Overview

Science is the foundational element for Everglades restoration and management and GEER is the premier showcase for Everglades science.

Sessions will feature presentations by the best and brightest working in the Everglades, addressing the most pressing and complex science issues that we face now and into the future of restoration – a future that includes a changing climate, threats from invasive species, altered hydrology, development pressure, and degraded water quality. Sound science relevant to these challenges and the restoration efforts is required to provide resource managers and policy-makers with the best information possible.

High-quality science has supported many facets of Everglades restoration, including:

• the ecological and hydrological effects of new CERP projects and a revised Lake Okeechobee operating schedule
• investigating invasive species such as the Burmese python and the Argentine black and white tegu, and how we can better detect and control them in the future
• providing advanced and easy-to-use scientific tools for restoration managers
• studying how to best achieve balance between restoration goals and endangered species protection
• assessing how a degraded Everglades will respond to restored sheet flow

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Looking to the Future

Scientists are using innovative approaches – think molecular biology, ecosystem modeling, artificial intelligence, advanced remote sensing -- to provide more data for restoration planning and decision-making. As we progress, we look for opportunities to integrate these innovative data with measurements from the ground, such as, integrating satellite-derived Lidar ground elevation data and water-level surfaces with EDEN. This example is just one that shows that how collaboration can take advantage of innovation to lead to integration, and ultimately synthesis. For GEER 2023, speakers are asked to consider where we are now, and what is possible by sharing data, collaborating, and synthesizing to build consensus and provide a vision for the future.

GEER will continue its legacy of providing a valuable forum for scientists and engineers to showcase and communicate the latest scientific developments, and to facilitate information exchange that builds shared understanding among federal, state, local, and tribal scientists and decision-makers, academia, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, and private citizens.

If you are working in the Everglades, you should make plans to join us!

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Visit our Who Should Attend page to learn more about who benefits by attending GEER.