Faculty and staff in the Natural Resource program at NFREC strive to develop and disseminate new knowledge about the sustainable management and conservation of natural resources. We use multi-disciplinary approaches to gain a better understanding of how to best manage and conserve renewable biological resources. Our applied research program spans a wide spectrum of topics including forestry, wildlife, water, and soil science. Faculty efforts emphasize complex environmental issues within the state of Florida, but also address issues in other states and even internationally.
Solutions to many of the major challenges facing the world during the next century will have environmental roots (how to provide food and fiber for expanding human populations; how to conserve biodiversity and the ecosystem services associated with that biodiversity; how to transition to more renewable energy systems, how to cope with climate change, etc.) We are working in areas such as silviculture, wildlife management, conservation of rare species, eradication of invasive species, and evaluation of best management practices to protect water quality with the goal of creating new knowledge that will address difficult issues and communicate it through a variety of mechanisms to the scientific community, natural resource managers, and the general public.