By Ethan Toth / Contributing Writer
Four FIU students have won a scholarship for their research to protect and preserve the Florida Everglades.
The Everglades Foundation, an educational society for the Floridian wetlands, chose its recipients for the annual ForEverglades scholarship. The scholarship is awarded to graduate students who participate in restoration research projects regarding the Everglades’ physical, chemical, and biological progress, as well as economic and environmental developments.
This year, FIU students Ikechukwu Onwuka, Jonathan Rodemann, Natasha Viadero, and Chloé Vorseth were selected to receive a portion of $125,000 to continue their environmental research.
The Nigerian born Onwuka, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Earth and Environment, researched how to decrease the level of phosphorus in the canals that deliver freshwater to the Everglades. Onwuka says the grant will help his dissertation but has also impacted him beyond that.
“I felt affirmed as an individual, as a doctoral candidate and an upcoming black scientist, empowered to make positive environmental change,” Onwuka said.
He also said the award encourages him to go on and complete his degree. He says the Everglades Restoration project was of vast importance to him and set out to use his “perseverance and doggedness” as well as his support system to get where he is now.
“I knew I had to partake in this epic restoration story and journeyed over 5000 miles from Nigeria just to make that happen,” Onwuka said.
Though not traveling as far as Onwuka, Chloe Vorseth came from Kentucky.
After spending lots of time camping and taking in the Kentucky forests, Vorseth got hooked on environmental science after a combination of high school electives and an undergraduate degree in natural resources and environmental science from the University of Kentucky.
Vorseth came to FIU to work with Dr.George Andrew Stainback, her former advisor from the University of Kentucky, who informed her of The Everglades Foundation and their scholarship, plus their close relationship with FIU.
Her research centers on Lake Okeechobee, an important source of water for the Everglades. More specifically, how fishermen there make an impact on the Florida economy as well as how to improve the body of water for recreational purposes.
“I hope to express both the economic and ecological importance of Lake Okeechobee as a recreational fishery and to justify proper management, conservation, and restoration of the lake into the future,” Vorseth said, who is currently enrolled in the Earth Systems Science PhD program at 25-years-old.
With the funds from the ForEverglades Foundation, Vorseth plans on continuing her studies within the lake and expand her research to two Floridian estuaries in the St. Lucie river and Caloosahatchee river.
“I guess you could say that I was lucky enough to create a career out of something that I am extremely passionate and excited about. I can’t imagine doing anything else,” Vorseth said.
Viadero, a master’s student in the Department of Earth and Environment, who also expressed similar sentiments.
“I could never picture myself stuck in a cubicle working a nine to five job,” said Viadero.
Viadero believes humanity should do anything in its power to aid the environment and animals since we have contributed to the degradation of ecosystems around the world.
Viadero’s work concentrates on measuring the salt levels in the environments inhabited by the largemouth bass.
“They are considered keystone species and a good indicator species for the health of freshwater ecosystems,” Viadero said.
The scholarship money she has won will go towards maintaining salinity and temperature loggers as the data they collect will further allow Viadero to study past conditions of the fish and if salt levels impact the growth of the fish.
“I was overcome with joy when I found out I had received the ForEverglades Scholarship, but I wouldn’t say it alleviated any pressure for my studies,” said Viadero. “If anything it puts a bit more pressure on me to ensure I do everything in my power to produce the best work I can because now I’m not only representing myself and my lab but the Everglades Foundation as well.”
PantherNOW reached out to Rodemann, a PhD student in the Department of Earth and Environment, but was not available to comment. His research focuses on “Fine-scale Movement and Habitat Use of Recreational Sportfish in Relation to Seagrass Habitat Structure and Composition.”
Vorseth reflected on her three years in Miami, saying the scholarship means a lot to her.
“I am grateful to have had this opportunity,” Vorseth said. “It has changed my life beyond measure.”
For more information on the winners, click here.
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