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NHEERL on the Road
Tampa, Florida
NHEERL Scientist Presents ORD Research at a Regional Green Building Workshop
Marc Russell of NHEERL’s Gulf Ecology Division spoke at a Green Workshop organized by the West Florida Regional Planning Council on June 20. The overall premise of the workshop was to discuss green building design, green infrastructure, native landscaping, sustainability, walkable communities, etc. Speakers included a Green Infrastructure Representative from EPA Region 4 and representatives from the Northern Gulf Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Sustainable Initiative Program. Dr. Russell’s talk was entitled “Ecological Services―Tampa Bay Demonstration Project.” This project, part of EPA’s Ecological Research Program, is a challenging mix of ecological, economic, and social sciences at multiple scales.
The presentation covered ecological services in urban environments: problems, some proposed solutions, and an approach for determining the production of ecological services from urban-influenced ecosystems in the Tampa region. The talk also suggested how this research is applicable to many regions around the Gulf of Mexico. There was a focus on the effects of placing people on the landscape in a more sustainable manner.