Innovations Magazine: USF St. Petersburg | Volume 5 | 2024

A PUBLICATION FROM USF ST. PETERSBURG

INNOVATIONS

MAGAZINE VOLUME 5 | 2024

A BANNER YEAR FOR MARINE SCIENCE TAKING A SIP FOR SCHOLARSHIPS WHO IS KILLING THE BLACK WIDOW? FINTECH BY THE NUMBERS THE ARTS COME ALIVE

IN THIS ISSUE: 3 LETTER FROM THE REGIONAL CHANCELLOR 5 USF ACCEPTED INTO ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES 6 TURNING KNOWLEDGE INTO ACTION 8 BUILDING COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS 10 WHO IS KILLING THE BLACK WIDOW SPIDER? 12 LESSONS OF THE HOLOCAUST 14 PREPARING FOR EXTREME STORMS 16 FINTECH BY THE NUMBERS 18 FORTY YEARS OF THE TAVERN 22 A BANNER YEAR FOR MARINE SCIENCE 26 TAKING A SIP FOR SCHOLARSHIPS 28 COMBATING HUMAN TRAFFICKING 30 TRAINING THE FUTURE WORKFORCE 34 RETROSPECTIVE: V. MARK DURAND 36 BOOKS PUBLISHED BY USF ST. PETERSBURG PROFESSORS 38 FAMILY STUDY CENTER AT 20 40 THE ARTS COME ALIVE 42 A YEAR IN PHOTOS 2 | INNOVATIONS MAGAZINE

CREDITS Innovations Magazine is written and produced by the USF St. Petersburg Communications & Marketing department.

Editor Carrie O’Brion Assistant Editor Amy Harcar Holloway Art Direction, Design Lily Hoddinott Alex Jonas Content Contributors Carrie O’Brion Matthew Cimitile Sarah Sell Dyllan Furness Joe Rominiecki Thomas Smith Photography: Cliff McBride Sarah Sell Kelli Carmack Deby Cassill NASA Nelson Poynter Memorial Library

© USF St. Petersburg, 2024

A MESSAGE FROM THE REGIONAL CHANCELLOR Though all universities are places for learning and growth, some take on the characteristics of a community.

In addition to research and innovation, there is also empathy, respect and caring.

There’s a quote from Rosalynn Carter, the wife of former president Jimmy Carter who recently passed away, that has always resonated with me: “Do what you can to show you care about other people and you will make our world a better place.”

That’s a thread I see running through so much of what drives us here at USF St. Petersburg. From the partnerships we form with our community to the research that pushes boundaries and advances knowledge, we are constantly working to improve society.

USF PRESIDENT Rhea Law USF ST. PETERSBURG CAMPUS ADVISORY BOARD Melissa Seixas, USF Trustee and Campus Board Chair Lisa Brody Scott Goyer Reuben Pressman Isaac McKinney Debbie Nye Sembler USF ST. PETERSBURG CAMPUS CABINET Christian Hardigree, Regional Chancellor

You’ll read about many of these initiatives in this year’s issue of Innovations, our campus magazine.

Thomas Smith, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Campus Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences

Perhaps most noteworthy is the progress we’re making toward building an Environmental and Oceanographic Sciences (EOS) Research and Teaching Facility, an $80 million project that will further establish USF St. Petersburg as a global destination for the study of ocean and environmental science.

Jacob Diaz, Regional Associate Vice Chancellor of Student Success and Dean of Students

We held our first-ever Bulls and Brews by the Bay, a fundraising event on our beautiful waterfront. Also called “Okto-BULL-fest,” there was live music, a German menu and chance drawings. Most importantly, we also raised enough to offer ten times the number of USF St. Petersburg scholarships compared to this year.

I’m particularly proud of the accomplishments of our students highlighted in the magazine.

Stephen Brown, a political science major and a U.S. Navy veteran, used his government class to successfully lobby the local transit authority to provide free bus rides to veterans.

Louis Coticchio’s undergraduate research into the behavior of brown widow spiders grabbed national attention and raised important questions about the species.

You’ll also read a moving essay by Thomas Smith, our Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Campus Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, who accompanied a group of students from the Judy Genshaft Honors College to eastern Europe to learn more about the Holocaust.

I hope you’ll come away feeling as I do: that USF St. Petersburg is a very special place, filled with exceptional people focused on making a difference.

Lauren Hartmann, Director of Government Relations Patricia Helton, Regional Vice Chancellor of Student Success Mai Jenney, Regional Assistant Vice Chancellor of Administration and Finance Caryn Nesmith, Director of Community Relations Carrie O’Brion, Regional Assistant Vice Chancellor of Marketing, Communications and Strategic Initiatives E. Howard Rutherford, Associate Vice President of Development Nicholas Setteducato, Interim Regional Vice Chancellor of Administration and Finance Aurélio Manuel, Regional Assistant Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Studies Laura Zuppo, Regional Assistant Vice Chancellor of Student Success

Enjoy Innovations and share it with others. I invite you to stay engaged with us to keep up to date on all the latest news. Check out our website at stpetersburg.usf.edu and follow us on social media.

Thank you so much for your continued support. And, as always, GO BULLS!

Christian E. Hardigree Regional Chancellor USF St. Petersburg USF ST. PETERSBURG

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A TRANSFORMATIONAL BUDGET YEAR The University of South Florida received the largest operational budget increase in its history for the 2023–24 fiscal year. The allocation, approved by the Florida Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, boosted USF’s operating funds and paved the way for several high-priority university projects.

$63.3M A $63.3 million recurring increase to USF’s operational budget to support the work of each of USF’s three campuses and USF Health.

$6.5M $6.5 million to invest in campus life facility projects funded through the state’s Capital Improvement Trust Fund.

$24.3M $24.3 million to fund the first phase of planning and construction of a new Environmental and Oceanographic Sciences Research and Teaching facility on the USF St. Petersburg campus (read more about this project on page 22).

This funding will have a lasting impact on USF, helping the university excel in student and faculty success, grow its research profile and make a greater impact on the Tampa Bay region and the state of Florida.

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COMMUNITY MEMBERS REACT: USF ACCEPTED INTO ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES The University of South Florida reached a historic milestone this year by accepting an invitation to join the Association of American Universities (AAU), a prestigious group of the 71 leading research institutions in the United States and Canada.

USF is the first public university in Florida to be invited into the AAU in nearly 40 years and now joins the University of Florida as one of two institutions from the State University System of Florida to serve as an AAU member.

There are a variety of benefits that flow from becoming an AAU member, from expanding the university’s research profile to recruiting world-class faculty, staff and students to driving economic development by encouraging businesses and start-ups.

Community members from around the region reacted to the news with excitement and enthusiasm. Here’s a sampling of the responses:

Mayor Ken Welch, city of St. Petersburg: “As a proud ‘Bull,’ I’m thrilled that my alma mater is joining the ranks of such esteemed research universities across North America. As mayor, I’m even more excited about what this means for the future of USF and its role in the city of St. Petersburg.”

Former Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls: “The University of South Florida’s invitation to join the AAU demonstrates the university’s commitment to excellence and its meteoric rise over the past few years. Go Bulls!”

Alison Barlow, executive director of the St. Petersburg Innovation District: “Achieving AAU status creates a waterfall effect for USF. Increasing the research portfolio attracts top-caliber faculty and labels existing faculty as experts in their fields. That creates exciting new opportunities for high-performing students, which builds our workforce pipeline. It’s a huge win for everyone in our area.”

USF ST. PETERSBURG

Melissa Seixas, chair of the USF St. Petersburg Campus Board and member of the USF Board of Trustees: “As a proud alumna, I am thrilled that USF has been invited to join AAU. This is truly a testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire USF community. AAU membership opens up so many exciting possibilities for our entire region and I can’t wait to see what the future brings.”

Jason Mathis, CEO of the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership: “This is a huge point of pride for our entire community. We already know that USF is a leading research institution. Being invited to be part of this respected academic group sends a powerful message to entrepreneurs who want to grow their business in St. Pete or the larger region.”

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TURNING KNOWLEDGE INTO ACTION

U S F S TU DEN TS M AK E AN I M PAC T O N THE C OMMUNIT Y

Carrie O’Brion Steven Brown saw his government class as more than just an opportunity to earn a grade: it was a chance to change lives.

As a former E-4 fighter jet maintainer in the Navy, Brown frequently visited the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System in St. Petersburg, and always noted the number of veterans at the bus stop, either waiting for a ride or waiting to be picked up. Brown and his fellow students came up with a proposal: Why not allow disabled veterans in Pinellas County to ride public transit for free?

Team members presented their idea to the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) Board of Directors. The board was so impressed, they took the proposal a step further, passing a motion to allow all Pinellas County veterans to ride PSTA buses at no cost starting on November 10, 2023.

It was a powerful lesson for Brown and his classmates.

“This class really got me to think how you can affect real change in society if you have the tools and motivation at your disposal,” Brown said, who plans on advocating for veteran issues his entire life. “It’s been an honor to be able to make a positive change that improves the community welfare of veterans.”

Brown is just one of many students on the USF St. Petersburg campus making a difference in the lives of others and creating positive change in the community. From rescuing wildlife to illustrating a children’s book about the wonders of space, these students are learning valuable skills while pushing boundaries and advocating for a better future.

abnormal molting and cloudiness of the eyes, leading to higher death rates in certain species of snakes.

Most of Shukla’s research is performed in the USF St. Petersburg herpetology lab, which is home to a venomous cottonmouth, two diamondback rattlesnakes and several nonvenomous water snakes.

Shukla, who has been nicknamed “Snakeman” around campus because of his unique field of study, said he chose snake fungal disease as his master’s thesis because reptiles are understudied compared to other animals.

“Snakes are very important in terms of the food web,” Shukla said.

“So, we’re studying this disease because we do think it has the potential to be a conservation concern.”

TAKING ACTION TO SAVE A LIFE Marine Biology student Kierstyn Benjamin is also interested in helping wildlife. But her opportunity to assist an animal in distress occurred when she was doing homework in the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library.

Benjamin was gazing out the window at Bayboro Harbor when she saw a manatee head pop out of the water. She went outside to get a closer look and quickly determined the juvenile manatee wasn’t behaving normally.

HELPING AN OVERLOOKED SPECIES While most people do their best to avoid venomous snakes, Shiv Shukla spends a large portion of his time studying, handling and observing the slithery creatures.

Shukla, a graduate student in conservation biology, is studying the emerging pathogen Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, a fungal disease found in snakes. The skin condition has been found in Florida and can cause

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USF gradu ate studen t Shiv ‘Sna Shukla tra keman’ vels to field sites to test a fungus th snakes for at can cau se death in snakes.

all, oticed a sm enjamin n B n ty rbor rs H ie K ayboro a anatee in B m d se r part in es jo tr a dis ying a m quickly, pla ed ct a d n a e animal. rescuing th

So, Benjamin called the Florida Fish and Wildlife

Conservation Commission’s Wildlife Alert Hotline. The team responded quickly to campus and, after several tense hours trying to corral the distressed manatee into a boat and then on land, they were able to transport him to Zoo Tampa at Lowry Park.

