Hot Topics Under Investigation by CEELAB Members

By Dr. Linda Walters

Pegasus Professor of Biology, University of Central Florida

Photo by Dr. Linda Walters

As 2025 ends and a new year begins, I wanted to share some of the conservation research and restoration that was started, finished, or carried on during 2025 by members of CEELAB (Coastal and Estuarine Ecology Lab) at the University of Central Florida. Over the past year, there have been 6 graduate students and over 50 undergraduates directly involved in research in Mosquito Lagoon. Of these undergraduates, 30 were enrolled in high-impact classes that focus on research experiences rather than just book-learning. All of these individuals are now poised to become experts in field-based research, data analysis, and give professional presentations focused on bettering our understanding of the challenges and resilience of Mosquito Lagoon and organisms that call it home.

Here, I briefly share some of the topics under investigation by CEELAB members and thank all of our partners and the community for supporting these graduate students working tirelessly both in the cold of winter and the heat of summer.

Marine heatwaves occur when temperatures are abnormally warm for 5+ days in a row. Heatwaves can occur in the winter or in the summer. Some species die when exposed to these temperatures while others survive but alter the timing of their flowering or temperature-dependent reproduction (e.g., oysters). Carla Perscky has been studying the impact of marine heat waves on the seagrass Halodule wrightii, while Katherine

Harris is examining the impact of heat waves, drought, and brown tide on the eastern oyster Crassostrea viriginica on intertidal reefs in Mosquito Lagoon. Temperature loggers deployed on some oyster reefs recorded temperatures as high as 107 degrees F in July 2025.

Mosquito Lagoon has lost 63% of its oyster acreage since 1943. Another source of oyster loss is fragmentation of previously expansive reefs into smaller units. Tara Blanchard is currently examining the causes of these losses and their impact on our favorite wading birds that use oyster reefs for foraging and resting.

Madison Serrate’s and Cara Womack’s research projects are both focused on improving restoration of two key species – seagrass and oysters. Madison will be examining if co-locating the two organisms is a win-win, while Cara has been examining biodiversity associated with novel, non-plastic restoration materials to ensure there are no unintended consequences. Finally, Luciana Banquero has been examining interactions

between the seagrass H. wrightii and the macroalga Caulerpa prolifera in seagrass restoration. Her experiments have been run in the central Indian River Lagoon in partnership with Brevard Zoo scientists.

Other topics that kept our lab busy in 2025:

• Atmospheric deposition of microplastics into Mosquito Lagoon and the IRL with help from 30 local citizen scientists (498 volunteer hours).

• Microplastic abundances in the blood of raptors, oysters, and cats.

• New IRL invasions of charru and green mussels after a 10-year absence.

• Testing the impact of oyster reef virtual reality at a “crab’s eye view” on volunteer experiences.

• Publishing a new children’s book for elementary age students entitled, “The Secret Lives of Oyster Reefs – as told by Ozzie the Osprey and his friends, Hollie and Ollie Oystercatcher”, printed in both English and Spanish versions.

• 34 presentations by students at professional conferences.

• Publishing 5 peer-reviewed journal articles plus 4 more submitted for review, all with student authors.

• Citations occur when other scientists reference your publications in their publications. CEELAB papers were cited over 700 times in 2025.

• Working with 39 K-12 classrooms to share our love of science, mangroves, and Mosquito Lagoon.

• Making restoration units with clients at The Arc in Indian River County for special needs adults.

• Having over 1100 volunteers contribute over 4600 hours of their time toward coastal restoration.

In closing, we thank everyone who has helped CEELAB, especially CEELAB students. This includes volunteers who made restoration units at Marine Discovery Center and on the UCF campus with our CCA partner Greg Harrison. We also thank all the K-12 teachers and their classes, as well as all the judges at conferences. Finally, we thank Annie Roddenberry (FL FWCC) and all the folks at the IRLNEP for their support in moving the needle on improving Mosquito Lagoon, and the Indian River Lagoon, for us all.