In a recent publication in Science Advances, a team of transdisciplinary international researchers, including researchers from the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), Nature Coast Biological Station (NCBS), Soil, Water, and Ecosystem Sciences and Physics departments, define and formalize ecosystem technology or “ecotech” for short.   Ecotech could inspire innovations from marine-friendly wind farms to smarter agriculture.

Researchers say Florida could become a leader in the emerging ecotech industry.

“Ecotech picks up where biotech ends,” says second author Marc Hensel, UF/IFAS NCBS research assistant professor. “It’s inspired not just by processes happening inside of the body like biotech, but by outward–interactions between species and their environment, between populations, communities, and entire ecosystems.”

“We have some of the most diverse and productive ecosystems on the planet, and the intellectual and economic innovation to get a massive head start,” Hensel says. “From marshes and springs to vast agricultural landscapes, Florida is a natural potential engine for ecotech innovation.”

To read more, visit UF News.

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