“This internship was a great challenge because I had not animated before,” Coloma said. “I used the two days before my interview for the position to learn how to animate and show that I had the potential to learn.”

The juvenile manatee was named Burro, short for Bayboro Harbor where he was rescued. He was diagnosed with cold stress and was lethargic, underweight and suffering from lesions from the cold.

Coloma earned praise from agency officials for her willingness to grow and evolve. She said she plans to continue to explore career options that will allow her to impact the world around her through design.

Rescuers said Burro could have died if it weren’t for Benjamin’s quick action.

UMATTER STUDENTS SUCCEED BY CONFRONTING CHALLENGES

“It was really inspiring to know that just that little phone call and saying, ‘hey, I spotted something unusual,’ how big of an impact it can have,” Benjamin said.

Burro is expected to be released back into the wild after he reaches an optimal bodyweight, according to Zoo Tampa officials.

Some USF students made an impact on their community by overcoming obstacles and serving as an inspiration to others. That was the case for the six students who became the first cohort to graduate from the Eileen Hoffman Hafer UMatter program at the end of the Spring 2023 semester.

The innovative program provides young adults with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to experience higher education and campus life, including living in the residence halls and participating in university activities.

APPLYING KNOWLEDGE TO ACHIEVE DREAMS Graphic Arts student Andrea Coloma also got the opportunity to use the skills she learned at USF St. Petersburg. In her case, she’s helping to advance the future of space exploration.

A second-generation immigrant from Ecuador, Coloma grew up near Kennedy Space Station and dreamed of working for NASA one day - not as an engineer or astronaut – but as a graphic designer.

She has secured a total of five internships at s the federal agency so During one of Andrea Coloma’s internship with NASA, she was invited to see the far. During her most development of future Orion capsules. recent stint with NASA’s Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) program, Coloma illustrated an educational children’s book that highlights the agency’s role in the recent Artemis I mission.

During previous internships, she was tasked with creating three, oneminute children’s animation videos that explain how NASA’s Orion spacecraft would use a distant retrograde orbit during Artemis I.

USF ST. PETERSBURG

Luke King was one of six students that was part of the first coh ort to graduate from the UMatter program.

With support from professional staff and mentors from USF’s College of Education, participants take topical courses that teach social skills and independent living.

Students learn how to do laundry, grocery shop, budget and make healthy lifestyle choices. In addition, students take college courses that align with their career path. At the end of the two-year program, the graduates are awarded a certificate of completion.

Like many of the UMatter students, Luke King never thought he would get the opportunity to attend college. But the 21-year-old Sarasota native flourished at USF St. Petersburg, joining the sailing team and obtaining an internship at Ceridian in St. Petersburg.

“I always wanted to come somewhere where I could make changes and be more confident to do other things in the world,” King said. “It’s not something that comes to you; it’s something that you have to work to get and hope that things work out.”

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BUILDING

Connections

USF S T. P ETE R S BU R G IN V IT E S T HE CO MMU N IT Y TO C A MP US FO R FU N A N D E D UCAT IO N AL E VE N TS Sarah Sell

EXPERIENCING ‘SCIENCE IN THE SUN’ In February, the St. Petersburg Science Festival made an impressive return with awe-inspiring demonstrations and near-record crowds. The festival is held in conjunction with MarineQuest, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) annual open house. The joint event returned to an in-person experience this year for the first time since 2018.

More than 12,000 people gathered along the campus waterfront and outside the FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. The festival connects scientists, environmental organizations and cultural institutions with the public via immersive exhibits and hands-on demonstrations in science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM).

Around 1,650 schoolchildren were also treated to a sneak peek of the St. Petersburg Science Festival and MarineQuest during organized school trips the day before the big event. During the preview, students learned about getting involved in STEAM fields and different career paths.

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The USF St. Petersburg campus hosted several successful events in 2023 that engaged the community through the exploration of history, science and the arts.

DISCOVERING HISTORY IN THE COMMUNITY In September, the USF St. Petersburg department of History held its first-ever History Harvest, a one-day event for community members to bring and share letters, photographs, records, objects and stories, and participate in a conversation with students majoring in History about the significance and meaning of their materials.

More than a dozen artifacts were selected for the event, ranging from Tuskegee Airmen nurse uniform pins to a “Don’t Kiss Me” necklace worn by babies during the tuberculosis outbreak of the 1900s. The owners of the objects, as well as members of the public, gathered at Nelson Poynter Memorial Library to learn more and to interact with the students from Professor Erin Stewart Mauldin’s Historical Methods and Materials class.

“It teaches them that there are different ways to look at the past and tell a story,” said Mauldin, the John Hope Franklin Professor of Southern History at USF St. Petersburg. “Sometimes, the most interesting stories aren’t in archives, and it teaches students to look for history in unusual places.”

USF ST. PETERSBURG

GHOSTS AND GOBLINS Last year, USF St. Petersburg held its first-ever Trunk or Treat, a community-focused event that gave local children a safe and welcoming place to celebrate Halloween.

This year, the event grew exponentially, attracting more than 650 participants and involving the entire campus community. Rebranded as “Halloween Fest,” the event featured trick-or-treating, face painting, crafts, a DJ, a costume contest and a scavenger hunt. A special highlight was the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library, where the faculty and staff worked together to transform the building’s first floor into a “not-soscary” haunted house.

The event is a partnership between USF St. Petersburg, the city of St. Petersburg and Bayfront Health. It was coordinated by Caryn Nesmith, USF St. Petersburg director of community relations, who was thrilled by the positive response.

“I’m so grateful to the more than 100 volunteers who came together to make Halloween Fest a success,” she said. “It was so inspiring to see so many people working together to create a fun and fulfilling experience for local children.”

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THE

WHO IS KILLING BLACK WIDOW SPIDER? An unlikely foe

Matthew Cimitile and Joe Rominiecki In a nondescript research lab on campus, Louis Coticchio began placing different species of spiders together in artificial habitats. Red house and triangulate cobweb spiders. Brown widow and black widow spiders.

He was interested to see how they would interact. More specifically, he wanted to know if brown widows were playing a part in the dramatic population decline of their more famous black relatives.

Originally from Florida, Coticchio spent years as a zookeeper specializing in venomous animals in California. When he returned to the state to earn a biology degree at USF St. Petersburg, he started to collect wild spiders in Florida for a research project.

In doing so, Coticchio noticed what other researchers have documented in recent decades: black widow spiders were becoming harder to find. In areas once populated with black widows, the non-native brown widows were becoming increasingly more abundant.

“I had a sneaking suspicion that Florida in particular provided plenty of food and habitat for both the brown and black widow to thrive. So, there might be another

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reason such as behavioral differences that was playing a role in this outcome,” Coticchio said.

His experiments using artificial habitats sought to answer the cause of this displacement. What he uncovered would lead to international headlines.

A misunderstood spider With the exception of Antarctica, widow spiders are found throughout the globe.

“Widow spiders typically build permanent homes in structures like garages, sheds, fences and the overhang of houses, so they are a highly visible spider species,” said Deby Cassill, a USF associate professor in the department of Integrative Biology who was Coticchio’s research advisor. “They also have dramatic coloration, with this black shiny body and bright red hourglass. They look like jewelry hanging there. So, for us there is an artistic attraction and, of course, a fear factor.”

Tradition has it that widow spiders received their name via reports of females killing and eating their mate. Though according to the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), this evidence was based on spiders in crowded lab settings.

Tradition also holds that the black widow is a highly venomous and even deadly spider to humans. This too has been overstated, according to IFAS. Their bite can be painful, causing symptoms such as intense pain, muscle cramping, malaise and vomiting, but human deaths from black widow bites are extremely rare.

While black widow spiders are native to North America and comprise two closely related species - the northern black widow and the southern black widow, which calls Florida home – the brown widow is believed to be native to Africa. They have been introduced on all continents, with the first documented appearance in Florida in 1935. Though sharing a name associated with aggression and venom, reports of brown widows biting humans are extremely rare. When they do occur, their venom causes less severe reactions to humans than black widows.

“

We have established brown widow behavior as being highly aggressive towards the southern black widows, yet much more tolerant of other spiders within the same family.

-Louis Coticchio

We didn’t expect to find such a dramatic and consistent difference in the personalities of the brown widow and the black widow.

-Deby Cassill

The experiment Coticchio partnered with Cassill and spider expert Richard Vetter of the University of California, Riverside. They devised a study to explore if brown widows were leading to the population decline of black widows, and if so, how.

“Dr. Cassill gave me the opportunity and free range to explore my research interests and do it my way,” Coticchio said. “She really allowed me to lead this research, while providing oversight to ensure I was doing it right. I owe her much.”

Coticchio conducted fieldwork in the spiders’ natural habitat and in parks with human-made structures where they are commonly found, such as restrooms, bridges and boardwalks. He surveyed breeding sites, counting the number of viable egg sacs per female, and found brown widows have twice the fertility potential as black widows.

He then collected various spider species found in black widow environments, placing them in a number of different combinations in container habitats to observe behavior. In some

containers, brown widows were put in close proximity with black widows.

The results were startling.

Rather than cohabitating, the brown widow females aggressively stalked, killed and consumed the black widows. For example, when sub-adult females were paired, the brown widows killed and consumed the black widows in 80 percent of pairings. In contrast, brown widow females – both juveniles and adults – largely cohabitated with the two other spider species.

Brown widow spiders were seeking out and killing their black widow relatives, a surprising twist in the natural relationship between species of spiders known for their venomous bites.

“We have established brown widow behavior as being highly aggressive towards the southern black widows, yet much more tolerant of other spiders within the same family,” Coticchio said.

The reaction In these experiments, brown widows were nearly seven times more likely to attack black widows than other spider species. The aggressive behavior is likely a driver of the black widow spider’s population decline.

Louis Coticchio working in the biology lab for his research into brown and black widow spiders.

USF ST. PETERSBURG

“We didn’t expect to find such a dramatic and consistent difference in the personalities of the brown widow and the black widow,” Cassill explained. “Brown widows are boldly aggressive and will immediately investigate a neighbor and attack if there is no resistance from the neighbor. The black widows are extremely shy,

counterattacking only to defend themselves against an aggressive spider.”

This new research suggests this isn’t a simple case of one species winning the competition for food or habitat. It’s a case of predation.

Their findings were reported in the March 2023 issue of the Annals of the Entomological Society of America. Shortly thereafter, the discovery of brown widows hunting black widows exploded across news outlets. The New York Times, NPR Living on Earth, National Geographic and the Jerusalem Post were some of the many outlets that covered the story, reporting on the grisly fate of black widows.

“I never expected it to gain the attention that it did,” Coticchio said. “This was just an undergraduate study I did while working on my bachelor’s degree. The fact that what we found was broadcasted everywhere, I was just blown away.”

Coticchio, who is now a senior instructional support specialist at St. Petersburg College and in graduate school to become a science educator, hopes future researchers will add to his findings. Specifically, he is interested to know what drives such aggression between these closely related spider species.

