ADAPTIVE
MANAGEMENT
Center for Environmental Policy & Center for Wetlands
University of Florida ~Gainesville, FL 32611
Water
Wetlands and
Watersheds
IGERT
Integrative Graduate
Education and Research Traineeship
Adaptive

Management 
Water
Wetlands &
Watersheds
Overarching Focus
Integration of Education and Training
Integration of Social Natural and Engineering Sciences
Challenges and Opportunities
amw3igert.ufl.edu
AMw3igert.ufl.edu
Program Overview
Our IGERT program in Adaptive Management links four colleges,
eighteen academic departments, and three research centers at the
University of Florida with international wetlands research centers in
Africa, Mexico, South America, Australia, and south Florida.
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It focuses on the theme of wise use of water, wetlands, and
watersheds.
At the heart of the research theme, and a key educational feature
of our program, is the innovative practice of Adaptive Management.
Adaptive Management is a systematic process for continually
improving management policies and practices by learning from the
outcomes of operational programs.
AMw3igert.ufl.edu
Key Educational Features
The education component of our IGERT stresses basic science in
each student's discipline, coupled with training in systems, law,
policy, ethics, and communication.
The graduate students in our program research and explore
Adaptive Management and the science, engineering, and policy
frameworks that drive it.
Furthermore they experience Adaptive Management first hand, as
they navigate the learning environment, self-evaluate direction and
outcomes, and possibly change their own research focus during
their graduate studies.
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AMw3igert.ufl.edu
Program Goals
Our program stresses integration of engineering, biophysical, and
social sciences and addresses important issues related to wise use
of water and wetlands through cutting edge, field-based teaching
and research.
Our students will achieve depth in their chosen major, receive a
foundation in systems science, and acquire a working knowledge in
the biophysical sciences (for social science majors) and the social
sciences (for biophysical sciences or engineering majors).
AMw3igert.ufl.edu
Participating Academic Units (UF)
Agricultural & Biological Engineering
Anthropology
Environmental Engineering Sciences
Environmental Law
Geography
Geological Sciences
Philosophy
Political Science
Religion
School of Natural Resources & Environment
Sociology
Soil and Water Science
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Zoology
AMw3igert.ufl.edu
International Partners
We are working with four international research partners in
strategic wetland/watershed systems: the Okavango Delta in
Botswana, the Pantanal in Brazil, the Yucatan in Mexico, and
Kakadu in Australia, as well as in the Florida Everglades.
AMw3igert.ufl.edu
Research Initiatives
Research in three fundamental areas have been identified as follows:
1.
Comparative studies of watersheds and wetlands to advance
our understanding and prediction of the fluxes of biotic and
abiotic components leading to better understanding and
scientifically driven policy and resource management
alternatives.
2.
Measuring, modeling, and tracking interaction of
socioeconomic, political, legal, cultural and ecological
variables that affect the sustainability of watersheds and
wetlands,
3.
Developing novel engineering methods, natural resource
management techniques, and policy frameworks for
protecting water resources, managing their use, and
evaluating and rehabilitating damaged or degraded
watersheds and wetlands.
AMw3igert.ufl.edu
Core Curriculum…
Figure 2. Typical 4-ye ar curriculum for a graduate stude nt ente ring in the sum mer of the first year
Year 1
Fall
Core 1a: Ecosystems of S. Florida
Core 1b: AM Field & Res. Methods
Core 2: Ecol. and General Systems
Core 3: Adaptive Manag.: Watersheds
Core 4: People & P olitics: W3
Ethics & AM seminar
Discipline Courses
Summer AM Program
Field Research
Teaching Experience
Year 2
Spring Summer
Fall
Spring Summer
Year 3
Fall
3
6
3
3
3
Spring Summer
Year 4
Fall
Spring Summer
Year 5
Fall
Spring
Faculty Involvement…
Name
Academi c Un i t
Experti se
Environmental Engineering
Sciences
Systems Ecology, W etlandsEcology
/Hydrology
Principal Investigator
Mark Brown
Co-Principal Investigators
Sandra Russo
International C enter
Jonathan Martin
Ramesh Reddy
Richard Hamann
Geological S ciences
Soil and Water S cience
Law
Environmental policy, community
development
Water Chemistry, Hydrogeology
Biogeochemistry
Environmental Law
Core Faculty
Robert Baum
Mark Brenner
Jean-Claude Bonzongo
Joseph Delfino
Peter Frederick
Jack Jordan
Joann Mossa
Craig Osenberg
Ignacio Porzecanski
Katrina Schwartz
Philosophy
Geological S ciences
Environmental Eng. S ci.
