Lake Okeechobee, Estero Bay, Corkscrew Swamp, Naples Bay, Rookery Bay, the Ten Thousand Islands, and the Florida Everglades and Big Cypress Swamp. Southwest Florida is characterized by diverse and sensitive aquatic habitats as well as by the environmental pressures that accompany rapid population growth. The Institute was therefore established to focus resources on the those areas where terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments meet - coastal watersheds - for it is these systems that must be addressed in order to manage successfully the complex environmental issues facing Southwest Florida.

The Institute is home to FGCU's Marine Science undergraduate program and also sponsors Environmental Science graduate students interested in marine and coastal watershed science. Both of these academic programs provide students with the technical training they will need for an increasingly competitive job market, and both require students to become actively involved in research as part of their educational experience.

In just nine years, Florida Gulf Coast University has made great strides in the fields of watershed study. FGCU has attracted external funding for both research and education and has received national recognition for implementing innovative teaching strategies. These efforts have resulted in the awarding of over $8 million in support of coastal watershed research and education in Florida. Institute faculty currently conduct research on the use of oysters and oyster-reef communities as indicators of ecosystem health and on the influence of changes in freshwater inflow on estuaries downstream. FGCU has also taken a leadership role in restoration coordination in Southwest Florida through its involvement with the Greater Everglades Ecosystem Restoration.