NCBS Intern Report – Working Hard or Hardly Working?
By: Trisha Phy, 2017 Intern with UF/IFAS NCBS and the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge Is it really considered work when you love what you do? I had the opportunity to study the interactions between swimmers and Florida manatees this past winter in the Three Sisters Springs unit of Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). My […]
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Grasses in Classes Kicks off in Hernando County
Grasses in Classes This school year at the Gulf Coast Middle School, students in Shawn Walker’s science class will have a very important responsibility. They will be raising marsh grasses in a brand new nursery built at the school by Hernando Master Gardeners, UF IFAS Extension, and GCMS teachers as part of the Grasses in […]
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Oyster Reefs: A Way Forward
By: Hannah O. Brown, Graduate Student in the UF IFAS School of Natural Resources and Environment and UF IFAS NCBS/Florida Sea Grant Fellow Oysters are important but threatened You can’t spend any real time in North Florida without getting invited to an oyster roast. Growing up just outside of Fernandina Beach, my family’s traditions centered […]
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Pioneer Snook Project Video Highlights
Last fall, Emma Pistole started a Master of Science program in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (UF/IFAS School of Forest Resources and Conservation). Since then, her project on the northward expansion of common snook into the Nature Coast has gained a lot of attention and generated excitement among fishing guides, anglers, and scientists. Check out […]
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Collaborative Sea Turtle Research in St Martins Marsh Aquatic Preserve
[GUEST POST] By Rick Herren, PhD Student with UF IFAS Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Department and UF IFAS Nature Coast Biological Station Rarely do scientists work alone and Rick Herren, a PhD student with NCBS and UF WEC, is no exception. In 2001, Rick and a few of his colleagues formed a new company […]
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American Oystercatcher Nesting in Florida’s Nature Coast
[GUEST POST] By: Nick Vitale, Graduate Student with the UF IFAS Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Department and UF IFAS Nature Coast Biological Station Poor Nesting Success: A mystery? Raccoons, birds-of-prey, human disturbance, high tides… these are all potential threats to American Oystercatchers breeding along the nature coast. Oystercatchers have shown poor nesting success in […]
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2017 Scallop Seminar Live Stream
Thank you to everyone that tuned in live for the scallop seminar in Steinhatchee last night! We had about 50 people at the in-person event and over 2,400 people tuned in for at least some of the program on the live stream. The recording is available here and on our Facebook page. We had five […]
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Spring 2017 Florida Horseshoe Crab Watch Summary
Please click below to access the data summary newsletter from the spring 2017 sampling season of the Florida Horseshoe Crab Watch program.
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Recreational Scallop Season 2017
Recreational bay scallop season is quickly approaching! Thousands of residents and visitors will flock to the coastal areas of Florida between the Pasco-Hernando County line and Mexico Beach Canal to seek out their limit of scallops. Recreational boating in the Nature Coast reaches peak levels during scallop season, so expect congestion at boat ramps. […]
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Cedar Key Bird Rescue Responds to Local Need
Background of the Bird Rescue Program The Cedar Key Bird Rescue (CKBR) Program is a volunteer organization that responds to reports of injured birds, especially pelicans with fishing related injuries (i.e., entanglement or throat obstruction). CKBR was formed in response to the high number of bird entanglements in Cedar Key, an area identified as a […]
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New marker buoys off Sandy Hook aim to help boaters, seagrass
This past Monday, six seagrass marker buoys were placed in the shallow waters off of the small key known as Sandy Hook in the Crystal River estuary. This area, which remains totally open access for boaters, has suffered increasing seagrass damage from boat propellers and vessel groundings. The shallow area off of Sandy Hook is […]
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Intern Report: Quantifying Seabird-Angler Interactions Along Florida’s Nature Coast
[GUEST POST] By: Matt Shinego, UF IFAS Nature Coast Biological Station Intern (Fall 2016-Spring 2017) Hello, my name is Matt, and I’m addicted to the outdoors. I’ve made it eight days without succumbing to the temptation to go for a hike or cast a line – with three tests next week, I […]
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A Ride-Along with FWRI’s Fisheries-Independent Monitoring Program
What is Fisheries-Independent Monitoring? Fisheries-Independent Monitoring (FIM) is a statewide program run by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). The goal of the FIM program is to provide high quality fisheries data to state managers about fish abundance and population trends in estuaries. The data produced by the seven FIM programs around […]
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Introducing the Big Bend Shellfish Trail
Click IMAGE to access the Big Bend Shellfish Trail Map (8.7 MB) Shellfish in the florida big bend Shellfish harvest and consumption in Florida is an important facet of the maritime heritage of many coastal towns. The Florida Big Bend has several towns that still harbor local shellfish fisheries. These working waterfront communities […]
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Video Blog: Living Shoreline Marsh Plantings
Check out the latest at the Joe Rains Beach Living Shoreline site – we will have plenty of other opportunities for other groups to get involved. Please get in touch if you want to be part of the project.
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Cedar Key Living Shoreline Update
simultaneous Enhancement of Habitat and working waterfronts Last summer, we introduced you to a new living shoreline project at Joe Rains Beach in Cedar Key (read more). This unique, two-phase project will enhance both natural and cultural (working waterfront) resources along Daughtry Bayou. Phase 1 is the re-alignment of Tyree Canal. This is accomplished by […]
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Increasing public access to scientists and science in the Nature Coast
an Opportunity to connect We at the UF IFAS Nature Coast Biological Station just finished up a big week hosting the Big Bend Science Symposium in Cedar Key. This three-day conference was attended by the usual contingent of graduate students, university professors, and state wildlife managers convening to share updates about their research. However, academic […]
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Video Blog: Steinhatchee Crab Trap Cleanup
Ever wondered what it’s like to clean up lost crab traps? A few weeks ago, staff from the UF IFAS Nature Coast Biological Station, UF IFAS Extension Taylor County, Florida Sea Grant, and the St. Martins Marsh and Big Bend Seagrasses Aquatic Preserves conduced a derelict crab trap cleanup in Steinhatchee, FL. Check out the […]
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New project tracks snook genetics in the Nature Coast
Common snook (Centropomus undecimalis) are a highly sought-after sport fish found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. The Nature Coast of Florida is the northern range of snook in the Gulf, and many more snook are being caught lately in Hernando County, Crystal River, Yankeetown, and Cedar Key […]
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Why Restore or Enhance Oyster Habitat?
[GUEST POST] by Hernando County Florida Sea Grant Agent Brittany Hall-Scharf Oysters are bivalve mollusks that attach to hard surfaces, such as wood pilings and other oyster shells, forming reef-like clusters that can be quite extensive. They are often found in coastal estuaries, transitional areas where fresh water from rivers and streams meets the […]
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Contact Us
Nature Coast Biological Station
552 1st Street
PO Box 878
Cedar Key, FL 32625
ncbs@ifas.ufl.edu
Our Mission
The mission of the NCBS is to enhance the conservation and sustainability of natural resources throughout the Nature Coast through collaborative research, enhanced public engagement, field-based courses, and hands-on training workshops.