Studying Wetlands with Local Scientist

Biologist Rhodes Robinson has spent decades exploring and analyzing Florida’s wetlands. This spring UNF students benefited from his knowledge in an engaging course designed to provide a core understanding of Florida’s wetlands as well as the policies and regulations governing use and protection.

Robinson is a wetland scientist who has conducted envi­ronmental studies on over a million acres of land in the southeast and Caribbean. His company, Environmental Services Inc., has employed many UNF interns over the years. Robinson said the students all had strong work eth­ics and great interest in the environment, but he noticed a need for a heightened understanding of these natural areas and applicable regulations. Serving on the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Leadership Council, Robinson ap­proached the college dean and offered to teach the course knowing there was a strong interest in marine biology and coastal ecology at the school.

Wetlands in Florida

According to the National Environmental Education Foundation, 20% of wetlands in the United States today are located in Florida; and since the nation’s colonization, 50% of Florida’s wetlands have been lost. The concentration is not only high, said Robinson, but the wetlands are also scattered. “We live in a state with rapid growth and development and that sets up situations where communities, public entities and private companies bump into wetlands all the time,” he said.

Robinson shared that the complexities of these areas coupled with multiple layers of wetlands regulation on federal, state and local levels can cause confusion and frustration. “There is a growing need for qualified, competent professionals who know the technical part of regulations and can explain it, and also can effectively interact with regulatory staff,” said Robinson, who has instructed many on the intricacies of wetlands, including the Environmental Section of the Florida Bar.

As always, Robinson started the UNF class with the basics — the regulatory definition of wetlands: “areas that are inundated or saturated by surface water or ground water at a frequency and a duration sufficient to support, and under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soils.”

The definition continues describing soils and vegetation. Though it may sound pretty straightforward, Robinson emphasizes that it certainly is not simple.

Graduate student Jessica Lee, an environmental specialist with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, took the class and said students were surprised to learn that water is not always present in a wetland. “We had to look for other indicators, such as saturated soils and obligate wetland vegetation species, to determine whether or not we were within the limits of a wetland,” said Lee, who appreciated Robinson’s practical approach to the course.

Students Get Their Hands Dirty

After dissecting the definition of wetlands and studying regulations on the federal, state and local levels, students had the opportunity to experience the wetlands first hand. The second half of the course included trips to study different types of wetlands and ecosystems. “Feeling the soil in your fingers helps you understand,” Robinson said.

Then came field trips including estuarine systems, mangrove swamps, as well as the Sawmill Slough on UNF’s campus. Staff from the St. Johns River Water Management District also conducted classes and field sessions.

“There was a lot of learning,” said Robinson sharing that the students learned key vegetation and could identify 50 – 100 plants by the end of the class. Lee said a colleague recently commented on her vast knowledge of plant species. “I can attribute that to Rhodes’ wetlands class,” she said. “He had us learning five new wetland species every week.”

Lee said Robinson’s knowledge and support was tremendous. “He made us aware of online tools and field guides and provided us with resources that would help us throughout our careers,” she said. “He also focused on improving our leadership skills, and made everyone see that being a leader wasn’t an assigned position but rather a skill that we all should strive to improve.”

Robinson, who will continue to advocate for similar instruction going forward, is pleased that he could enlighten the students, who were eager to learn and many ready to begin their careers.

“They know the basics now,” he said. “Once you get the basics, it is easy to fine tune. But if you don’t know the plants, the soils, the indicators of hydrology, you really don’t know where to start with wetlands.”