18
COM Outlook . Fall 2012
On September 27, NSU’s Oceanographic Center hosted a grand
opening ceremony for America’s largest coral reef research center. The
86,000-
square-foot
Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Ecosystems
Research
located at John U. Lloyd Beach State Park in Hollywood, Flori-
da, houses local, national, and international coral reef research.
At a price tag of roughly $40 million, the center has created 22 new
academic jobs and 300 construction jobs. In addition, it will employ 50
graduate students as well as preserve 22 existing academic jobs. NSU
received a $15 stimulus grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce to
build the center, while the university funded the rest of the project.
The Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Ecosystems Research, a mul-
tidisciplinary facility, will address national and international priorities in coral
reef research in five areas: impacts of global and local stressors; geospatial
analysis and mapping; deep-sea coral reefs and biodiversity; genetic and
genomic connectivity; and hydrodynamics. The center has space for of-
fices, laboratories, collaboration, research training, and fieldwork staging.
It’s designed to promote research by current and new faculty members,
researchers, visiting scientists, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students.
“
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 multi-
billion-dollar coral 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 lifeblood of our region and oceans.”
America’s Largest Coral Reef
Research Center Opens
Dental School Receives
$75,000 Grant
During the current school year, underserved and uninsured el-
ementary school students in the North Miami Beach area will receive
preventive dental services from
NSU’s College of Dental Medicine
(
NSU-CDM)
thanks to a $75,000 grant from the Dr. John. T. Macdon-
ald Foundation Inc. The grant will allow the college to provide dental
services such as comprehensive oral examinations, cleanings, fluoride
application, sealants, and oral hygiene instruction to the uninsured stu-
dents of three participating elementary schools in North Miami Beach.
Many of these schoolchildren are at risk for dental caries or tooth de-
cay, which affects low-income and disadvantaged children significantly
more than their affluent cohorts. According to an NSU-CDM spokes-
person, more than 50 percent of children without health insurance had
not seen a dentist in the past year, and more than one in five required
dental care but did not receive it for financial reasons.
If left untreated, dental caries may lead to problems in eating,
speaking, and sleeping. Poor oral health among children has been tied
to lower performance in school and poor social relationships. Children
with early childhood dental pain often weigh less than other children.
The NSU-CDM program is designed to provide the children from
select Miami-Dade County elementary schools with oral health services
at NSU’s North Miami Beach Dental Clinic.
Coral Reef Research Center…Dental
School Grant…Saving the Corals
Operated by NSU’s National Coral Reef Institute, the center will help
protect coral reef ecosystems, which contribute over $6 billion and 71,000
jobs annually to South Florida alone. The center will also protect and ex-
pand jobs in Florida that depend on healthy reef systems.