“How do brown widows interact with other species of spiders, including black widows, in Africa, where brown widows are believed to have originated?” Coticchio asked. “I want to see if their behavior and displacement of black widows is something that they have adapted to here in North America, or if this behavior is something they exhibit naturally even in areas where they have coevolved with black widows for much longer periods of time.”

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USF HONORS STUDENTS TRAVEL TO EASTERN EUROPE TO EXPLORE THE

LESSONS OF THE HOLOCAUST

Thomas W. Smith, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Campus Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences Odd as it sounds, it was a beautiful June morning at Treblinka, in eastern Poland. The sun was shining and birds were singing in the pine forest nearby.

There was no sign of the gas chambers the Nazis had used to exterminate some 925,000 people in the course of thirteen months in 1942 and 1943.

Instead, a garden of 17,000 stones represented all the cities and towns that had once been home to the Jews, Poles, Roma and others who were murdered at the site.

Our visit to Treblinka took place on the first morning of the Judy Genshaft Honors College’s summer 2023 study abroad class, “Confronting the Holocaust.” Over the course of two weeks, eighteen Honors students traveled across Poland, the Czech Republic, and Germany, contemplating the horrors of the Holocaust in places where it happened.

We toured the Warsaw Ghetto, the Jewish Quarter of Prague, and a variety of synagogues, museums and memorials. In Krakow, we stayed in the old Jewish neighborhood of Kazimierz, and visited the factory owned by Oskar Schindler, made famous by the movie “Schindler’s List.” We devoted an entire day to exploring Auschwitz-Birkenau. In Berlin, we visited the lakeside villa where the Final Solution was conceived, and toured the German Reichstag, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and the Topography of Terror Museum.

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Students experienced the sites in many ways. At Treblinka, a group of students joined hands and prayed. At Auschwitz, several students decided not to take photographs or post on social media out of respect for the dead.

A student whose great-great grandfather was active in the Polish resistance shared her family’s story with her classmates. Students reeled, literally, at the Jewish Museum in Berlin where the walls are slanted and the floor is inclined to suggest that in the wake of the Holocaust the rational world no longer makes sense.

The class learned how centuries of antisemitism foretold the killing of Jews, how racism and dehumanization pitted neighbor against neighbor, and how modern propaganda propelled state terror. But students also noted the persistence of art and music in the Terezín concentration camp, countless acts of courage and kindness in the midst of the terror, and the recent resurgence of Jewish life in Kazimierz.

At the end of the class, students felt a renewed responsibility to embrace the lessons of the Holocaust and to uphold the promise of “never again.” As the Holocaust survivor and theologian Elie Wiesel put it, “For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.”

USF ST. PETERSBURG

INNOVATIONS MAGAZINE | 13

PREPARING FOR

EXTREME STORMS Sarah Sell and Dyllan Furness

Scientists at USF are a valuable resource when it comes to forecasting hurricanes and identifying climate risks in vulnerable coastal communities.

Whether it’s a deep-diving ocean glider that captures key data about a storm’s intensity or a community-based web application that predicts flooding, their research and use of advanced technology is garnering attention nationwide.

PROTECTING VULNERABLE NEIGHBORHOODS BY CROWDSOURCING DATA A $1.5 million National Science Foundation grant will allow researchers to develop a web-based application that gathers crowdsourced data in coastal communities to identify flooding risks and inform policy. Led by USF St. Petersburg GIS and Remote Sensing Professor Barnali Dixon, the research team will create the CRIS-HAZARD app.

The app will combine volunteered geographic information and community crowdsourced data such as photos and videos with near real-time data on flooding. Using dynamic modeling and mapping tools, including artificial intelligence, the app will identify and extract estimated water elevation for near real-time flood models that can inform emergency managers and policymakers.

“To develop a custom policy that meets the needs of each unique community, you need

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to know the data,” said Dixon, who is also executive director of USF’s Initiative on Coastal Adaptation and Resilience (iCAR). “The power of this system is that it allows us to see the needs of these communities on a very granular scale, so you can then put policies in place.”

The new app, which will provide an interactive user experience, is based off the existing Community Resiliency Information System (CRIS), a website created in 2020 by iCAR. The CRIS platform leverages crowdsourced data to identify climate-related vulnerabilities in local communities. Residents can input information related to issues such as flooding and power outages. The information can be used by policymakers and neighborhood leaders to make decisions about policy and resource allocation.

The data also allows emergency managers to identify areas with concentrations of people who need transportation assistance or are reliant on power for medical needs.

Dixon has been working with community leaders in south St. Petersburg neighborhoods for several years, where residents have successfully used the system to prepare for extreme storm events. Through the CRIS website, participants can view maps and see their risk of storm surge and sea level rise.

They can also share their own information and suggest ways to improve the system.

“We have used the application at all our community town halls,” said Erica Hall, executive director of the Florida Food Policy Council. “As a community leader and liaison, this will help communities tremendously to understand the connection between sea level rise, climate change, extreme heat and coastal flooding. Some coastally vulnerable neighborhoods also show food insecurity, health disparities and environmental justice concerns.

Having CRIS map those concerns tells a story that will allow the community to understand.”

After Hurricane Ian in 2022, Dixon and her team used GIS to map areas identified as coastally vulnerable communities that experienced inequitable access to disaster relief and assistance but also showed that the neighborhoods were food insecure. Some of them were without power and food for much longer than they should have been.

As principal investigator, Dixon is developing the new application alongside co-principal investigators Yi Qiang from USF and two others from Georgia Tech, Subhrajit Guhathakurta from the College of Design and Peng Chen from the College of Computing.

The research team will continue to work with community partners in St. Petersburg’s Childs Park and expand to other coastally vulnerable areas of Pinellas County, including Shore Acres, West and East Lealman and Bahama Shores.

The CRIS-HAZARD app will be developed by researchers using community and emergency management input over the next three years, and then can be used by both local neighborhoods and communities nationwide.

GLIDERS CAPTURE OCEAN DATA FOR HURRICANE FORECASTING Scientists at USF are also using advanced technology to help forecasters predict the intensity of a storm in the ocean. Some 150 miles off the coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico, an uncrewed yellow submersible dives deep below the sea surface. Its mission: collect data for hurricane forecasting.

The submersible, which began its three-month deployment in July, is part of an eight-vessel research fleet operated by the College of Marine Science (CMS) Ocean Technology Group.

CMS will receive around $200,000 over two years from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to monitor ocean conditions in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and along the South Atlantic Bight, which stretches from North Carolina to the Florida Keys.

Semiautonomous vessels operated by CMS and other NOAA partners will capture key data to help the federal agency improve the representation of the ocean and atmosphere in hurricane forecast models. CMS gliders collected these data in the past, but this is the first year the team has deployed submersibles specifically for this purpose.

Called gliders for the graceful way they move through water, each vessel can travel hundreds of miles on months-long missions and send data back to shore via satellite. Since gliders have no people on board, they have greater endurance, fewer risks and lower costs than crewed vessels.

“Gliders are one of the most cost-effective and reliable ways to gather subsurface data,” said Chad Lembke, a project engineer and research

“

Fresh water from nearby rivers can have an influence on the ocean’s ability to mix up colder, deeper waters that might help reduce a storm’s strength.

-Kathy Bailey

USF ST. PETERSBURG

Data captured by ocean gliders, as seen here, can help experts forecast hurricane intensity.

faculty member in the CMS Ocean Technology Group. “They can cover many miles from the surface to the seafloor with little input needed from human operators.”

This ability to traverse the water column makes gliders valuable for hurricane research and monitoring. Hurricanes require ocean temperatures of 79 degrees Fahrenheit or higher to form and sustain their strength. Warm waters provide energy to turn tropical storm systems into powerful hurricanes, and the deeper the warm water reaches into the water column, the more fuel at the storm’s disposal.

“Scientists have realized that water ‘at depth’ is an important factor in hurricane intensification,” said Lembke. “By using gliders to measure the depth of warm water, researchers can better quantify the total heat content available to storms, which helps NOAA’s hurricane forecasters better understand whether a storm will increase in strength as it approaches landfall.”

In addition to temperature, gliders monitor ocean salinity, another key metric that helps experts predict hurricane intensity. Research has shown that areas of low salinity can cause storms to intensify and trigger rapid intensification, a dangerous phenomenon during which a storm’s top wind speed increases by 35 mph in a single day. Hurricane Ian went through two bursts of rapid intensification before it made landfall in southwest Florida last year.

“Fresh water from nearby rivers can have an influence on the ocean’s ability to mix up colder, deeper waters that might help reduce a storm’s strength,” said Kathy Bailey, a program manager for NOAA’s U.S. Integrated Ocean

Observing System, which leads the glider effort.

“We are able to ‘see’ these features in glider measurements of temperature and salinity.

We need accurate ocean and atmosphere models to forecast hurricane intensity — these measurements are used to help keep the ocean models on track, so we have the best chance of producing an accurate hurricane intensity forecast with the best ocean information possible.”

Gliders are good for monitoring more than hurricanes. They’re packed with a suite of onboard sensors that assist with assessments of water quality, fisheries management and ocean circulation models. Lembke compares gliders to pickup trucks for the way his team can load them up with instruments.

Since 2020, as part of the College’s Center for Red Tide Tracking and Forecasting effort, gliders have been focused on helping scientists monitor red tide, which has had devastating impacts on marine life and economies along Florida’s Gulf Coast. Data about physical and chemical properties such as temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen has been used to refine computer models that predict red tide development.

NOAA’s funding is well-timed; 2023 proved to be an active hurricane season driven in part by above-average temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. The new funding, which supports one deployment in the Gulf of Mexico and two in the Atlantic Ocean, allows CMS to focus its gliders on gathering data to improve hurricane forecasting and enable communities to better prepare for storms.

INNOVATIONS MAGAZINE | 15

1866−1967

1959 American Express offers plastic credit cards

1967 Barclays installs first ATM

Fintech 2.0 1967−2008

FINTECH

BY THE

Fintech 1.0

The Kate Tiedemann School of Business and Finance at USF is placing a strategic focus on financial technology (Fintech) education, programming and community engagement.

Fintech Industry $1.5T

Fintech projected to become a $1.5 trillion industry by 2030 Research shows that revenues in the Fintech industry are expected to grow almost three times faster than those in the traditional banking sector between 2022 and 2028.

Compared with the 6 percent annual revenue growth for traditional banking, Fintechs could post annual revenue growth of 15 percent over the next five years.

