SAVING THE QUEEN OF THE SEA

Prized for its iconic spiral shell and meat, the queen conch is considered the cornerstone of the Caribbean culture and economy, but decades of overfishing have caused their populations to plummet. A new $2.8 million gift from Builders Initiative will help support FAU Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute researchers’ species restoration efforts.

The gift will establish a pilot-scale queen conch aquaculture farm led by Megan Davis, Ph.D., research professor, Aquaculture and Stock Enhancement, and the world’s leading expert on queen conch aquaculture with 40 years of research in the field. The Grand Bahama queen conch hatchery is the fifth such FAU partnership project to restore the queen conch in the Caribbean. Other queen conch farms established since 2016 are in Puerto Rico, Curaçao and Great Exuma, Bahamas.

“Builders Initiative is thrilled to be an anchor funder of Florida Atlantic University’s innovative program to establish conch aquaculture hatchery facilities across the Caribbean,” said Peter Bryant, oceans program director at Builders Initiative. “We’re committed to accelerating restorative aquaculture solutions in The Bahamas, and this project is a cornerstone of our program, one that will restore conch populations in The Bahamas while also providing benefits to local communities.”

The gift also enables development of a conceptual master plan for a 25-acre innovation hub on Grand Bahama for researchers working to solve issues of island sustainability. The FAU School of Architecture’s MetroLAB Design Collaborative will work with strategic partner Blue Action Lab on the master plan.

“Our FAU Harbor Branch Queen Conch Lab team together with our partners are making strides to fulfill the vision of a conch farm in every Caribbean nation,” said Davis. “There has never been a more important time to help communities grow queen conch for the sake of the species, ecosystem, and the people who depend on the fishery.”

FAU and Broward Health, one of the 10 largest public health care systems in the United States, announced a groundbreaking partnership to collaborate in the areas of education, clinical training and practice, health services administration and research.

“Florida Atlantic University and Broward Health share a common vision and purpose of providing high-quality and compassionate medical care, stellar education, and lifesaving research close to home,” said Brad Levine, chair of the FAU Board of Trustees. “This collaboration makes us part of a vital network in Broward County that connects us with a partner that will enable us to care for our community.”

As part of the collaboration, FAU and Broward Health plan to explore opportunities for joint research and scholarship at the student and faculty level, community engagement, fundraising opportunities, and integrating academic medicine, first within the setting of the system’s safetynet hospital. Safety-net practices are providers that organize and deliver a significant level of health care and other needed services to uninsured, Medicaid and other vulnerable patients.

Students in health sciences enrolled at FAU will have access to physicians and clinical facilities within Broward Health thanks to this agreement.

“We welcome opportunities for collaboration to expand our health care network, provide lifesaving medical services, and importantly, train the next generation of physicians who will serve our communities with compassion, integrity and highly skilled care,” said Shane Strum, president and CEO of Broward Health. “As the first statutory teaching hospital in Broward County, partnerships like this one ensure we continue to build the skilled physician workforce our region needs while meeting the health care needs of our communities today.”

Florida Atlantic University received a $1 million gift from Florida Power & Light Company, through its charitable arm, the NextEra Energy Foundation, to establish the FPL Center for Intelligent Energy Technologies (InETech), which will be housed in the FAU College of Engineering and Computer Science. As part of this commitment, FPL will engage in a four-year collaboration with the university to pursue research relating to smart technologies, products relevant to the energy sector and workforce development.

“Florida Atlantic takes great pride in its partnerships with community and industry leaders,” said FAU President Stacy Volnick. “We truly appreciate this gift from our partners at FPL and NextEra Energy, which will support our bold vision to solve tomorrow’s challenges today and create impactful opportunities for our students and faculty.”

In addition to funding research for the benefit of the energy sector, the gift enables the creation of the FPL InETech Center Scholarship, which will help the College of Engineering and Computer Science continue to attract highly qualified undergraduate and graduate students. It also will support community outreach and K-12 activities that aim to spur interest and educate youth about the energy industry.

“At FPL, we hope that many of these students will become our future employees that can help drive innovation and creative solutions to meet the evolving needs of our customers and our communities,” said Pam Rauch, FPL vice president of external affairs and economic development. “We have a long-standing partnership with FAU, and we are honored to work together to bring this state-of-the-art facility to life to inspire and motivate the energy leaders of tomorrow.”