fundraiser<\/a>, which is free to attend Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. at the district\u2019s wharf.<\/p>\n\u201cThere\u2019s so many costs to everything from replacing computers to, holding events, renting space, and there\u2019ll certainly be ways in which the university will help them recover, but \u2026 it\u2019s our way to contribute to that,\u201d said Barlow.<\/p>\n
Driscoll said this is the first step of many in the process of recovering, but she was happy to see the rest of the Innovation District spring into action so quickly the night of the fire.<\/p>\n
\u201cDifferent companies and organizations were on the phone with each other, talking about what space they had that they would be able to share and offer up to the College of Marine Science and the Florida Institute of Oceanography,\u201d Driscoll said.<\/p>\n
Even the Pinellas County legislative delegation is doing what it can to support the St. Petersburg marine science researchers.<\/p>\n
State Rep. Lindsay Cross, a Democrat whose district includes St. Petersburg and Pinellas Park, is hoping recovery funds will be added to the state\u2019s budget during a special session in Tallahassee this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just horrified,\u201d said Cross, upon learning about the fire.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a big thunderstorm that day, and so I was worried about making sure my dog was not going to freak out in the storms. And the last thing on my mind was that there was going to be a fire that would completely devastate one of the most important research hubs in our community,\u201d<\/p>\n
Her first job as an environmental scientist was just steps away from the lab.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s now thinking about the immediate needs, like temporary lab space and equipment, but also the long-term, like rebuilding.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the most important thing we can do for the state right now is to pledge financial support,\u201d Cross said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been talking with budget chairs and both chambers about this. I know they want to do something to help. We just don\u2019t know the exact dollar amount or mechanism to accomplish that yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cross said while someone else specialized in budgeting will take a leadership role, she will be \u201cdebating on its merits.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTrying to ensure that we do get funding, and we start to bring some resources so that we can build back this community that\u2019s so important to St Pete and to our region,\u201d sge said.<\/p>\n
Duke Energy also contributed $50,000 to the cause.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir generosity sets a powerful example, and we hope others will consider joining them in supporting the College of Marine Science and its vital research mission,\u201d said USF on a Facebook post.<\/p>\n
USF also published its own giving page<\/a> so gifts can go directly to its marine science department.<\/p>\nJessica Meszaros is a reporter for WUSF, the NPR station for the greater Tampa Bay area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The St. Petersburg community is uniting to raise funds for the University of South Florida Marine Science Lab\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266639,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-266638","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\/266638","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=266638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}