6x

1971 NASDAQ launches electronic stock exchange

1995

Sources: www.mckinsey.com/industries/financial-services/our-insights/fintechs-a-new-paradigm-of-growth www.bcg.com/press/3may2023-fintech-1-5-trillion-industry-by-2030

$245B 2021

2030

USF Curriculum & Faculty

Wells Fargo introduces online checking

1999

MS in Fintech

PayPal launches electronic payment service

4

2007

2008−present

2009

Fintech concentrations

Multiple noncredit Fintech certificates

New Fintech faculty have joined USF

Bitcoin is released

Apple unveils iPhone

Fintech 16 | INNOVATIONS MAGAZINE 3.0

BS in Fintech

Shopify becomes a payment facilitator

2013

Ethereum blockchain launches

2015

USF Fintech|X Accelerator Total number of Fintech startups that went through Tampa Bay Wave and USF Muma College of Business Fintech|X Accelerator:

31

Start-up companies participated in the Fintech|X Accelerator during the first two years

7

of the

31

Companies are from Florida

10

Company founders from around the globe

Canada

England

Germany

Ireland

Israel

Kenya

Puerto Rico

Saudi Arabia

Ukraine

United States

Since its launch in 2022, the USF Fintech Center has engaged more than

400

Community members

Apple releases Apple Card

2019

USF ST. PETERSBURG

130+

Sotheby’s launches NFT marketplace

2021

Organizations, through a variety of programs, events and outreach

Kate Tiedemann and Ellen Cotton give $14 million to position the Muma College of Business as a hub of excellence in Fintech

2022

Sources: explodingtopics.com/blog/fintech-guide INNOVATIONS MAGAZINE | 17 thepaymentsassociation.org/article/fintech-the-history-and-future-of-financial-technology

Forty years

OF THE TAVERN, AS TOLD BY ITS OWNERS

Matthew Cimitile

It started at a dinner party.

That’s how Bud and Joan Karins describe the origins of the idea that became the Tavern at Bayboro. Friends had come together to celebrate a new venture – a bookstore to be built in an old woodworking shop on the edge of the campus. With the building came an extra attached space and initial ideas for a tearoom.

Memories of his own graduate school days with limited food options – and a longtime dream of owning a pub – prompted Bud to put in a bid for the space.

Since that fateful evening, the Tavern at Bayboro (originally called Tavern on the Green) has become an institution at USF St. Petersburg. For 40

Joan and Bud Karins

Since 1982, the pub has had four owners. Though their styles varied, their outlook could nicely be summed up by Tom Herzhauser, who owned the Tavern from 2010–2019.

“I always had the feeling that as the owner, I never really owned it. I had the keys for nine years. It is a treasure in St. Pete and especially on campus. And I always felt like I’m here for a little bit of time, and don’t screw it up.”

Here is the story of the Tavern, as told by its owners.

OWNERS FROM 1983–1987

Bud: I earned an MBA at night at the University of Hartford in Connecticut and mostly just ate out of vending machines. And I thought, this (USF St. Petersburg) is a commuter campus, and it would be nice if there was a place to get a sandwich and a Coke or a beer before or after your class. The opportunity came along, and I decided to jump at it and convert the space into a place that would sell mostly beers and a few sandwiches. It didn’t turn out that way.

Joan: It turned out that we sold a lot of sandwiches.

Bud: Building it was an experience. I decided to take part of the ceiling out, as it was pretty cramped. It turned out to have a vaulted ceiling, so we were able to make a space that was only the size of a two-car garage a bit more interesting and open. I also wanted the bar to be a mahogany bar, so I went to the lumber yard and they had mahogany planks available. The original bar is still largely here.

Joan: When we started, the parking lot just outside the Tavern was a big green lawn. So, we named it Tavern on the Green. It was really tiny, only four or maybe six tables inside plus outside seating. If we were going to be a place that sold sandwiches, we weren’t going to

18 | INNOVATIONS MAGAZINE

years, it has provided food, live music and a social gathering spot for faculty, staff and students outside of class and work.

make it with that small space. We got it in our head to sell sandwiches delivering all around downtown and opened up the loft upstairs and set up a sandwich making shop. Every morning we would take orders from downtown businesses and deliver them around town.

Bud: Over time we would get regulars that became friends. We had professors who held classes here.

Joan: It was alternative dining, which students liked a lot. It was small and somewhat intimate, so it had that Cheers vibe that made it unique.

Gavan Benson and Mike Tarantino Mike: My mother was in real estate and told me one night she just listed the Tavern for sale. Gavan had talked to me about the place before, as he had been a couple times. We were young but we looked at the place and reviewed the numbers and thought we could make it work.

Gavan: I was floundering, looking for something to do. I was in banking and didn’t like it. Mike told me about this listing and wanted to know what I thought. I had just been there recently seeing a friend play music.

It was a great little bar in downtown. We checked it out and then we had the crazy idea to make an offer on it. I thought we would make an offer and they would say no and that would be that. But much to our surprise, Joan and Bud said yes. Then we had to scramble for the down payment.

Mike: So, we bought it. We were all of 24. Luckily our moms took a chance on us. We each got our loan from our mother. We made it work, paid them back quickly and never looked back.

Gavan: I liked to have a good time, and someone was willing to hand me keys to a bar. We took full advantage of that and had a lot of fun for those first several years. And then at some point we both realized if we could do as well as we are doing and have as much fun doing it, imagine if we really tried. Then it became a job, and we went about making it as well–run of a business as we could.

Mike: We did our live music thing on Thursday nights and that lasted quite a few years. It was a great atmosphere and really the place to be back then. We started that in 1989–90 and Thursday nights really

USF ST. PETERSBURG

OWNERS FROM 1987–2010

blossomed down here with good bands and discounted beers. It really clicked.

Gavan: A few classes would get out by 8:30 or 9 p.m. those evenings and students would come here. We would close by 11 p.m. because of noise ordinances. There would be 300 people at 11. Then the band would stop. By 11:15 p.m. there were 10 people left.

Gavan: We had our outside customers, particularly on Thursday night.

But the rest of the week this place was jammed full of professors, students, academics, research people from the marine sciences. It was a fascinating place to come and be part of the conversations that happened at the bar and out here on the patio. I had conversations about plate tectonics and how they discovered that snook changed sex. It was such a unique environment.

Mike: It was a business to run, we always kept that in mind, but it was a lot of fun. A lot of people work all their lives in corporate America, work until they are 50, then they take their investment and buy a bar. We did it the other way.

Gavan: In 1987 when we started here, this was the outskirts of the campus. Since then, the campus has grown around us, which is symbolic because this place has always been such a part of the campus. People didn’t believe us when we said we were private property and a privatelyrun business.

That being said, the Tavern is such a big part of the USF St. Pete family. It’s a symbiotic relationship and one wouldn’t be what it is without the other. And owning it literally changed my life. I met my wife here.

INNOVATIONS MAGAZINE | 19

Tom Herzhauser

OWNER FROM 2010-2019

I had a number of restaurants over the years in Tampa, but I always lived on this side of the bay. And one day my wife said, “Why don’t you get something closer to home?” I told a realtor friend of my interest and within two or three weeks he told me the Tavern was for sale. I had been there enough times to know it was a great place. So, I came down with my wife, had an appetizer and a cold drink on the patio, and it went from there.

I always knew this was a special place. Joan and Bud did great things, Gavan and Mike did great things. I wanted to add my own take on it. I was a food guy, so coming in I wanted to build upon that. After a couple of years, we generated enough profit that I put in a kitchen and went after the grouper business. I wanted to build a business that would bring in people from the community because of the food – specifically grouper – but also accommodate college students by keeping it affordable.

20 | INNOVATIONS MAGAZINE

As a chef, I was able to write my menus. One of the things I’m most proud of is dedicating menu items to the special people on campus.

We lost some great people while I was here, like Bobby Dardenne (sandwich named The Journalist) and Terry Tomalin (sandwich named The Adventurer). We had dedication events. The simplicity of making a sandwich and dedicating the name meant a lot to the family. It was a way of paying tribute to the great minds that were here and I was really proud of that legacy.

I knew we were unique and had this special place. My decision-making always came from a place of preserve it, be kind and help as much as you can.

Dennis and Stephanie Bixler Dennis: Tom had been asking around for someone to take over the place and wanted someone who had time invested in it. He asked me at some point. I was driving home one night from Open Mic night, which I had been running here for years, and asked Steph, “Want to take over the Tavern?” I thought it was the stupidest idea ever. But she said, “Let’s look into it, could be fun.” That’s how it came about.

Stephanie: We knew it would be a lot of work to take it over. We didn’t know about COVID. It came less than a year after we became owners.

That was frightening. Luckily, we had good people that we couldn’t have done this without, like our Chef Chevy who was so patient. The fear of starting it and owning it and then with COVID, that was a tough time. But with supportive staff helping us, like my brother in-law Patrick, we got through it, and it has certainly paid off. And now we are just grateful to still be here.

OWNERS FROM 2019-PRESENT being a ghost town, with limited times being open. But we adapted where we could, spent the time updating where we could, such as painting the building inside and out during that time. A group effort to get through it.

Stephanie: The Tavern is just such a laid back, super easy-going place.

Many people think it’s just a college campus place, and college students are here of course. But it really goes from little kids to people in their 80s and 90s. It’s a great local hangout that is relaxing, affordable and friendly.

Dennis: The history of students and faculty coming here is something I have always found interesting. Seeing familiar faces. Seeing those groups of students coming in as freshman and seeing them graduate. Them knowing us by name. And that they love this place. Same thing with faculty, showing up with students to talk shop. It’s just something I’ve never seen anywhere else.

Dennis: Coming back from COVID was certainly the biggest thing we have been through since owning the Tavern. Nobody could foresee it

Tom Herzhauser

USF ST. PETERSBURG

From left to right: Bud Karins, Joan Karins, Gavan Benson, Mike Tarantino, Stephanie Bixler and Dennis Bixler

INNOVATIONS MAGAZINE | 21

A BANNER YEAR FOR

Marine Science AT USF ST. PETERSBURG Carrie O’Brion

22 | INNOVATIONS MAGAZINE

With its waterfront location and as home to the USF College of Marine Science, the USF St. Petersburg campus has long been envisioned as a hub for the study of oceanography and coastal resilience.

The campus is situated in the city’s Innovation District, which is home to the largest collection of marine science, oceanographic and environmental research agencies and organizations in the Southeast, including the regional headquarters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; the U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Science Center; and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Insitute, among others.

The need for a center devoted to the study - and training the next generation - in ocean science and coastal resiliency is clear. While Florida has always been vulnerable to powerful hurricanes, the threat from climate change continues to grow. In 2023, Hurricane Idalia struck land more than 200 miles away but led to some of the worst flooding and beach erosion in Pinellas County’s recent history.

At the same time, there is widespread recognition that the area’s coastline is vital to its economic well-being. The 2023 Economic Valuation of Tampa Bay showed that one in every 10 jobs and billions of dollars in economic output is generated from a healthy coastal and estuary environment in Tampa Bay. The USF St. Petersburg campus continued to build on its reputation as a hub for the study of marine science over the past year. From receiving state funding to create a new state-of-the-art research and teaching facility to adding a technologically advanced new ship to the Florida Institute of Oceanography’s fleet, USF St. Petersburg is increasingly becoming a hotbed for those interested in the world’s oceans and their impact on the environment.

“There’s incredible energy and momentum in the field of ocean science here in St. Petersburg,” said Christian Hardigree, regional chancellor of USF St. Petersburg. “Our goal is to become the global destination for faculty, staff and students who are driven to find solutions to the challenges posed by sea level rise, a growing population and sustainably managing our coastal resources.”

ENVISIONING A NEW CENTER OF EXCELLENCE Perhaps the most significant development was the allocation of $24.3 million by the Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis for the first phase of planning and construction of the Environmental and Oceanographic Sciences (EOS) Research and Teaching Facility.