Environmental Eng. S ci.
W ildlife Ecology and Cons.
Ag & Bio Engineering
Geography
Zoology
Sch. of Natural Res. and
Env.
Political Science
Environmental Ethics
Limnology/Paleolimnology
Biogeochemistry
Water chemistry/quality,ethics
Wetland ecology, ecotoxicology
Remote sensing, image processing, GIS
Fluvial Geomorphology
Population &Comm. Ecology; assessment
designs
Agricultural Ecology
Environmental Politics
Participating Faculty
David Bloomquist
Alyson F lournoy
Sabine Grunwald
Dorota Haman
Susan Jacobson
Civil Engineering
Law
Soil and Water S cience
Ag & Bio Engineering
W ildlife Ecology and Cons.
James Jawitz
Soil and Water S cience
Stephen Perz
T aylor S tein
Sociology
Sch. of F orest Res. and Con.
Richard S tepp
Colette S t. Mary
Anthropology
Zoology
Bron T aylor
Religion
Remote Sensing, S ubsurface Exploration
Environmental Law
GIS, remote sensing, soil-landscape modeling
Irrigation Engineer
Program evaluation, Human dimensions of
wildlife conservation
Hydrology (wetlands, watersheds, &
groundwater)
Environmental sociology
Natural resources & social sciences ecotourism
Anthropology/SocialScience
Evolutionary & behavioral ecology,
population modeling
Environmental Ethics
Integration of Education and Training
AMw3igert.ufl.edu
Integration of Education and Training
 Coursework - stress team building/work
 Teaching - team taught undergraduate
honors class
 Group projects - require multi-discipline/
multi-authored research
 Group field work - summer field course
Integration of social and natural science
AMw3igert.ufl.edu
Integration of social and natural science
 Emphasis on Systems Education - holistic
thinking
 Tacit requirement - co-chairs on dissertation
committee
 Integrated paper/chapter - with member of
opposite discipline
AMw3igert.ufl.edu
IGERT Challenges & Opportunities
 Funding flexibility - “topping off”
 Interdisciplinary research - Multi-author/integrative
research not easy to imagine
 Team Teaching - Credit in home departments
 Student Teaching - outside discipline/team
approach
 Student mentoring - undergraduate
Integrating SUSTAINABILITY
Developing Context: Whole systems
approach to understanding sustainability.
Systems approach…
(combining ecological, social, and
systems principles with simulation for
understanding dynamics)
Integrating SUSTAINABILITY
Quantitative Perspective: measuring
sustainability
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How best to measure sustainability?
Must include methods of measurement that can include
economic and social systems.
biophysical,
Integrating SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainability must be Grounded in
Interdisciplinarity…
Should be based on Integrative knowledge that includes the following:
• Concepts of systems, types of systems, and general properties of systems
• Concepts of integration, unification, and unity of knowledge
• Concepts of unity, and types of unity
• Concepts of wholes, types of wholes, and general properties of wholes
• Concepts to link together or structure other concepts into a larger whole
• Concepts to encompass or grasp complexity
• Concepts that interrelate balanced (social) action and policy formulation
• Modes of analysis in the light of the above concepts
AMw3igert.ufl.edu
Thank you…
Questions?
AMw3igert.ufl.edu
Traineeships Funding Cycle
Table 3. F unding Cy cle for Graduate Stude nts
Project year…
Cohort 1
N S F F unding
O ther s ourc es
Cohort 2
N S F F unding
O ther s ourc es
Cohort 3
N S F F unding
O ther s ourc es
N S F F unding
U of F F unding
T otal S tudents
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
7
3
3
9
2
10
2
8
7
3
1
10
3
8
3
7
7
3
3
7
4
6
10
10
23
33
8
23
31
7
13
20
10
7
7
3
10
10
12
22
Year 5
Year 6
30 total