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FA L L 2 0 0 6 FLORIDA IMPRINTS ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY I M P R I N T S Uncovering Lost Civilizations AT LEFT: Students conducting field work TOP: Manteno face artifact BOTTOM, LEFT: Student relaxing in hammock BOTTOM, RIGHT: View of nearby coastline Journeying through time, cultural anthropology students uncover lost civilizations through the FAU Ecuador Field Programs in Archaeology and Ethnology. For those interested in contemporary community studies, the ethnology curriculum of the program also has much to offer. This international field study summer program, one of the few of its kind granted national U.S. accreditation, is made available to students from FAU and around the world by the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters’ Department of Anthropology. Coastal Ecuador’s southern province of Manabi, an area overlooked by many researchers, serves as the focal point for the FAU field study. Home base is a small fishing village ideally located to allow students and faculty to travel to nearby excavation sites in Salango, Rio Chico and El Pital. “Since 1997 we have been scientifically studying this area and have had great success,” says Dr. Michael Harris, associate professor and department chair. “FAU’s Ecuador Field School, one of the only such programs set in South America, sees an enrollment of approximately 15 to 25 students each summer. Half of the group is comprised of FAU students, while others come from such institutions as the University of Chicago, New York University, Wellesley College, The University of Texas and the University of California. There is also student representation from Great Britain, New Zealand, the Netherlands and South America.” Students learn how to observe their surroundings, record their findings and apply anthropological methodology and theory as they dig out and examine artifacts and ancient structures, and draw conclusions about the way past cultures lived and present societies function. “Our work has resulted in unearthing important habitation and ceremonial sites including the remains of a stone settlement and ancient shell processing building in El Pital,” says Valentina Martinez, Harris’ academic colleague at FAU and partner in marriage. “Our discoveries serve as significant proof of a once technologically complex and well-organized urban center where people made use of natural resources. One student discovered a subspecies of the Capuchin monkey. By venturing into this previously unexplored Amazon-like region, FAU has advanced as an institution committed to the study of complex human cultures.” 4 legacy
Dr. Marguerite Koch-Rose and Her Commitment to a Dying Breed SAVING SEAGR ASS Home to an estimated 2.7 million acres of seagrass meadows, Florida’s coastal waters face a harsh reality — the flowering underwater vegetation is becoming stressed which is leading to frequent large-scale die-off events. These mass mortality events in coastal seagrass communities are a global phenomenon occurring in Florida Bay as well as the Mediterranean Sea. Leading the charge to understand the factors driving seagrasses to die-off is Dr. Marguerite Koch-Rose, associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. She has dedicated much of her professional career to studying seagrass and other marine habitat-forming ecosystems such as mangrove swamps and salt marshes. Like an unrelenting detective in search of a case-breaking clue, Koch is racing against time to determine exactly what has been threatening the existence of the seagrass community in Florida Bay since the problem was first recognized in the early 1990s. While unsuited to grow on land, Florida seagrasses thrive in coastal bays, lagoons and around coral reefs increasing the biocomplexity of these ecosystems. Seagrass beds, with their biodiverse residents of marine species, are the aquatic version of tropical rainforests in terms of their productivity. In addition to high productivity, seagrasses stabilize bottom sediments, process unwanted nutrients and create a nursery ground for juvenile fish and shellfish. One acre of seagrass can be the habitat and feeding source for more than 40,000 fish and 50 million small invertebrates. Without seagrass, Florida’s water clarity will be compromised, an important food supply for fish and marine mammals diminished and fish, crustaceans and shellfish will have no place to live, breed and reproduce. Loss of this habitat would have serious economical impacts on coastal fisheries and tourism. In an effort to pinpoint what is challenging the seagrass community, Koch and her colleagues have isolated and cultured seagrass plants in 500-liter tanks located at the Gumbo Limbo Environmental Complex in Boca Raton. These tanks allow Koch to conduct experiments on seagrass and its tolerance to multiple stressors including the interaction between salinity and high water temperatures. Her experiments at Gumbo Limbo and in the field indicate that the die-off conditions that so seriously threaten seagrass are linked to low oxygen levels. Koch earned her Ph.D. at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS) at the University of Miami. At FAU, she teaches marine botany, coastal ecology and scientific communications. Her research has garnered much interest and support from the state of Florida and has earned FAU a reputation as a great place to study marine ecology. Without seagrass, Florida’s water clarity will be compromised, an important food supply for fish and marine mammals diminished and fish, crustaceans and shellfish will have no place to live, breed and reproduce. ABOVE: Dr. Koch-Rose conducting an experiment at Gumbo Limbo in Boca Raton legacy 5 PHOTO BY WENDI SCHNEIDER
Page 1 and 2: legacy A Magazine for Alumni and Fr
Page 3 and 4: FALL 2006 VOLUME 4, NUMBER 2 E D I
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Page 15 and 16: TOP: 40TH ANNIVERSARY PLANNING COMM
Page 17 and 18: pany as it responds to new demands
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Page 21 and 22: for these upcoming signature alumni
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Page 27 and 28: PHOTO BY TOM ERVIN THE JAMES FAMILY

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