The state-of-the-art building will house research and instructional space for both graduate and undergraduate students. It will serve as a focal point for the envisioned center of excellence that will address the need to prepare for, and respond to, natural hazards such as sea level rise, high-tide flooding and extreme rainfall events.

“The new center of excellence will lead to a wealth of new jobs in a variety of industries,” said USF President Rhea Law. “It will also enhance St. Petersburg as a world-class center of marine and environmental science, education and community engagement.”

In addition, the building will house the Florida Flood Hub for Applied Research and Innovation. Based at the USF College of Marine Science, the Flood Hub is Florida’s center for flood data and supports statewide efforts to protect people, businesses, natural resources and coastal infrastructure.

Following the government’s allocation, Law created a committee to lead the project. It is headed by Prasant Mohapatra, USF’s provost, and Carole Post, vice president of facilities and public safety. Other members include Hardigree; Thomas Frazer, dean of the College of Marine Science; and former House Speaker Chris Sprowls, who championed the project in the legislature.

The committee met several times throughout the year and established a timeline for the future development of the center of excellence. They expect to start soliciting bids from architectural design and construction firms at the start of 2024.

The total cost of the project is estimated at $80 million. USF is asking the Florida Legislature for $35 million during the 2024 session, for a total of $60 million in state funding. The remainder will come from private investment and philanthropy.

USF ST. PETERSBURG

INNOVATIONS MAGAZINE | 23

WELCOMING THE WESTERN FLYER On a steamy morning in early July, a group of university leaders, military and government officials, and community partners gathered for a waterfront celebration to welcome the newest vessel to the Florida Institute of Oceanography’s fleet.

The ship, a 117-foot twin-hulled vessel called the Western Flyer, was granted to the University of South Florida by the Monterey Bay Research Institute. It is the largest and most technologically advanced vessel in the FIO fleet. FIO is hosted by USF and supports all institutions in the State University System.

Capable of longer missions due to its bigger size and expanded number of berths or sleeping quarters, the Western Flyer will allow more interdisciplinary expeditions, including at-sea development opportunities for research, engineering, maritime trades and other STEM careers.

“Our rapidly changing oceans require diverse perspectives, innovative technologies and approaches, and science-based

“

It’s not until I was able to go out to sea and watch data acquisition happening in real time that the principles I learned in the classroom came to life and the pieces started to click.

-Catalina Rubiano

24 | INNOVATIONS MAGAZINE

decision-making,” FIO Director Monty Graham said. “We are excited to create the programming we need so that the Western Flyer, with all of its high-tech functionality, becomes not only a dynamic platform for the research itself but one through which we can advance the ocean science workforce.”

Among the vessel’s most distinctive features is a moon pool, an opening in the hull that allows scientists to deploy equipment directly into the water. The Western Flyer will also have a sophisticated remotely operated vehicle (ROV), which will be used to livestream video, data and shipboard activities using remote science technologies, with the goal of allowing people on land and on board the vessel to cooperatively conduct research in real time.

The FIO team plans to use the vessel for workforce development, creating a new model for ocean science education that leverages the power of sustained mentoring and cohort-based programming, networking opportunities and remote science technologies.

A yearlong program, called Peerside, launched over the summer with a select group of postsecondary students who explored careers in ocean science, developed beneficial industry connections and conducted ship-to-shore research. Funding for this new at-sea ocean STEM program is supported by the Schmidt Ocean Institute and Schmidt Family Foundation.

Catalina Rubiano, a recent graduate of the master’s program at the College of Marine Science and a Peerside mentor, said the program is valuable to aspiring marine scientists because it gives them role models and provides opportunities to conduct at-sea research, which is expensive and rare.

“It’s not until I was able to go out to sea and watch data acquisition happening in real time that the principles I learned in the classroom came to life and the pieces started to click,” Rubiano said. “By experiencing the challenges involved with oceanographic research firsthand, you ultimately gain a more complete understanding of the data that you’re collecting.”

Tom Frazer, dean of the USF College of Marine Science, said the arrival of the

Western Flyer was timed perfectly to continue momentum of the university’s strategic emphasis on ocean science.

“FIO’s new capabilities enhance our ability to further develop a center of excellence that builds upon our college’s history of success and celebrates a cross-disciplinary approach to addressing the challenges of coastal resiliency and sustainability while advancing economic vitality in St. Petersburg and Florida more broadly,” Frazer said.

“

The work being done at the Keys Marine Laboratory will help to ensure that we have a viable population of corals

RESPONDING TO A CORAL EMERGENCY

to sustain longer-term

While USF and FIO continued building infrastructure to elevate marine science, its scientists were working together to respond to a massive coral bleaching emergency.

restoration efforts.

-Tom Frazer

When an unprecedented ocean heat wave sent temperatures soaring in South Florida over the summer, scientists from USF and FIO’s Keys Marine Laboratory (KML) sprang into action to save corals, which are more likely to become stressed and experience die-offs when water temperatures climb too high.

KML would end up housing more than 5,000 coral specimens that were harvested from offshore nurseries and parent colonies by partner organizations. With 60 tanks ranging from 40 to 1,000 gallons, the lab contains one of the largest temperature-controlled seawater systems in the Florida Keys.

In November, water temperatures finally cooled to normal levels to allow for the safe relocation of corals housed in the on-land seawater systems at KML. The health of these coral specimens was assessed and cleared for return by coral health veterinarians.

“Increased ocean temperatures pose a serious threat to coral reefs not only in Florida, but around the world,” Frazer said. “The work being done at the Keys Marine Laboratory will help to ensure that we have a viable population of corals to sustain longer-term restoration efforts.”

USF ST. PETERSBURG

Coral reefs are vital ecosystems that serve as critical habitat for numerous marine life, from fish and crabs to turtles and sharks.

They also act as a first line of defense from storms, buffering coasts from wave action that can result in erosion and exacerbate flooding.

Partner scientists and environmentalists praised the rescue effort for protecting thousands of corals, including several endangered and rare species, during one of the worst bleaching events in history.

“Thanks to KML’s infrastructure, generosity and dynamic responsiveness, we were able to rescue highly stressed corals, pulling 10 percent of our coral stock onto land and out of immediate danger,” said Phanor Montoya-Maya, reef restoration program manager for the Coral Restoration Foundation. “This ensured that even in a worst-case scenario, we will have corals to restart our restoration efforts. Saving our reefs is a community effort, and this was never more apparent than this summer when our network pulled together during one of the most extreme environmental challenges many of us have ever faced.”

INNOVATIONS MAGAZINE | 25

Sip

‘TAKING A FOR SCHOLARSHIPS’ USF St. Petersburg holds first-ever Bulls and Brews by the Bay Sarah Sell

26 | INNOVATIONS MAGAZINE

More than 250 USF alumni, donors and friends donned lederhosen and dirndls for a good cause during the first-ever Bulls and Brews by the Bay. Nearly $80,000 was raised during the inaugural “Okto-BULL-fest” event, which will allow the campus to provide ten times as many scholarships from the USF St. Petersburg Scholarship fund during the 2024–25 academic year compared to the previous year. The USF Federal Credit Union served as the title sponsor for the event.

“We are thrilled that our supporters responded so positively to our Bulls and Brews by the Bay event,” said Howard Rutherford, associate vice president of development for University Advancement. “We are excited to build on the success and create momentum for an annual USF St. Petersburg campus tradition. A huge thank you to everyone who helped create such a fun-filled and worthwhile event for our community.”

The event helps solve the increasing need for general scholarships on the St. Petersburg campus. The scholarship funds are available to full or part-time students at all academic levels pursuing any major on the USF St. Petersburg campus.

“Bulls and Brews by the Bay provides a tremendous opportunity for the USF St. Petersburg family to come together and raise support for critical student scholarships while having fun. It’s a win-win in so many ways,” said USF St. Petersburg Regional Chancellor Christian Hardigree.

“Scholarships make a huge difference in our students’ lives.”

The waterfront event featured an array of craft beer selections from local breweries, as well as non-alcoholic options. There was also a traditional German menu curated by USF Dining, which included bratwurst, sauerkraut and pretzels. Owners and brewers from several St. Petersburg area breweries donated the craft beer in honor of USF’s Brewing Arts Program, which is based on the St. Petersburg campus.

Stephanie Hayes, the award-winning columnist from the Tampa Bay Times, was the evening’s celebrity emcee. Guests enjoyed live music and participated in chance drawings. There was also a stein-holding contest, where participants competed to see who could hold a stein filled with water the longest.

USF ST. PETERSBURG

INNOVATIONS MAGAZINE | 27

TRAFFICKINGINPERSONS AWARDED STATE DESIGNATION, TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS LAB CONTINUES PROVIDING VALUABLE RESOURCES TO VICTIMS AND AGENCIES

Sarah Sell

The USF Trafficking in Persons Risk to Resilience Lab or TIP Lab reached two important milestones in 2023 with the launch of its BRIGHT network and official designation as the statewide repository for data related to human trafficking. The lab is one of the first research centers dedicated to studying the myriad impacts of human trafficking in Florida and is housed on the University of South Florida’s St. Petersburg campus.

In May, Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill that makes the USF TIP Lab the statewide repository for anonymous human trafficking data.

As part of a larger provision that supports victims of human trafficking and strengthens penalties for human traffickers, the TIP Lab was tasked with collecting and analyzing statewide data to understand better the magnitude and trends in human trafficking across the state and over time. The lab will also evaluate the effectiveness of state-funded initiatives to combat human trafficking, and it will work with law enforcement and state agencies to report data on trafficking investigations and prosecutions, which can aid those agencies in combatting human trafficking and individuals.

“The creation of a unified database for human trafficking will be transformational for this region and Florida,” said Joan Reid, USF professor of criminology and director of the TIP Lab. “It will allow us to have a more accurate picture of the prevalence and patterns related to human trafficking in the state to better combat and reduce this illegal activity.”

The mission of the TIP Lab is to make the region resilient to human trafficking by bridging information gaps in human trafficking, which can help organizations locate and access services quickly and efficiently.

“I am so proud of the work done by Professor Joan Reid and her team,” said Christian Hardigree, regional chancellor of USF St. Petersburg.

“Under their stewardship, this new statewide data repository will provide those who study and combat human trafficking with a powerful tool to make our region and the state of Florida more resilient and safer from this pervasive crime.”

28 | INNOVATIONS MAGAZINE

Florida currently ranks third in the United States based on the number of human trafficking hotline reports. Tampa Bay is considered a hotbed for child sex trafficking due to its vulnerable youth and influx of travelers.

“Reports we can generate from a unified database can assist law enforcement efforts while addressing gaps in services, providing essential resources where they are needed most, from assisting investigations to helping victims to develop prevention programming,” said Shelly Wagers, USF professor of criminology and researcher for the TIP Lab. Earlier in the year, the TIP Lab released a centralized, secure platform developed in close collaboration with anti-trafficking professionals and survivors to help victims of human trafficking escape their situations and get back on their feet by streamlining efforts to connect them with organizations and resources in Tampa Bay. The BRIGHT (Bridging Resources and Information Gaps in Human Trafficking) Network is a centralized, secure platform that will allow professionals in anti-trafficking organizations to track, coordinate and provide available resources such as health care and safe housing to individuals.

