NSUCO - The Visionary Spring 2012

THE V ISIONARY • S PRING 2012 — 27 NSU Launches Solar Energy Project at State Park NSU has completed a solar energy project that provides John U. Lloyd Beach State Park in Dania, Florida, with 100 percent of its energy needs through a combination of solar electric and solar hot-water systems. Known as the Sustainable En- ergy Project, the initiative combines using energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies to provide all of the park’s energy needs while gen- erating environmental and economic benefits for the park as well. NSU funded the design, equipment, and installa- tion of the project. The solar electric system has a 25-year-plus life expectancy. The array of solar electric panels provides electricity to power the park’s lights, facilities, and computers. In fact, the solar electric system is utility interactive, which means excess energy the park produces is re- turned to the Florida Power & Light Company grid. That energy is then used to power the park at night and on cloudy days. Long-Term Response Plan for Cuban Oil Spill NSU and Florida International University (FIU) re- searchers have drafted a plan to best prepare South Florida for an oil spill off the coast of Cuba. The proximity of intended Cuban oil drilling and production puts the U.S. coastal zone at risk from Florida to the Carolinas and northward. Oil from a spill would quickly enter the Gulf Stream and reach Florida’s shores in hours or days, with potentially devastating effects on the densely populated South Florida coastline and its coastal ecosystems. A likely first impact of a major spill would be the iconic and economically valuable Florida Reef Track—a coral reef ecosystem that stretches from the Dry Tortugas in the Keys to Palm Beach County. Effects could be devastating to the ecol- ogy of the reef, Florida’s beaches, coastal prop- erty, and South Florida’s economy. The sustainability plan calls for a partnership be- tween the U.S. Coast Guard, other federal agen- cies, and a consortium of South Florida academic institutions, including Nova Southeastern Univer- sity’s Oceanographic Center, Florida International University, other schools, and private industry. Be- cause an oil leak originating in Cuban waters will very quickly enter Florida waters, research, plan- ning, and preparation activities must be undertaken in advance of an accident so authorities can re- spond effectively. Staghorn Corals Transplanted by Oceanographic Center to Broward County Reef On February 17, in a delicate operation at sea, healthy staghorn corals were transplanted to a threatened reef off the Broward County coast by researchers at NSU’s Oceanographic Center and its internal National Coral Reef Institute (NCRI). Growing under scientists’ watchful eyes for the past 18 months in a land-based nursery at the Oceano- graphic Center, 28 basketball-sized staghorn corals were carefully moved from the nursery and loaded onto a research vessel that transported them along with corals grown at the University of Florida’s Tropical Aquaculture Laboratory to a site three miles north of Port Everglades. This is the first time corals grown in an on-land nurs- ery have been transplanted in Broward County. With coral reefs worldwide facing degradation due to pollution, overfishing, climate change, and de- velopment, the transplant of healthy corals back to the reef is an important project for restoring dam- aged reefs. Coral reefs serve as nurseries where NSU Overview: Solar Energy Project… iPads in Health Care… Coral Restoration…and More Richard Dodge, Ph.D., professor and dean of NSU’s Oceanographic Center and executive director of the National Coral Reef Institute.