Almost three months after a devastating fire that destroyed most of USF's Marine Science Lab on the St. Petersburg campus, the college continues bouncing back.
It recently received $1.5 million in federal money to buy new equipment to enhance its coastal hazard forecasting of hurricanes, storm surge, red tide and other natural dangers.
The funding is part of a spending package enacted in February, aiming to support seven different projects on both USF campuses.
Tom Frazer, dean of the College of Marine Science, said while the money’s purpose is not exactly to make up for the losses from the fire, it helps keep USF from falling behind.
“That money was designed and allocated very, very specifically for the acquisition of oceanographic instrumentation and very specifically for the fabrication of the buoy and the instrumentation of that buoy, as well as the acquisition of an autonomous underwater glider,” he said.
Frazer said the buoys have instruments that allow researchers to record things like the temperature and salinity of the water, as well as measure the direction of water movement.
When the information from the buoy is coupled with meteorological data, he said it allows scientists to better forecast things like the intensification of hurricanes, where the water is moving and what storm surge could look like as a consequence of a hurricane in the region.
Part of the forecasting is also done by underwater gliders, which have sensors that allow researchers to understand and better prepare for events like red tide formations.
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Frazer said the investment is a recognition that the storm forecasting work done at USF is crucial not only locally, but on a national level.
“It’s just recognition that our work is important and that people are willing to continue to invest in it,” he said. “That's just one example.”
Other areas at USF receiving federal grants are brain and biomedical research, AI and cybersecurity, and entrepreneurship.
Despite the major losses and setbacks from the fire, Frazer said the College of Marine Science is in a good place moving forward.
Right now, he said the focus is on finding locations for researchers who were displaced but continue to work as the fall semester begins.
“We certainly have a lot of work to do, but we're going to be much better in the long run,” he said. “We were already a very strong program, but we're certainly going to be a signature program at the University of South Florida.”
