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New book combines current research with classic studies to highlight reptiles secret social lives
The cold-blooded, scaly creatures are often thought of as solitary, uncaring or asocial. In reality, experts believe they communicate extensively with one another and hunt, feed, court, mate, nest and hatch in groups.
August 9, 2021Research and Innovation
New native landscaping brings monarch butterflies to campus
New landscaping featuring native Florida plants lured a host of unique visitors to campus: monarch butterflies. In caterpillar form, nearly 60 individuals of this imperiled species appeared one morning outside of the Peter Rudy Wallace building, attracted by milkweed planted by the groundskeeping crew at USF’s St. Petersburg campus.
April 22, 2021Sustainability
Finding hope for Florida's vanishing bird
In “The Florida Scrub Jay: Field Notes of a Vanishing Bird,” USF St. Petersburg campus Veterinarian and Journalism Professor Mark Walters traveled the state to report on the natural history and historic decline of this once prosperous species, while documenting efforts to stave off extinction.
April 19, 2021Research and Innovation
Not all in one basket: Loggerhead sea turtles lay eggs in multiple locations to improve reproductive success
Although loggerhead sea turtles return to the same beach where they hatched to lay their eggs, a new study by a USF professor finds individual females lay numerous clutches of eggs in locations miles apart from each other to increase the chance that some of their offspring will survive.
January 28, 2021Research and Innovation
Invasive in the U.S., lifesaver Down Under
Sean Doody, assistant professor and graduate director of integrative biology at the USF St. Petersburg campus, discovered that while a related species is considered invasive in the United States, in Australia, small animal communities rely on the monitor lizards’ burrow system, called a warren, using it as a habitat, a place to forage for food and nesting.
January 5, 2021Research and Innovation
Biologists build “gene bank” to save species devastated by toxic toads
Conservation biologist Sean Doody, an assistant professor at USF’s St. Petersburg campus, is engaged in a research project to save one of Australia’s unique predators.
September 24, 2020Research and Innovation
Anthropology Professor Participating in Study to Uncover the True Cost of Florida’s Red Tide
The studies are designed to analyze the effects to numerous sectors — from tourism and seafood to industries where impacts are less visible, such as healthcare and construction.
April 29, 2020Research and Innovation
USF St. Pete Interns Help Statewide Research Group Study Harmful Algal Blooms
The internship has given the students hands-on experience working with professional scientists and the opportunity to participate in activities within two teams: one in the light microscopy lab, which monitors for red tide and other HABs, and a team working on Pyrodinium bahamense, which does experimental work in the field and in the laboratory.
April 27, 2020Research and Innovation, Student Life
USFSP Professor to Make Seventh Excursion with DEEPEND Team to Gather Data on Gulf of Mexico
DEEPEND (Deep Pelagic Nekton Dynamics of the Gulf of Mexico) is a multi-year program to collect faunal data, trace contaminants from the oil spill and study the impacts on food webs to determine changes in the ecosystem and to marine life from the environmental disaster.
October 2, 2019Research and Innovation
New Study Reveals Four Billion Particles of Microplastics in Tampa Bay Waters
A new study from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg and Eckerd College estimates the waters of Tampa Bay contain four billion particles of microplastics, raising new questions about the impact of pollution on marine life in this vital ecosystem.
September 9, 2019Research and Innovation
Biology Professor Presents Innovative Model for Classifying Animal Species
Deby Cassill’s unique classification model, which was recently published in the journal Scientific Reports, looks at how pressures from natural selection, such as predation and resource scarcity, influence how mothers invest in offspring quantity and quality.
August 28, 2019Research and Innovation
First Research Team to Film Elusive Giant Squid in U.S. Waters Includes USFSP Professor
When USF St. Petersburg Marine Biology Professor Heather Judkins was awoken last week aboard the Research Vessel Point Sur to news that her colleagues had possibly caught a giant squid on camera, Judkins was up faster than you can say the scientific name Architeuthis.
June 24, 2019Research and Innovation