There are currently four research projects under the direction of Clay L. Montague. Florida, a peninsula that spans nearly 7 degrees of latitude with 1300 miles of coastline, has enormous opportunities for environmental scientists and engineers that have training in coastal processes, environments, and economics. The interface between humanity and nature is most intense in the coastal zone, as both vie for the unique subsidies to production and development found there.
Risk is high there too, because the environment is ever irregularly changing.
Environmental issues abound at the coast as the most populated region of Florida continues to grow and feel the limits imposed by, for example, decreasing quantity and quality of water both in the estuaries and the pipes. An examination of the ecological system created by the proximity of the cities of Jacksonville and Mayport to the Timucuan National Ecological and Historic Preserve, the huge area of salt marsh in Duval County between the last leg of the St. Johns River and the Nassau River. What is the effect of reopening these tidal creeks on the production and diversity of plants and animals in the marshes and the use of the habitat by larval, juvenile, and adult fishes. This project is supported by the National Park Service, the biological resources division of the US Geological Survey, and the city of Jacksonville. Management of fluctuations rather than for quantity may reduce the impacts of water management decisions on estuaries.