Initial resources and services on the network, which is a project of the TIP Lab, include housing, health, mental health and legal. Additional resources such as clothing, food and employment will also be added. All are highly vetted for trust and safety.

“There was a community need to develop such a network to help human trafficking victims, survivors and the anti-trafficking community better locate and find the essential services that are usually needed right away,” Wagers said.

Currently, when law enforcement officials encounter trafficking victims during the line of duty, they may not be sure where to turn to find help for the individual or what resources, such as shelters, are available. Since, for many trafficking victims, it may take multiple attempts to detach them from their situation, connecting them with the right people and resources at the right time is key. Community partners say the BRIGHT Network could be vital in making those connections.

“

This platform can make it easier for a victim of human trafficking to leave the life and their trafficker.

-Shelly Wagers

“This platform can make it easier for a victim of human trafficking to leave the life and their trafficker,” said Kathleen Kempke, client services compliance administrator for the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay. “It enables someone to receive support and resources as they move from place to place without retelling their story. The constant support from those resources along with access to safe shelter, employment assistance and mental and physical health providers, will make a huge difference for someone having options to leave human trafficking successfully.”

The network, which also involves criminology researchers on the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus, was recently awarded a $150,000 grant from Hillsborough County to develop an initial pilot program. A $25,000 grant from the Mel Greene Foundation also helped launch this project.

For the pilot, five local organizations - Created Women, Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, Justice Restoration Center, Selah Freedom and United Abolitionists – will utilize the platform to coordinate their work.

USF ST. PETERSBURG

“From this initial five, the plan is to bring five to ten more anti-trafficking organizations onto the platform in the coming months, and then another group of five to ten more as the platform further develops and the network strengthens,” said Kailey Pate Carter, the project manager for the BRIGHT Network.

Using the network will strengthen the anti-trafficking community and collect key data based on requests by victims. Data collected will provide concrete information on the scope of the trafficking problem for the region, the demographics of victims and survivors, and their most pressing needs.

Such vital data can inform local programs and legislation.

In time, USF researchers plan to build out the network so human trafficking victims and survivors can have direct access to the portal. If all goes well, they hope to replicate the BRIGHT Network in other regions of Florida to become a statewide platform to assist survivors and combat trafficking.

INNOVATIONS MAGAZINE | 29

TRAINING THE

FUTURE WORKFORCE Matthew Cimitile

After losing her mother at an early age to breast cancer, Samantha Greenfield developed a passion for medicine.

“I wouldn’t have had this internship if it wasn’t for the program. I can’t recommend it enough,” Greenfield said.

The profound loss taught her the value of support systems and led her to discover a resiliency in herself and a desire to help families grappling with similar circumstances. But she didn’t know much about working in the medical field or the various types of jobs available.

The Innovation Scholars program addresses one of the major outcomes that students and their families desire from a university education: a job related to their area of study. Developing early career exploration opportunities is one of a variety of workforce preparation initiatives and experiences at USF St. Petersburg ensuring graduates are meeting the needs of employers while preparing them to excel in their careers.

So, she enrolled in the Innovation Scholars Career Exploration Program. The job-shadowing program at USF St. Petersburg gives first-year students a head start in exploring their interests, pairing them with a mentor to provide a sneak peek into the day-to-day activities of the professional world.

“It was an amazing program and it really helped me figure out that medicine is the right field for me,” she said.

The program not only solidified her choice to major in biomedical sciences, it opened doors to new opportunities. Now a sophomore, Greenfield is working on an internship at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in the Psycho-oncology & Emotional Development Research Studies Lab, which researches the relationship between psychology and cancer/blood disorders in children.

The administrative manager at the hospital served as her Innovation Scholars mentor.

INDUSTRY FOCUS GROUPS HELP PREPARE GRADUATES FOR THE JOB MARKET A series of industry focus groups tied to USF St. Petersburg’s most popular majors provided valuable insight into students’ career readiness and whether graduates are meeting the needs of local employers.

Bringing together more than 40 leaders from employers in criminology, environmental science and marine biology, finance, graphic design, journalism and health sciences, the goal of the focus groups was to highlight skills and competencies employers are looking for from graduates. The conversations deepened connections between local employers and campus faculty from the same disciplines as well as gauged the experiences of businesses and organizations who have hired USF students to determine what skill gaps need to be addressed.

“Universities should be plugging into their community as much as possible to ensure we are meeting their needs with our educational curriculum and training,” said Caryn Nesmith, director of community relations at USF St. Petersburg, who organized the focus groups.

“These sessions provided a great opportunity for us to engage with leaders of top employers and get their feedback.”

Overall, businesses and organizations that participated provided positive feedback regarding USF St. Petersburg students’ preparedness and potential.

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Sessions were led by USF Marketing Professor Phil Trocchia and conducted through the Customer Experience Lab in the Kate Tiedemann School of Business and Finance. The lab is used to conduct live focus groups for consumer research and has been used by organizations such as the Tampa Bay Rays.

“This was a really forward-thinking idea by the university to create a space for these discussions and further connect us with the campus,” said Kim Amendola, the southeast deputy regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries and a USF alumna. “We have a lot of USF grads that work here, and some NOAA scientists teach at the campus. I saw this as another way of paying it forward with a key partner.”

Throughout each of the sessions, employers stressed the need for graduating students to have a balance of technical and soft skills. Skills mentioned across focus groups included effective communication and relationship-building, being adaptable when it comes to technology, having a professional work demeanor and participating in practical experiences through group projects, field work and internships.

“

“These conversations provided us with a touchpoint of what our area’s employers need and highlighted the multidimensional skill set required for success in the modern workforce,” Nesmith said.

Recommendations that came out of these sessions included mandating professionalism courses, organizing more panel conversations between students and employers, emphasizing soft skills in curriculum and fostering more collaborative partnerships between academia and industry.

“It was an eye-opening experience hearing from our local employers firsthand about the strengths and weaknesses of new hires and improving career readiness of students,” said Dawn Cecil, campus chair of the Criminology Department at USF St. Petersburg. “It made me think what I can do in my own classes – from conversations about professionalism to further stressing punctuality – that can help them better understand what it takes for a career in this field.”

The Innovation Scholars program really helps students confirm either that their major and career interests is right for them, or that it’s not what they expected and allows them to pivot and find a new path.

-Rita Zwiefel

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“

We have a lot of USF grads that work here, and some NOAA scientists teach at the campus. I saw this as another way of paying it forward with a key partner.

-Kim Amendola

LEARNING BY DOING: PLANNER-INRESIDENCE CLASS PROVIDES REAL-LIFE EXPERIENCE A first of its kind studio class at USF provided six graduate students in the Masters of Urban and Regional Planning program with the realworld experience of working on a master plan under the guidance of an urban planner.

The innovative planner-in-residence class developed a neighborhood master plan for the St. Petersburg Innovation District. It proved so successful that it received an outstanding student project award from the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association.

The students’ task was to examine existing barriers within the Innovation District, a roughly one-square-mile area south of downtown St. Petersburg that is home to more than 50 organizations in the marine science, health, technology and education space. The students then recommended solutions geared towards creating a vibrant and active urban area where people would want to live, work and socialize.

“The intent of this class was to shepherd students through a real-life project, working with a client to put together a scope of work and then spending the semester creating the deliverables,” said Amber Dickerson, who taught the class and is an urban planner. “I was very impressed by the volume of creative ideas the students had as well as their professionalism and work ethic.”

Students researched the current and future challenges and needs of the district, conducted walking audits to inventory assets and interviewed stakeholders. They then developed

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a set of recommendations around mobility, wayfinding and institutional partnerships.

“This class let us explore new possibilities when it came to planning,” said Beneetta Mary Jose, one of the students in the class.

“We went into the field to understand the problems directly through conversations with stakeholders and our own observations, and then came back with solutions that could be adopted because they aligned with current city or district policies.”

During the semester, they also held two presentations with stakeholders and city officials, which helped to refine the final recommendations within the master plan.

“As important as it was to analyze large planning documents and connecting what is in those documents to what we see in the field during this class, learning soft skills such as public speaking, time management and understanding financial constraints in budgets was equally as significant,” Jose said.

The master plan included recommendations on mobility from enhancing pedestrian connectivity to creating mobility hubs that offer options for bike sharing, buses, driving and more. For placemaking, the students suggested creating more greenspaces, enhancing trails through wayfinding and using multiple art mediums.

They also recommended renovating and increasing events at Poynter Park to attract more people to the waterfront greenspace and enhancing the district’s social media presence to advance critical partnerships.

“What the students identified really created a forum to allow us to start digging deeper on these issues,” said Alison Barlow, executive director of the St. Petersburg Innovation District. “Plans like this can become an impetus for deeper conversations.”

The idea for the class came out of discussions between Barlow and Evangeline Linkous, the director of the USF Master in Urban and Regional Planning program. Linkous was looking to create a real-world scenario for her classes. Barlow was looking for an initial planning assessment to use

as a complement for a more comprehensive master plan the St. Petersburg Innovation District plans to conduct.

“There are a handful of recommendations that came out of this exercise we plan to incorporate into our bigger planning effort,” Barlow said. “This was a great example of a project that paired a real-world situation and a class, with the students learning to take something that could be theoretical and make it into a very workable product.”

CELEBRATING FIVE YEARS OF MATCHING FIRST-YEAR COLLEGE STUDENTS WITH PROFESSIONAL MENTORS FOR CAREER EXPLORATION The job-shadowing program that helped Greenfield solidify her academic interests and future career path celebrated its fifth year.

For this incoming cohort, nearly 70 first-year students were paired with mentors from local businesses and organizations including Tampa Bay Watch, Baycare Health System and Great Explorations Children’s Museum.

During the semester, Innovation Scholar students meet with mentors at least three times, shadowing their daily activities, attending business meetings and getting a glimpse of what it’s like to join the workforce. Students also meet other professionals within the organization, sit in on important meetings and connect with company executives.

“The Innovation Scholars program really helps students confirm either that their major and career interests is right for them, or that it’s not what they expected and allows them to pivot and find a new path,” said Rita Zwiefel, internship and career experience coordinator at USF St. Petersburg. “For many students, it’s the first time they take the initiative and think seriously about their ideal type of career.”

Opportunities for shadowing range from the arts to finance to marine science and more, covering a wide variety of industries. Overall, the experience provides students with greater understanding of the organization and a perspective on what it would be like to work in specific fields.

“I thought this was something unique that would allow me to gain real world experience in the law profession while furthering my academics. This will be my first job experience and I’m excited to discover more about myself and what opportunities this may lead to,” said Olivia Borek, a first-year student majoring in English who hopes to attend law school.

Nearly 300 first-year students and professional mentors representing more than 100 businesses and organizations in the city of St. Petersburg have participated in the program during its five-year history.

