{"id":322568,"date":"2026-06-28T14:42:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T14:42:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/322568\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T14:42:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T14:42:47","slug":"unf-study-to-assess-aquatic-connectivity-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/322568\/","title":{"rendered":"UNF Study to Assess Aquatic Connectivity in Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">The University of North Florida Institute of Environmental Research and Education (IERE) is collaborating with the Northeast Florida Regional Council and other partners on a new study. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">The project aims to assess aquatic connectivity in Northeast Florida to improve coastal resilience.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">It will address how structures like culverts and bridges at road-stream crossings fragment river systems, altering natural flow and contributing to flooding issues and habitat loss for fish and wildlife. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/live-breaking\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/live-breaking\/\" target=\"_blank\">&gt;&gt;&gt; STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE &lt;&lt;&lt;<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">Starting this month, researchers will collect data across 12 Florida counties to evaluate aquatic organism passage, floodwater drainage and infrastructure conditions. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">Andrew Prokopiak, senior resiliency planner for the Northeast Florida Regional Council, noted the pressures on protective systems. \u201cNortheast Florida is growing rapidly, and that growth puts pressure on the very systems that protect us from flooding,\u201d Prokopiak said. \u201cPartnering on a study of this scale gives the region the evidence base needed for our counties and municipalities to make infrastructure and policy decisions that work for people and wildlife alike.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">\u201cWe are happy to participate in this project that allows UNF students to conduct impactful field research that supports coastal resilience and makes a difference in our community,\u201d said Dr. Erin Largo-Wight, IERE director and professor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">[DOWNLOAD: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/mobile-apps\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">[SIGN UP: <a href=\"https:\/\/membercenter.actionnewsjax.com\/newsletters\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/mobile-apps\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/mobile-apps\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/video\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n<p>Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The University of North Florida Institute of Environmental Research and Education (IERE) is collaborating with the Northeast Florida&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322569,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[133684,133685,116,118,117,7352,4103],"class_list":["post-322568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-iere","tag-institute-of-environmental-research-and-education","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-research","tag-water"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322568","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=322568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}