Virtual Field Trips
While we are not able to meet in-person, virtual field trips now allow us to go beyond geographic limitations. We hope you will take some time to explore some of this year's virtual field trips in between sessions or while enjoying your lunch break.
Learn More about Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs)
STAs are constructed wetlands that play a critical role in helping to protect the Everglades. When fertilizers are used in suburban, agricultural and urban settings, high levels of phosphorus are introduced to our watershed. This excess phosphorus stimulates plant growth and causes an overgrowth of undesirable plants. STAs use the “green” technology of wetland plants to filter out excess phosphorus before the water enters the Everglades.
Visit the National Park Service Virtual Experience and Explore Everglades National Park
Take a moment to explore The River of Life, a short documentary, and view wildlife activity through the Royal Palm Anhinga Trail Webcam. Watch how the Everglades National Park conducts a prescribed burn in the fire-dependent sawgrass prairie and see the Hole-in-the-Donut being restored to its native wetland prairie habitat.
Do you know LILA? LILA isn't a person – it's a place!
Located at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, LILA, which stands for Loxahatchee Impoundment Landscape Assessment, is a LIving LAboratory for Everglades restoration. This landscape scale physical model allows scientists to conduct cause-and-effect studies in a controlled environment, giving them the opportunity to try restoration techniques before taking them into the 1.7-million-acre Everglades ecosystem.
Tamiami Trail Modifications: Restoring Freshwater Flows to the Everglades
The Tamiami Trail is the historic roadway connecting Tampa to Miami. While the roadway made traveling between the two cities faster and safer, it created a barrier to water flow going into Everglades National Park. Over the past few decades, efforts have been underway to make modifications to the Tamiami Trail. When all of the modifications are completed, the increased water flows are expected to result in improvements to hundreds of thousands of acres of wetlands, and will provide the foundation for the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. Learn more about the modifications to the Tamiami Trail by clicking the video link below.
Special Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Florida Atlantic University’s Center for Environmental Studies for sharing its virtual field trip links with GEER 2021. Their video series, Virtual Everglades Educational Experiences, was created to inform the public about important restoration and water quality improvement projects that will ultimately benefit the Everglades and the citizens of south Florida. These videos were created in partnership with the USGS Greater Everglades Priority Ecosystem Sciences Program to support the annual IHE-FAU International Water Professionals Program. We also thank the National Park Service for sharing its Virtual Experience to Explore Everglades National Park.