UF Coastal Resilience Design Studio Research Lab Conducts Field Visit to St. Augustine To Explore Coastal Design Systems in Action
In January, students from the UF Department of Landscape Architecture’s Coastal Resilience Design Studio (CRDS) research lab under department Chair Dr. Jules Bruck conducted a field visit to St. Augustine. The goal of the visit was to examine coastal resilience systems in action and to hear from fellow researchers about how the systems operate.
Students from the CRDS, which includes BLA, MLA, and Ph.D. students, seek to better understand the wide variety of coastal solutions being implemented along Florida’s coastlines. To facilitate this discovery, Dr. Bruck coordinated the visit alongside Dr. Andrew Altieri, Associate Professor in the Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure & Environment.
He serves as the Principal Investigator on an interdisciplinary project through the UF Center for Coastal Solutions that seeks to understand why and how coastal landforms such as dunes, marshes, and beaches are changing, and how to increase their resiliency. The project is a collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “Engineering with Nature” Program, which focuses on using innovative, resilient, and efficient ways to improve infrastructure and restore ecosystems. Dr. Bruck is also a Co-Principal Investigator on the project.
From left to right: Spencer Asofsky (MLA), Mo Tahmasebi (Ph.D.), Veronica Cancio (MLA), Adrian Sakr (Ph.D.), Dr. Jules Bruck, Desi Roch-Hernandez (BLA), Anna Sophia Ward (BLA), Amaia Morgan (BLA), Chris Bonura (Ph.D.), Dr. Andrew Altieri, Britney Hay (Ph.D.), Adam Hymel (Ph.D)
The team’s first stop on their visit was with Dr. Altieri and two of his Ph.D. students, Britney Hay and Adam Hymel, who are studying coastal ecosystems dynamics. Speaking with Dr. Altieri and his students, the lab team was able to learn firsthand about marsh processes, ecosystem services, and management challenges. They asked questions related to research factors like hydrology and habitat function and took inspiration to use in their own investigations.
Amaia Morgan drafted the team’s case study on Thin-Layer Placement (TLP), a thin layer of beneficial dredge sediments that are applied to marshes to raise their elevation
The team then visited the UF Whitney Lab for Marine Bioscience, where they gained insight into cutting-edge coastal research and its design implications. MLA student Spencer Asofsky said seeing the systems in action “brought a new perspective to the coastal work we all do and shows the importance of restoring and maintaining these critical coastal barriers.”
Dr. Bruck said of the trip, “Field experiences like this help students connect coastal science to meaningful place-based design. The visit sparked curiosity and creative thinking that inspire students to innovate in their designs.”
The lab’s team of landscape architecture students includes Spencer Asofsky (MLA), Mo Tahmasebi (Ph.D.), Veronica Cancio (MLA), Adrian Sakr (Ph.D.), Desi Roch-Hernandez (BLA), Sophia Ward (BLA), Amaia Morgan (BLA), and Chris Bonura (Ph.D.).
