Stephanie Byrne

From leading the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to inspiring the next generation of environmental stewards, former DEP Secretary Noah Valenstein now offers his expertise as a presidential fellow at Florida Gulf Coast University. WINK News environmental reporter Stephanie Byrne sat in on his first class. Valenstein said students are by far his most demanding […]

Mangroves are not only iconic to Southwest Florida’s coastal beauty but they’re also the first line of defense against sea level rise and storms. FGCU’s The Water School researchers started studying these mangroves right after Hurricane Irma in 2017 to see how the area recovered after the storm. Just in the last couple of weeks, […]

A group of clean water activists is upset after Florida Senators overwhelmingly approved a controversial water bill. More than a hundred environmentalists, fishermen and others gathered in Tallahassee on Thursday, some with boats in tow, to voice their opposition to the bill. It came after the lawmaker behind the bill made changes to it Wednesday […]

Collier County students are stepping into the outdoors as their classroom, to learn about the unique ecosystems here in Southwest Florida. Under the canopy of Big Cypress National Preserve, Pine Ridge Middle School students get their feet wet while learning about the different facets of life in the preserve. From water and soil to weather, […]

To protect life and property around Lake Okeechobee, crews have been strengthening the Herbert Hoover Dike for more than a decade. Just this month, they completed another stretch of the project in Clewiston. It’s another major milestone in strengthening the dike around the lake, while preventing erosion. The Herbert Hoover Dike stretches 143 miles, surrounding […]

Getting down to the core of managing our state’s water.
 One duo at Florida Gulf Coast University is studying the rock beneath the surface to make sure it’s a viable option for storing water in the future. Managing water flowing in and out of Lake Okeechobee is a puzzle. Tom Missimer Ph.D., P.G. is the […]

Water is the lifeblood of Southwest Florida. It’s the heartbeat of our economy, the soul of our ecosystem, and the reason many of us live here. As we consider where our water issues are today, we’ll take a look back at how we got here. Lake Okeechobee translates to “big water” in the Hitchiti Indian […]

A fight for clean water in Florida is underway with advocates saying suspicious legislation is moving forward that could destroy our water quality. They are afraid the bill in the Florida Senate will increase lake Okeechobee water releases, which could result in blue-green algae plaguing canals. Captain Daniel Andrews, co-founder and executive director of Captains […]

A new bill would allow mitigation to happen not only on land but below the water. Mitigation refers to the restoration, creation, or enhancement of wetlands to compensate for losses elsewhere. It’s used when a housing development is created on particular lands, and the developer compensates by planting more trees somewhere else. Now, one lawmaker […]

Samples taken on the other side of the state could help solve the algae problem in places like Cape Coral and other parts of Southwest Florida. On a breezy Florida winter day in Pahokee, Benjamin Marics, a research laboratory coordinator with FGCU, is helping to turn the tide on water quality research. “This is a […]