STUDENT’S VOICE


pollutants become concentrated before they enter Everglades National Park. The Everglades ecosystem has evolved in a low nutrient environment and the introduction of high nutrient levels has caused the invasion of plant species that have choked the natural flow of the Everglades. Without the natural flow of water in the Everglades, the effect of salt-water intrusion is exacerbated in coastal cities such as Miami which rely on a shallow aquifer to provide water to 3 million people (City of Miami, 2016).


In the 19th century it was America’s “manifest destiny’ to control new lands. This idea permeated into Florida’s culture where Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, the state’s 19th gover- nor, vowed to make an “Empire of the Everglades” (Grunwald, 2007). The philosophy of controlling nature coupled with an ignorance of ecological principles choked the Everglades and led to the imminent threats that South Florida now experi- ences. These threats coupled with public support have pushed policy makers to invest in the conservation of this unique habitat. Cultural values in South Florida have become aligned with the idea of conservation thus resulting in support for the largest restoration project ever undertaken (Grunwald, 2007). The Everglades went from a dirty swamp to America’s Everglades because their significance was publicly recognized.


Discussion


For science and policy to work together in conservation, it should first be recognized that the environment has been altered to an incredible degree. In Miami-Dade County there is only one river, the Oleta, that still flows naturally into the Atlantic. The rest have been dredged or channelized. On a global scale, chemicals like DDT can be found bioaccumulating even in the arctic (Blais, 2005), CFCs still float around in the atmosphere (McCulloch et al., 2003), complete mountaintops have been removed (Dawson 2012), 40% of the land surface is now cropland or pasture (Foley et al., 2005), and species are going extinct at 10,000 times the background rate (Kolbert, 2014). These alterations have serious repercussions. People are dependent on the ecosystem services and resources that earth provides. In many areas, damage to water, flora, and fauna limits the environment’s ability to provide these ser- vices. In addition, resource exploitation for timber, food, water and other natural resources equate to additional stressors on the environment.


To begin conservation, policies should be put in place that support scientific research on environmental impacts as well as on restoration techniques and practices. However, these policies ultimately find their start in cultural values. A new manifest destiny is needed, one to make peace with nature not control it. Cultural values don’t change overnight, however society is influenced in myriad ways and move- ments aren’t uncommon. In the inaugural editorial of the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, there was an open call for scientists to become activists in environmental issues (2017). Environmentalism, as an idea, will continue to grow in importance in the 21st century. However, this idea needs to be spread. In a technological age in which people often live removed from nature, adults and children alike need to be pro- vided opportunities to learn about and become invested in the environment. It is in humanity’s best interest for policy to lead the effort in conservation by making sufficient resources avail- able to scientists and conservationists working in degraded environments. However, these policies will be dependent on


54 TPG • Jul.Aug.Sep 2017


how scientists, stakeholders, and individual citizens advocate for the environment.


Author’s Note


As geologists, our lives are intimately tied to the earth. We, if not more than any other group, should be advocates for her. That’s not to say that we should be obligated to go out and lobby in congress. However, if you have children take them on an extra walk through nature. If you can, try to conserve water and consume fewer products. But, more than anything, just talk to people. Grab a beer, sit down with them and tell them why studying and working with the earth is so important. If I could, I would have shared more here with you myself. Maybe,


it’s because I’m just missing the beer. Acknowledgements


When I first arrived at the University of South Florida, I was a High School senior who only cared about getting a degree as quickly as possible. If it wasn’t for the patient tutelage of Dr. Georg Kleine of USF’s Honors College, I’d still be stuck in that same mindset. Thank you for meeting with me every week and instructing me in the value of a liberal education. Every lesson you’ve taught me has been an invaluable one. Furthermore, I’d like to thank Dr. Greg Herbert in USF’s Geoscience Department for taking the time to teach me how to write and think in a scientific mindset. My time doing research in your Paleoecology lab was one of the greatest learning experiences of my life.


Works Cited


Blais, Jules M., et al. “Arctic seabirds transport marine- derived contaminants.” Science 309.5733 (2005): 445-445.


City of Miami “Biscayne Aquifer - Miami-Dade County.”Biscayne Aquifer - Miami-Dade County. Miami- Dade.gov, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.


Dawson, Riley, Paige Winters, and Jojo Matson. “Mountain top removal.” Uhuru 10.3 (2012): 12.


Foley, Jonathan A., et al. “Global consequences of land use.” science 309.5734 (2005): 570-574.


Grunwald, Michael. The swamp: the Everglades, Florida, and the politics of paradise. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007. Print.


Harari, Yuval N., John Purcell, and Haim Watzman. Sapiens: a brief history of mankind. London: Vintage , 2015. Print.


Kolbert, Elizabeth. The sixth extinction: An unnatural history. A&C Black, 2014.


McCulloch, Archie, Pauline M. Midgley, and Paul Ashford. “Releases of refrigerant gases (CFC-12, HCFC-22 and HFC-134a) to the atmosphere.” Atmospheric Environment 37.7 (2003): 889-902.


Anonymous, Why Biodiversity Matters (editorial), Nature Ecology & Evolution 1, Article number: 0042 (2017)


Pagel, Mark D. Wired for culture: origins of the human social mind. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print.


Porter, Dorothy. Health, civilization, and the state: a history of public health from ancient to modern times. Psychology Press, 1999.


www.aipg.org


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