Dean's Faculty Update
Two New Grants Awarded – Climate & Carbon
Date: September 9th, 2008
From: Mark R. McLellan, Dean
The Florida Agricultural Experiment Station is pleased to announce the funding of two new special grants funded as the result of a year of planning and discussions related to climate change and the science behind Carbon Sequestration.
In spring of 2006, I read a cover story article in Time magazine entitled: "Be Worried, be very worried." The entire article was a photographic anthology combined with a concise depiction of global temperature rise. One could not read the piece without a firm conviction that our climate is indeed changing. I called for a discussion lunch meeting with some of our best scientists to discuss the impact of these changes for Florida, how best we can prepared our stakeholders for the changes ahead, and how we can position our scientists to be responsive and engaged on the subject as it relates to agriculture and natural resources. In the time since, under the leadership of Professor Jim Jones (Ag & Bio Engineering) we have hosted an large scale discussion in an international conference on changing climate and its impact on agriculture and natural resources. Florida Cooperative Extension committed to a new extension position in this field.
And culminating the discussions this year, I am pleased to announce a multi-year funding of two new grants:
[1] Planning Grant: Climate Response Institute for Agriculture and Natural Resources. Principal Investigator: Dr. Jim Jones, Professor, Agricultural & Biological Engineering -- $40,000 per year for two years.
This planning grant will be a focal point for conceptualizing, developing and implementing new teams of faculty collaboration in technologies for responding to opportunities and risks associated with climate change, especially for agriculture, land use & development, and water resources in Florida. Core efforts will include carbon resources management, information and decision support systems, water & Land resources management tools, and appropriate education and outreach efforts in support of the science.
[2] Center Support Funding: The Carbon Resources Science Center. Principal Investigator: Dr. Tim Martin, Associate Professor, School of Forest Resources and Conservation -- $75,000 per year for two years.
Natural resources and agriculture will play a central role in mitigating atmospheric CO2 levels through biological carbon sequestration. The enormous scientific capacity at UF in all aspects of carbon resources science, from biogeochemistry to plant sciences and from economics to ecology to engineering, positions UF to be a leader in this area. The Carbon Resources Science Center will bring these experts together to work synergistically on common problems, to leverage new sources of research funding, and to serve as an objective, well-regarded source of rigorous information on carbon resources science for stakeholders. Key themes in the center will be carbon resources science, from biogeochemistry to plant sciences and from economics to ecology to engineering. This center is expected to be a key element in the plans for a possible UF Climate Response Institute for Agriculture and Natural Resources.
We are hopeful that the planning grant and center support funding will provide a unique springboard to position researchers into collaborative teams, producing new publications, new grant proposals and new graduate training opportunities. We encourage faculty with programs that might intersect these themes to contact these two leaders, Dr. Jones and Dr. Martin, regarding possible collaboration.
The Florida Agricultural Experiment Station remains committed in our mission of support to long-term sustainable agriculture which is recognized as first in line when it comes to preservation of Florida’s unique natural resources. We believe that enhancing our capacity in climate response and the providing the world conversation on carbon a solid basis in science are actions that are central to our mission.
Mark R. McLellan
Dean for Research, IFAS
Director, Florida Agricultural Experiment Station
