NSU Coral Reef Center Grand Opening on Sept. 27

Nova Southeastern University will host a grand opening ceremony for the nation’s largest coral reef research center on Sept. 27. Attendance is by invitation only.

NSU scientists are conducting reef research locally, nationally and globally at the 86,000-square-foot Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Ecosystems Research. The facility is located at NSU’s Oceanographic Center at John U. Lloyd Beach State Park.

At a price-tag of $50 million, the center has created 22 new academic jobs and 300 construction jobs; and it will employ 50 graduate students as well as preserving 22 existing academic jobs. NSU received a $15 million competitive grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce (using money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) to build the center, while the university funded the rest of the project.

“By opening this state-of-the-art facility, NSU is taking a leadership role in Florida’s marine science research and helping boost an important multibillion dollar coral reef industry that employs thousands of South Floridians and sustains many small businesses,” said NSU President George L. Hanbury II, Ph.D. “The Center is critical for the environmental sustainability of coral reefs, which are the life blood of our region and oceans.”

The grant was one of 12 awarded by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NSU’s Center of Excellence will be the largest research facility in the nation solely dedicated to coral reef ecosystems research.

The Center’s location is ideal because 84 percent of the nation’s reefs are located in Florida. These are incredibly valuable resources both in terms of economic impact and ecological diversity.   Roughly 25 percent of the oceans fish species emanate from coral reef habitats.

The multi-disciplinary Center will generate information and research products to help understand, conserve, and protect coral reef ecosystems. In South Florida alone, coral reef ecosystems contribute over $6 billion and 71,000 jobs annually. Themes of research conducted at the Center include national and international priorities in coral reef research in five areas: 1) Impacts of global and local stressors; 2) Geospatial analysis and mapping; 3) Deep sea coral reefs and biodiversity; 4) Genetic and genomic connectivity; and 5) Hydrodynamics.

The building has offices, laboratories, collaboration, 85-seat auditorium, a library, and space for research training and fieldwork staging.  It is designed to promote research by current and new faculty, researchers, visiting scientists, post-doctoral fellows and graduate students.

The Center of Excellence houses NSU’s National Coral Reef Institute (NCRI), the Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI) and Save Our Seas Shark Center. Artwork by renowned marine artist Guy Harvey, Ph.D., who also donated $200,000 to GHRI, is prominently featured in the building’s interior.

The Sept. 27 grand opening ceremony begins at 3:30 p.m. Attendance is by invitation only, but the event can be viewed via live streaming on main campus at Knight Auditorium inside the Carl DeSantis Building; NSU campuses in North Miami Beach (Tech Auditorium), Jamaica, Miramar (room 314), The Bahamas (Freeport and Nassau), Puerto Rico (Ponce); and NSU Student Educational Centers at Kendall (room 309), Orlando (room 129), Palm Beach (room 210), Tampa (room 2017), Fort Myers (room 108), and Jacksonville (room 316).

Faculty and staff are invited to see the Center the next Academic Fest on Dec. 7 (details to follow).  For more information, please visit the Center’s website at http://www.nova.edu/ocean/excellence/ or e-mail Melissa Dore at missy@nova.edu.