University Gets High on the Reef
New research center will create 400 new jobs
AP
In this photo released by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Kingman Reef is seen in this photo, date unknown. Parts of three remote and uninhabited Pacific island chains are being set aside by President George W. Bush as national monuments to protect them from oil and gas extraction and commercial fishing in what will be the largest marine conservation effort in history. The three areas _ totaling some 195,280 square miles _ include the Mariana Trench and the waters and corals surrounding three uninhabited islands in the Northern Mariana Islands, Rose Atoll in American Samoa and seven islands strung along the equator in the central Pacific Ocean. (AP Photo/USFWS, Jim Maragos)
Call it the Taj Mahal of coral reef research.
Thanks to a little stimulus money, well actually a lot of it, Nova Southeastern University is poised to build a state-of-the-art research building dedicated to saving one of South Florida's most precious and beautiful natural resources.
Nova Southeastern University already has something called the National Coral Reef Institute operating from an old building at John U. Lloyd State Park in Dania Beach. There's a makeshift-looking collection of tubs out back, in which the researchers grow coral to study. The labs are cramped. The students and researchers do what they can with limited space.
The new building will be funded with $15 million from federal stimulus money. That's a lot of clams, but the building is also expected to be a big job boost for the area.
"This will create jobs immediately. It will create permanent, high-paying jobs and it will not only stimulate our economy, but it will also do the world a huge amount of benefit," said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Florida has 84 percent of the nation's coral reefs, and they are a huge part of South Florida's economy, supporting the local fishing and diving industries and luring ecotourists from around the world. It's estimated that in South Florida, the reefs account for about 71,000 jobs.
"Hundreds of new jobs in the academic research and construction sectors as well as attracting young scientists who will be seeking their degrees here," said NSU Chancellor Ray Ferrero.
The hope is new discoveries will be made to halt the world-wide decline of coral reefs. In recent years, about 20 percent have died, and about 50 percent are in danger.
The coral palace is expected to open late next year.
Posted Monday, Jan 11, 2010 - 7:30 PM EST