Professionals say they benefit as much as students from participating. As mentors teach and train students, they assess potential for future internships and roles within their organizations. It also provides an opportunity to give back to the community and pass on life lessons to the next generation.

“I wish there was something like this when I was in college,” said Sarah Stephens, the administrative manager at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital who was Greenfield’s mentor and returned for a second year. “It’s a tremendous resource for a student beginning their career search to talk with a professional about their interests, who can kind of play matchmaker and show them different jobs within the field that align with those interests.”

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INNOVATIONS MAGAZINE | 33

RETROSPECTIVE DISTINGUISHED RESEARCHER, PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSOR AND CAMPUS LEADER

V. MARK DURAND RETIRES Matthew Cimitile In the field of autism and developmental disabilities, there are few names more internationally recognized than V. Mark Durand.

A professor of psychology at USF St. Petersburg for the past 20 years, Durand’s research focuses on developing models for understanding and treating challenging behaviors in people with autism spectrum disorders.

Working with his colleague Edward G. Carr, Durand developed functional communication training (FCT), which aimed to address challenging behaviors via new ways of communicating. First detailed in a 1985 paper, FCT has become a world-renowned protocol for treating severe behavioral challenges, often resulting from autism and developmental disabilities.

Since developing FCT, Durand and his colleagues have combined the technique with other popular therapies, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, to help families, teachers and patients collectively improve results. He also regularly trains psychologists and social workers on ways to employ FCT in their practice. The protocol has been recognized as one of 27 evidence-based practices by the National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorder and been cited more than 3,300 times in various publications.

In addition, Durand has published 14 books, including abnormal psychology textbooks, that have been used at more than 1,000 universities worldwide and translated into 10 languages. His work has been singled out for professional recognition from leading journals and the American Psychological Association. In 2020, he was named a University of South Florida Distinguished University Professor, the first in the history of USF St. Petersburg to earn this distinction.

Durand joined USF St. Petersburg in 2003 as the founding dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He was the university’s regional vice chancellor for academic affairs from 2005–2007, and again from 2015–2016.

Durand retired at the end of the fall 2023 semester. We sat down with him to hear more about his distinguished research and teaching career and to look back at his time at USF St. Petersburg.

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“

In addition, I’m proud of the many students I taught and the research and writing I continued to do while here, writing several editions of textbooks and books. Today I look back and think, “how did I do all of it?”

-V. Mark Durand

How did your interest in the field of developmental disabilities begin?

I worked in a clinic in graduate school, working closely with children who had autism. I was fascinated by why they acted the way they did, how they would hit themselves and others and why they did so. I tried to come up with a way to assess such behavior and to treat these behaviors. The goal was to not involve punishment, since at that time (around 40 years ago), kids were being shocked, they were being hit if they were hitting themselves.

In 1985 you and a colleague wrote a transformative paper, introducing functional communication training (FCT). How would you summarize what FCT is and the goal of this treatment?

What we wanted to do is find out what the function of the behavior problem is. Behavior problems are a form of communication. Like when a baby cries, there is a reason for doing so. At the time, people weren’t looking at it in that way. Through FCT, we developed four reasons for such behavior: getting attention from somebody, escaping situations, getting things and the behavior feels good.

We assessed what the function of each behavior was and then sought to treat it with something more appropriate. For example, if a student is nonverbal, we teach them to point to a picture. If they wanted a break from work that might be too hard, they would point to a picture of a chair to give them a break. Our goal was to teach kids with such disabilities to be able to communicate in a way so people who are not trained at all would know how to respond. Essentially, you wouldn’t need to be trained in autism to deal with someone with these behavior problems. When people followed FTC, most of the behavioral problems with autism went away. It has also been found to work well for people with a range of disorders, including those with attention deficit disorder (ADD) or dementia.

Were you shocked with how globally adopted this training has become?

I am now! It took a while. I’ve given hundreds of talks, including a recent keynote address at the Juvenile Arthritis Association. I think through these talks and having colleagues who conducted their own research on FCT, it sort of multiplied. Over time people tried FCT and they saw better outcomes. It probably

USF ST. PETERSBURG

took about five years or more before other groups started to adopt the protocol and saw that it could be effective. It has been one of those things that when you look back, it took a long time, but today with how adopted it is across the world, it is shocking to be honest.

What brought you to USF St. Petersburg and why was this campus an attractive place for you to continue your career?

People didn’t really have a good understanding of autism back then.

It wasn’t well researched across the country, so being able to move as a researcher was limited for me. But if I became an administrator, I could be portable. So, at SUNY-Albany I eventually became chair of the Psychology department and then an interim dean. Then we had a bad winter and I remember telling my wife, “We don’t have to stay here anymore.” Shortly thereafter, I applied for the job to be founding dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at USF St. Pete. We had both been to St. Petersburg before for conferences and found the city to be such a beautiful place and we loved the warm weather. When I received the job offer, it didn’t take us long to make the decision to come down.

Looking back on your 20 years, what are you most proud of during your time at USF St. Petersburg?

The campus was a great challenge for me because it was new in a sense, as it was undergoing its own accreditation for the first time. We had to teach people how to do tenure reviews and things such as that, because everything was done through Tampa before and it would now be going through St. Petersburg. I was extremely proud of playing a part of us getting accredited. Not many people can say they helped to get the initial accreditation for their institution.

In addition, I’m proud of the many students I taught and the research and writing I continued to do while here, writing several editions of textbooks and books. Today I look back and think, “how did I do all of it?”

I feel that I accomplished everything I set out to do. And I’m especially proud of the fact that I was promoted to a USF Distinguished University Professor. Nobody on the branch campuses had done that before.

Ralph Wilcox (USF provost at the time) called me to tell me the news and I was shocked, because I didn’t really think that would happen.

What do you plan to do in retirement?

My wife and I are planning regular trips. I also asked a colleague of mine who retired recently what he does with all his free time. He told me, “My days just seem to fill up.” So, I don’t plan to do much initially and just see how my days fill up.

INNOVATIONS MAGAZINE | 35

BOOKS PUBLISHED BY

USF ST. PETERSBURG PROFESSORS Sarah Sell

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Julie Buckner Armstrong, Professor of English

Dawn K. Cecil, Professor of Criminology and Campus Chair

Julie Buckner Armstrong grew up in working-class Birmingham and left at twenty-four, never thinking she would return. “Learning from

As a co-editor of “The Emerald International Handbook of Feminist

Birmingham: A Journey into History and Home” recounts her inevitable

Perspectives on Women’s Acts of Violence,” Dawn Cecil helps provide

return many years later as a scholar and teacher of civil rights movement

a comprehensive introduction to a wide range of international,

literature. The book combines archival research and personal history to

interdisciplinary knowledge that applies feminist perspectives to the

bring important questions of race relations into the present day.

phenomenon of women’s violence.

Gary Mormino, Professor Emeritus and Florida Studies Program co-founder

Byron Miller, Associate Professor of Sociology In his book “Interracial Romance and Health: Bridging Generations, Race

In his award-winning book, “Dreams in the New Century: Instant Cities,

Relations and Well Being,” Byron Miller tackles a growing public health

Shattered Hopes, and Florida’s Turning Point,” Gary Mormino focuses

issue that impacts millions of people in interracial relationships.

on Florida in the first decade of the new century, 2000–2010, and its connections to some of the most significant events in contemporary

“People should be free to love whomever they want without paying

American history.

a penalty to their health and well-being due to racism,” said Miller.

“But in the process of writing, I learned the perpetuation of racist and

Mormino’s book was selected as the gold medal winner in the 2022

ethnocentric beliefs in society continues to take a social and emotional

Florida Book Awards, Florida nonfiction category, and chosen by the

toll for many who cross racial lines for romance.”

Florida chapter of the Library of Congress Center for its National Book Festival. Additionally, the book received the Charlton Tebeau Award from the Florida Historical Society. The award recognizes the best historical book of the year.

AnnMarie Alberton Gunn, Associate Professor of Literacy Education Susan V. Bennett, Associate Professor of Literacy Education

Mormino has been retired from USF for several years but continues teaching a modern Florida history seminar.

Thomas Hallock, Professor of English, Literature & Cultural Studies

Co-edited by AnnMarie Gunn and Susan V. Bennett, “Teaching Multicultural Children’s Literature in a Diverse Society: From a Historical Perspective to Instructional Practice” is a comprehensive resource for teaching multicultural children’s literature. The book provides foundational information on how and why to integrate diverse children’s

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down his sabbatical research,

literature into the classroom.

Thomas Hallock turned to the files of personal writing accumulated in his desk for twenty years, resulting in his latest book, “Happy Neighborhood: Essays and Poems.” In this hybrid collection, Hallock confronts the challenges he has faced as a father, particularly as he sifts through his own family history. Grappling with the struggle of finding peace at home and in Florida, Hallock seeks poetry that can accomplish honest emotional work.

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INNOVATIONS MAGAZINE | 37

The Family Study Center

CELEBRATES 20 YEARS OF RESEARCH AND PARTNERSHIPS

Carrie O’Brion

The center, now internationally recognized in the field of infant-family mental health, is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2023–24.

In doing so, it is sponsoring a broad array of events for students, families and professionals throughout the year. These events are recapping some of the most important discoveries in the field of infant-family mental health over the past 20 years, bringing scholars from around the world to USF St. Petersburg and celebrating many of the FSC’s major collaborations, contributions and contributors.

ELEVATING THE CONCEPT OF “COPARENTING” The FSC’s work has been guided by two scientific discoveries: that the first three years of a child’s life are unparalleled in building healthy brain development and assuring

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Today, that viewpoint has changed dramatically.

There is widespread recognition that adverse experiences during infancy and early childhood can have lifelong impacts on physical and mental health, and that families play powerful protective roles in the face of such adversity.

This revolution in thinking is largely thanks to the pioneering research contributions of the Family Study Center (FSC) at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. Over the past 20 years, the FSC has played a significant role in raising awareness about the roles of families in the healthy development of infants and young children from newborns to age 3.

emotional security, and that these foundations for healthy development are shaped by infants’ and toddlers’ everyday experiences in their communities and social networks, with those who care for them. FSC research has shown that early infant mental health can be improved through the successful strengthening of relationships between children’s important caregiving adults, or “coparents.”

FAM

The field of infant mental health was relatively unnoticed 20 years ago. Most discussions about mental health focused on the experiences of adolescents or adults, mostly due to a mistaken belief that infants were so young that their lives were relatively uncomplicated.

director of the FSC since its inception. “Looking at children and families worldwide, across all cultures, the vast majority experience caregiving support and form bonds with multiple individuals during the course of their young lives.”

The Family Study Center sees coparenting as an “every child” concept, and the FSC’s research and programs are geared toward strengthening relationships and coordination among coparents who are raising children. The center’s work throughout the past 20 years has been influential locally, nationally and internationally in establishing and promoting this groundbreaking model.

RECOGNIZING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF A SPECIAL CAREGIVER

20

YEARS

Coparenting is a child development framework that goes beyond a focus on just mothers and infants. It even goes beyond mothers, fathers and infants to recognize and understand the child’s emotional bonds with all caregivers contributing to their upbringing. In countless families through Florida, the U.S. and the world, grandparents or other relatives care for infants daily. Providers outside the family also care for young children sometimes up to 40 hours a week or more. For babies, such individuals function as coparents.

