Category: Conservation

Nine-armed Sea Star exhibiting clinical signs of SSWS during Lake Worth Cove outbreak. Credit by Alex Romar

Nine-armed Sea Stars dying in Atlantic waters: UF/IFAS scientists document first case of disease in Florida

by Lourdes Mederos
June 18, 2025

A disturbing scene met snorkelers in Palm Beach County’s coastal waters – sea stars (also known as starfish) with missing limbs, open wounds and bodies falling apart on the ocean floor. The condition known as Sea Star Wasting Disease ... READ MORE

Category: Coasts & Marine, Conservation, Pests & Disease, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Alexander Romer, Atlantic Waters, Curling Limbs, Densovirus, Eric Suarez, Florida Fish And Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fort Lauderdale Research And Education Center, Frank Mazzotti, Inaturalist, Lake Worth Cove, Lourdes Mederos, Marine, Melissa Miller, Nine-armed Sea Stars, Palm Beach County, Sea Star Wasting Disease, Southeaster Naturalist, Splitlure Frogfish, SSWS, Starfish, Starfish Wasting Disease, University Of Florida, Wildlife

Nine-armed Sea Stars dying in Atlantic waters: UF/IFAS scientists document first case of disease in Florida

by Lourdes Mederos
June 18, 2025

A disturbing scene met snorkelers in Palm Beach County’s coastal waters – sea stars (also known as starfish) with missing limbs, open wounds and bodies falling apart on the ocean floor. The condition known as Sea Star Wasting Disease ... READ MORE

Category: Coasts & Marine, Conservation, Pests & Disease, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Alexander Romer, Atlantic Waters, Curling Limbs, Densovirus, Eric Suarez, Florida Fish And Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fort Lauderdale Research And Education Center, Frank Mazzotti, Inaturalist, Lake Worth Cove, Lourdes Mederos, Marine, Melissa Miller, Nine-armed Sea Stars, Palm Beach County, Sea Star Wasting Disease, Southeaster Naturalist, Splitlure Frogfish, SSWS, Starfish, Starfish Wasting Disease, University Of Florida, Wildlife
scallops

Scallop season opens in Florida. Dive into this summer tradition with advice from UF/IFAS, Florida Sea Grant

by Megan Winslow
June 18, 2025

Florida bay scallop season has started, and seafood lovers from across the state are already venturing off the coasts of Taylor and Dixie counties, where recreational harvesting is permitted now through Labor Day. Harvesting in other Gulf Coast ... READ MORE

Category: Coasts & Marine, Conservation, Wildlife
Tags: Ask IFAS, Bay County, Bay Scallop, Boat, Boating, Brittany Hall-Scharf, Captain, Catch, Conservation, Diving, Dixie County, Emergency, Extension Hernando County, Fishing, Float Plan, Florida Fish And Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Sea Grant, FSG, FWC, Guide, Gulf Coast, Harvest, Harvesting, Hurricane, IFAS, Institute Of Food And Agricultural Sciences, Megan Winslow, Overharvesting, Pinellas County, Recommendation, Recreation, Safety, Seagrass, Shucking, Snorkeling…, Sustainability, Swimmer, Swimming, Taylor County, Tips, Tutorial, Tyler Jones, U.S. Coast Guard, UF, UF-IFAS, University Of Florida, USCG, Vessel
Native Plant Nursery Spring Festival

Media Alert: Ever-popular UF/IFAS Native Plant Sale returns to campus this weekend

by Megan Winslow
June 16, 2025

What: The UF/IFAS Native Plant Sale. When: June 21 and 22, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Where: The UF/IFAS Native Plant Nursery, just west of the greenhouses located at 2333 Mowry Road, Gainesville. About: Shop hundreds of native plant species ... READ MORE

Category: Conservation, Events, Horticulture, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Blueberry, Campus, Conservation, Event, Extension, Florida Wildflower Foundation, Gage LaPierre, Grass, Green Antelopehorn Milkweed, IFAS, Institute Of Food And Agricultural Sciences, Intern, Legume, Megan Winslow, Milkweed, Native Plant Horticulture Foundation, Native Plant Nursery, Native Plant Sale, Natural Area Teaching Laboratory, Nursery, Office Of The Dean For Research, Plants, Purchase, Restoration, School Of Forest Fisheries And Geomatics Sciences, Shop, Shopping, Shrub, Sunflower, Tree, UF, UF-IFAS, University Of Florida, Wildflower, Wildlife

Florida Land Steward Update, June 13, 2025

by Chris Demers
June 13, 2025

GOT PLANS TO PLANT TREES THIS FALL OR WINTER? GET SEEDLING ORDERS IN THIS SUMMER If you have plans and/or cost-share funding to plant trees this coming fall or winter, get your seedling orders placed soon. Andrews State Tree Nursery begins ... READ MORE

Category: Conservation, Forests, Invasive Species, Natural Resources, Recreation, SFYL Hot Topic, Water, Wildlife
Tags: Family Forest, Florida Land Steward Program, Hurricane Preparation, Hurricane Season, Longleaf Pine, Natural Resources, School Of Forest Fisheries And Geomatics Sciences, Tree Farm, Wild Turkey, Wildlife
Luke Flory, climbing a mountainside in Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos, Ecuador. Here he is investigating the role of pathogen accumulation in the longer-term decline of invasive quinine tree. Credit Luke Flory.

UF taps global invasion ecology expert to lead new era of the Invasion Science Institute

by Lourdes Mederos
June 13, 2025

In the summer of 2000, a young undergraduate named Luke Flory was knee-deep in invasive plant species at a nature preserve in northern Indiana, with a backpack slung over his shoulder, filled with tools to study and manage invasive species. ... READ MORE

Category: Conservation, Invasive Species, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Agroecology, Biological Invasions, CALS, College Of Agricultural And Life Sciences, Department Of Biology, Department Of Plant Pathology, Director, Environmental Stressors, Institute Of Food And Agricultural Sciences, International Food Systems, Invasion Ecology, Invasions Science Institute, Invasive, Invasive Plant Ecology, Invasive Species In Florida, ISI, J. Scott Angle, Lourdes Mederos, Luke Flory, News, Non-native Species, Plant Pathology, Scott Angle, The Flory Lab, Tropical Conservation And Development Program, UF-IFAS, UF/IFAS Agronomy Department, University Of Florida Invasion Science Institute

Gulf Coast Catch and Cook June: Northern Red Snapper

by Dr. Megan Moore
June 10, 2025

The featured Gulf catch and cook species for June is the Northern Red Snapper! Red Snapper are fun to catch, as a highly sought-after large game fish! Read on to learn how to catch Red Snapper and make a delicious meal! Fun Facts ... READ MORE

Category: Coasts & Marine, Conservation, Natural Resources, Recreation, UF/IFAS Extension, Water, Wildlife
Tags: Catch And Cook, Fishing, Florida Sea Grant, Gulf, Red Snapper, UF/IFAS Pasco Extension Office

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