UM News

Roni Avissar, right, dean of the Rosenstiel School, accepts the 2015 Florida House Conservation Award from Bart Hudson, CEO and president of Florida House on Capitol Hill.

MIAMI, Fla. (March 18, 2015) – From coral reef restoration efforts to a sustainable aquaculture program to research that sheds new light on the important role that apex predators play in our ocean ecosystems, the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science has been recognized for its conservation initiatives with the 2015 Florida House Conservation Award.

Presented to Rosenstiel School Dean Roni Avissar during a ceremony held at Northern Trust in Miami on Wednesday, the award honors extraordinary commitment and work in protecting the environment. It was established by the Florida House on Capitol Hill, a nonprofit, nonpartisan education and information center that is the only state embassy in the nation’s capital.

During Wednesday’s award ceremony, made possible by Northern Trust, the Rosenstiel School was cited for its marine conservation efforts in three areas: a coral restoration project that propagates threatened staghorn coral in underwater nurseries to create a sustainable source of healthy colonies for use in restoration activities; an Aquaculture Program that plays a key role in aquaculture development, consultation and participation, technology transfer of marine fish hatcheries, and grow-out for commercial operations; and its RJ Dunlap Marine Conservation Program, which conducts field and laboratory studies in Florida, the Bahamas, and elsewhere to better understand the role of marine predators and the potential cascading effects of their declines on fish communities.