{"id":259954,"date":"2026-05-06T00:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T00:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/259954\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T00:12:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T00:12:12","slug":"usf-student-finds-path-in-environmental-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/259954\/","title":{"rendered":"USF student finds path in environmental science"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Arielle Stevenson<\/a>, University Communications and Marketing<\/p>\n

Long before he began restoring shorelines along Bayboro Harbor\u2019s waterfront, Oliver
\n Laczko was raised learning how to observe the land and the water. Growing up in South
\n Florida, Laczko spent time with his father and grandfather along Alligator Alley,
\n watching the alligators move through the wetlands. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Those early experiences in and around the Everglades shaped what would become his
\n academic focus. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a big influence,\u201d Laczko said. \u201cGrowing up around the Everglades is what
\n really got me into wetland science.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

As he got older and had more freedom to travel on his own, that curiosity turned into
\n exploration, with Laczko going deeper into Big Cypress National Park and the Everglades.
\n \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI would take these really treacherous hikes through knee-deep water,\u201d he said. \u201cIt
\n was so life changing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Once he arrived as a freshman at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, he
\n discovered access to a wider range of Florida ecosystems that expanded his perspective
\n beyond South Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing here, you\u2019re kind of in the middle of everything,\u201d he said. \u201cThere’s so much
\n nature you can drive to that\u2019s just a couple hours or even a couple minutes away.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

That access shaped his academic focus on environmental science and policy and ultimately
\n led to work that would leave a lasting mark on campus.<\/p>\n

A project to restore a living shoreline began with a simple observation by Laczko.
\n In the wake of the 2024 hurricanes, a stretch of waterfront along Bayboro Harbor at
\n USF St. Petersburg was left eroded and exposed. Earlier removal of invasive vegetation
\n had already weakened the shoreline, with the storms further reshaping the shoreline.
\n Laczko, who was already involved in campus sustainability efforts, saw an opportunity
\n to restore what had been lost.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, OK, we need to restore this place,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As coordinator of sustainability for student government, and later as vice chair and
\n chair of the Student Green Energy Fund<\/a>, Laczko helped move the project from idea to reality. He wrote a grant proposal as
\n a junior and secured funding to begin the restoration. \u00a0After months of coordination
\n with university administrators, he and about 30 volunteers installed marsh grasses
\n and built a living shoreline designed to stabilize the coast and rebuild habitat.
\n \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were restoring some of the first marsh habitats in that area since its development
\n in the 1900s,\u201d he said. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The project now serves as both coastal protection and a visible example of student-led
\n sustainability work. Signage based on Laczko\u2019s Judy Genshaft Honors College<\/a> thesis on Bayboro Harbor is expected to be installed along the waterfront this summer.
\n \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gets people interested,\u201d he said. \u201cIt makes them want to make a difference because
\n they see that it\u2019s possible.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Laczko’s efforts helped increase student involvement and expand environmental initiatives,
\n including a partnership between USF St. Petersburg and the City of St. Petersburg
\n to bring an industrial-sized composter<\/a> to process campus food waste and produce nutrient-rich compost for the community.
\n New student groups have formed, and projects like the living shoreline restoration
\n have created opportunities for hands-on learning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope there are other student leaders that eclipse the work I did,\u201d Laczko said.
\n \u00a0<\/p>\n

After graduation, Laczko plans to continue his work towards wetland sciences, restoration
\n and resilience for Florida\u2019s communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many possibilities,\u201d he said. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite the myriad options that await him, one thing is certain: Florida remains central
\n to his work and identity. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember your roots,\u201d Laczko said. \u201cDon\u2019t lose focus on that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Arielle Stevenson, University Communications and Marketing Long before he began restoring shorelines along Bayboro Harbor\u2019s waterfront, Oliver…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259955,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-259954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259954\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}