“We take time to understand and support children’s families in whatever form the families actually take, without making judgments about how they ought to be,” said James McHale,

The events scheduled for the 20th anniversary celebration reflect the center’s commitment to strengthening coparenting in the families of infants and very young children. The event series launched in October with a presentation

by Carla Stover of Yale University’s School of Medicine Child Study Center, who was a coinvestigator for the FSC’s “Figuring It Out for the Child” (FIOC) initiative.

FIOC is a unique resource and referral program designed to support unmarried, non-coresident African American mothers and fathers having their first baby together. It is offered free of charge and unlike many federally and privately sponsored marriage and relationship enhancement programs, no present or future marriage or enduring committed romantic relationship is presumed.

The presentation by Stover was particularly poignant as it paid tribute to Katherine McKay,

one of the major contributors to the FSC’s mission over the past 20 years. McKay was lead clinical supervisor for the FIOC initiative from its beginnings and a co-author for numerous conference presentations and published articles. She passed away in November of 2022 at age 53.

McHale called McKay the “heartbeat” of the decade-long FIOC initiative that served scores of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County families. She provided lead supervisory support for more than 100 interventions with families in a Juvenile Welfare Board-sponsored pilot program and the Brady Education Foundation-funded field trial.

“She was an exceptional, extraordinary, irreplaceable colleague and human being,” McHale said. “I am so happy we had occasion to honor her as we launched the FSC’s 20th anniversary.”

The anniversary celebration will continue January 26, 2024, with a presentation by Miri Keren, past president for the World Association for Infant Mental Health, and Diane Philipp, a world expert in family intervention during infancy. The January event is intended to help strengthen family practice in a range of professions by building practitioners’ skills in observing infants’ contributions to their family.

ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION SPOTLIGHTS GLOBAL RESEARCH/ COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS The anniversary celebration culminates with a full week of activities on April 8–12. It kicks off on Tuesday, April 9, with the first annual FSC “Listening to Families.” This is a re-envisioning of the FSC’s “Listening to Babies” (LTB). LTB was a decade-long series of training events for those who serve children and families prenatally through age 5, advocating for culturally sensitive practice in supporting the social-emotional development of young African American children. The April 9 community celebration and family listening event is sponsored by the Juvenile Welfare Board, the FSC’s longtime partner and supporter.

On Wednesday, April 10, the FSC will host a Community Partner Breakfast, where they will present the 2024 “Building Blocks for Babies” awards to recognize the achievements of those whose contributions supporting babies and families have had enduring impact in Pinellas County.

The culminating event will be a full-day professional training conference called “Thinking Three.” The featured speaker will be Chandra Ghosh Ippen, associate director of the Child Trauma Research program at the University of California, San Francisco. She is a child psychologist, children’s book author and world leader in the dissemination and implementation of child-parent psychotherapy (CPP).

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The conference will also include an afternoon keynote presentation by infant-family mental health expert, Silvia Mazzoni from the Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology at Sapenzia University of Rome (Italy), along with several afternoon breakout sessions on coparenting.

McHale said while several anniversary events highlight globally impactful coparenting research advancing infant-family mental health around the world, others recognize and honor contributions of local community members. These community partnerships have always been essential to the FSC’s mission, ensuring the center continues to make a real, meaningful impact on babies and their families in St. Petersburg and Pinellas County.

Among the FSC’s most enduring partners has been the Next STEPP (Services to Those Experiencing Pregnancy or Parenting) Center.

Next STEPP not only collaborated on but was the community hub for both the FIOC initiative and the FSC’s newest collective impact effort, “Connected Coparenting.”

“Our ability to serve parents and families has been greatly enhanced and expanded through our partnership and collaboration with the USF Family Study Center,” said Carole Alexander, Next STEPP’s CEO. “We appreciate the work of Dr. James McHale in providing equitable opportunities to build strong families and communities by ensuring that the programs offered by the center are easily accessible and culturally responsive.”

McHale said that authentic partnerships between universities and community groups that address significant societal concerns are both special and rare.

“They are never possible without the trust, goodwill and direction of the community itself,” he added. “The Family Study Center intends to celebrate all those who have informed and guided our work throughout the years and helped advance a common mission of strengthening and supporting families of infants and toddlers.”

INNOVATIONS MAGAZINE | 39

Matthew Cimitile The city of St. Petersburg has long enjoyed a reputation as a center for creativity and is home to a wide variety of world-class museums, galleries and performing arts centers. Now the University of South Florida is adding to the movement by expanding arts programming on its St. Petersburg campus.

monitors with Apple TV connectivity that enhanced teaching methods and sustainable LED fixtures to create better white light for display and production of graphic art.

Beginning in the fall of 2021, several courses focused on the arts industry and architecture were offered for the first time on campus. The arts industry course highlighted the role the arts play as an economic engine, connecting students with the local arts community by partnering with the Dali Museum and the Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement.

The graduate architecture class brought together practitioners from St. Petersburg and its sister city of Aberdeen, Scotland to collaborate with students in developing urban design solutions.

“One of the big things our community was asking for was a gallery space so the campus could participate in activities such as art walks,” said Jennifer Yucus, USF St. Petersburg associate professor of Graphic Design. “Seniors now have a facility to exhibit their final projects, visitors can come in and see what students are working on and we can host the work of nationally-known artists.”

“Offering these new courses was the low-hanging fruit we wanted to get done in the first year of consolidation as we build up partnerships and opportunities among campuses and with the city of St. Petersburg,” Chris Garvin, dean of USF’s College of The Arts, said at the time. “Our strategy is to spread offerings across all the campuses and give students the best of both worlds, providing as much of the arts curriculum and allowing flexibility.”

What these new courses signified was the start of a sustained increase in arts programming and opportunities at USF’s St. Petersburg campus.

AN INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION IN A NEW GALLERY Around the same time the new art courses were being offered, Harbor Hall, the home of the USF St. Petersburg Graphic Arts program, was undergoing a transformation. Previously the home of the original Dali Museum, the building underwent a massive interior redesign. The renovations were made possible by a generous $1 million gift from the estate of Josephine Hall, a longtime supporter of the campus.

When the newly renovated doors opened, it featured greater gallery and studio spaces and an aesthetically modern environment for students to showcase their work. Renovations included the incorporation of magnetic display panels in classroom studios and the main corridor to provide a durable, reconfigurable area for two-dimensional art, new 40 | INNOVATIONS MAGAZINE

Harbor Hall now contains five studio spaces along with a public gallery.

The first wave of renowned artists to display their work in the new gallery arrived on October 6, 2023. The USF College of The Art’s Contemporary Art Museum (USFCAM) presented SUPERFLEX: This Is the Tip Of The Iceberg, an exhibition by internationally renowned Danish artist collective SUPERFLEX. Founded in 1993 by Jakob Fenger, Bjørnstjerne Christiansen and Rasmus Rosengren Nielsen, SUPERFLEX is known for blurring the lines of art, science and activism to offer creative perspectives on challenging global problems and have had installations displayed in prominent public and private collections in Europe, North America and Australia.

The SUPERFLEX: This Is The Tip Of The Iceberg exhibition explored a world where human life depends on coexistence with other species.

It featured the viewer responsive animation Vertical Migration, first exhibited in a 500-foot-high projection on the United Nations (U.N.) Secretariat Building in New York City during the 76th U.N. General Assembly. Highlighting the role of biodiversity in the health of oceans, the installation invites an intimate encounter with a siphonophore (a relative of the jellyfish) whose complex organisms function collectively.

The exhibition, which ran from October 6 through November 22, is part of USFCAM’s GENERATOR, which seeks to be an incubator of new ideas and a place for expanded artistic experimentation.

“GENERATOR will offer a new cultural dimension to St. Petersburg’s prominence as an arts destination, offering free public access to an inclusive space for creative exploration, research and dialogue,” said Sarah Howard, the curator of social practice at USFCAM.

SHINE ON: MURALS INSPIRE CREATIVITY

LIBRARY BECOMES A HOME FOR THE ARTS

For nine years, the SHINE St. Petersburg Mural Festival has added creativity, vibrancy and color to the city’s landscape. The festival brings together a collection of artists to paint diverse murals on buildings and streets to showcase the power of art in revitalizing public spaces and creating dialogue. For the third time, USF St. Petersburg was one of the festival’s sites in 2023.

When the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library (NPML) underwent a renovation to modernize its space for 21st century learning, it also created a rejuvenated area to host art.

Jay Giroux, a visiting faculty member in USF’s Graphic Arts program, and 10 students painted a street mural at the intersection of 2nd Street and 6th Avenue South outside of the University Student Center. Titled “Fluid Structures,” the mural melds geometric figures with an imaginative marine ecosystem setting to evoke the allure of the oceans. The project was sponsored by David and Rebecca Ramsey.

“The mural is a modernist motif. Simple and easy on the eyes, with big shapes,” Giroux explained. “One benefit of street murals is that it calms traffic. It not only creates beautiful art but helps reduce pedestrian accidents.”

The previous year, Miami-based artist Reginald O’Neal used the west wall of the Piano Man building to depict both the Mundari tribe of South Sudan and historian John Henrik Clark. Clark was a pioneer in the creation of Africana Studies, establishing one of the first and most influential Africana departments in the country at Hunter College in New York City.

And in 2020, Harbor Hall became the site of the first mural on campus, with a colorful depiction of coastal wetlands and mangroves in an urban environment created by USF alums Kenny Coil and Marc Berenguer.

“The city of St. Petersburg is an art mecca, with so many great museums, galleries and artists that create such a vibrant culture,” said Christian Hardigree, regional chancellor of USF St. Petersburg. “It is only natural for our campus to not only provide a stellar arts education to students, but foster events and programming that contribute to the growing art scene in our city.”

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NPML’s inaugural exhibition in the new space, Perhaps All Magic Is, was curated by Graphic Arts Professor and Master Printer Erika Greenberg-Schneider. The exhibition was based on an artists’ book of the same title designed and printed by Professor Greenberg-Schneider. The exhibition showcased pages from the book, which featured the poetry of Christian Filardo, as well as framed prints from multidisciplinary artist Dominique Labauvie.

The NPML gallery also hosted the Wood Engraver’s Network Fourth Triennial Exhibition, which featured 65 contemporary relief engravings representing an international group of artists. Wood engraving is a unique mash-up of metal engraving and relief printing where an original drawing is cut into the surface of an endgrain wood block with the same tools that metal engravers use. The cut block is inked and pressure is applied to transfer ink to paper as a mirror reflected image.

And a creative collaboration between USF Libraries and the Dali Museum brought the Alice in Wonderland Suite of prints by Salvador Dali to NPML. This exhibition was accompanied by a colorful collection of Alicerelated ephemera from the Libraries’ Special Collections. As part of the exhibition, USF faculty member Lindsay Persohn gave a talk entitled Alice in Retrospect, How Stories Shape our Lives, which highlighted the ways this classic has become an integral part of the cultural lexicon.

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