We provide a scholarly and social environment for the students of the FCE LTER conducting research in the Florida Everglades and adjacent ecosystems.
We support collaborative student research projects both within the FCE site as well as collaborations with all other LTER network sites. We will continue to pursue new technologies, sampling methods and ecological theories through collaboration with other LTER sites.
The FCE Student Group at the 2025 FCE LTER All Scientists' Meeting
Graduate Student Executive Board
- President: James Sturges
James is a third year PhD student in the Coastal Fisheries Research Lab advised by Dr. Jennifer Rehage. James’ dissertation work broadly focuses on aquatic food web dynamics on an ecosystem scale. He is interested in niche partitioning, multichannel energy pathway coupling in food webs, and ecosystem trajectories under shifting climatic conditions. Prior to moving to Florida James completed his B.S. degree at the University of Southern California and his M.S. at California State Polytechnique University, Pomona where he used stereo-video cameras to study fine-scale fish habitat use patterns on artificial reefs. James is passionate about promoting cross-site synthesis with other working groups and LTER sites, and hopes to promote better data management by making analytic resources available to students in the LTER network.
- Faculty Advisor: Dr. John Kominoski
Dr. Kominoski is the lead principal investigator of the FCE LTER program and the faculty advisor for FCE LTER Graduate Student Group. He has been mentoring FCE LTER graduate students since joining the FCE LTER program in 2012.
Events
Paige Kleindl or Rosario Vidales will send details about upcoming events to the FCE students listserv before each event. You can complete the form to join the FCE student group and listserv if you aren't a member.
Observation tower after hurricane Irma in the Everglades. The research site at Taylor Slough was heavily attacked by the hurricane Irma and the research tower hardly survived the storm.
Photo submitted by Junbin Zhao
Florida cottonmouth. Agkistrodon conanti is a semi-aquatic venomous snake species. This snake in the picture is one of those that reside on our observation facilities at Taylor Slough, the Everglades.
Photo submitted by Junbin Zhao
Nymphaea odorata
Photo submitted by Katherine Castrillon
Nymphaea odorata inflorescence
Photo submitted by Katherine Castrillon
Prescribed Burn Pine Rockland within Deering Estate at Cutler’s Natural Area
Photo submitted by Katherine Castrillon
Water Conservation House 1
Photo submitted by Katherine Castrillon
Red sky at morning: soaking up an early morning view of a fire-red sunrise from the dock at Canepatch backcountry campsite. Great way to start the day before cooking up a hearty breakfast and preparing for a day of fisheries research in the Shark River.
Photo submitted by Jordan Massie
Recent FCE M.S. graduate Natasha Viadero and Dr. Jennifer Rehage working up fish catches from an electrofishing transect in the mangrove-lined creeks of the Rookery Branch in the upper Shark River.
Photo submitted by Jordan Massie
Rays of sunshine reflecting off the scales of an acoustically tagged Common Snook set the stage for this underwater release shot in the Shark River. Data provided by tagged fish provide valuable insight into how movements and migrations are affected by seasonality and hydrologic variation.
Photo submitted by Jordan Massie
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure
Photo submitted by Alan Mock
Watch your step. Scorpions are biofluorescent and glow under UV lighting. This one was hunting at night in the Everglades Pine Rocklands.
Photo submitted by Cody Eggenberger
Anchovy camouflage. If you look closely, you’ll notice a juvenile female bullshark that made its way into our seine net and tried to hide from us in the anchovies.
Photo submitted by Cody Eggenberger
Say cheeeeeese
Photo submitted by Cody Eggenberger
Lead the way
Photo submitted by Cody Eggenberger
Mess of mangrove roots
Photo submitted by Selena Chavez
Views of open water
Photo submitted by Selena Chavez
Lone Gator
Photo submitted by Selena Chavez
The water draws ‘em in
Photo submitted by Selena Chavez
SRS6: Boardwalk Repairs
Photo submitted by Marbelys Garriga
TS7: Mouth of Taylor River with TS7 autosampler
Photo submitted by Marbelys Garriga
SRS6: CO2 Experiment
Photo submitted by Marbelys Garriga
SRS6 Tower
Photo submitted by Marbelys Garriga
Summer days
Photo submitted by Marbelys Garriga
Watch out for mama
Photo submitted by Marbelys Garriga
Reflections
Photo submitted by Marbelys Garriga
Everglades at dawn. Morning fog coats the dry season landscape near the PayHayokee Overlook at a freshwater marsh research site.
Photo submitted by Lukas Lamb-Wotton
Shark River, Everglades USA. The FCE's 100 ft tall eddy covariance tower quite literally monitors the breath of the forest through its CO2 sensors, while affording some of the best views of expansive mangrove forests, and Shark River itself.
Photo submitted by Lukas Lamb-Wotton
A bad day to be a bird. A rare encounter in Shark River Slough as a 16+ ft invasive Burmese Python slurps down a full-grown blue heron in Everglades National Park. This python is one of the largest documented pythons ever observed in the Everglades landscape.
Photo submitted by Lukas Lamb-Wotton
Everglades Phone Home. A lone Trimble stands at attention amidst a field of sawgrass while communicating with space-borne satellites.
Photo submitted by Lukas Lamb-Wotton
Big Alberta, The Acoustically Tagged Bonefish. The largest bonefish captured to date, Big Alberta was outfitted with a new VEMCO tag that records maximum depth with time and date, along with tracking her movement.
Photo submitted by Nicholas Castillo
Hands Full of “I vant to suck your blood”. A quick glance at the camera before collecting a nonlethal blood sample from a South Florida bonefish, investigating the presence of pharmaceutical contaminants in a coastal marine fish species.
Photo submitted by Nicholas Castillo
All Smiles!
Photo submitted by Andy Distrubell
Boat-based blood work
Photo submitted by Andy Distrubell
Weird-looking bonefish… PhD student Nicholas Castillo and Bonefish researcher spends the day chasing reds
Photo submitted by Andy Distrubell
Thumbsucker
Photo submitted by Natasha Viadero
All smiles in the Shark River
Photo submitted by Natasha Viadero
Rise and shine.. time to get to work!
Photo submitted by Natasha Viadero
Out on the Shark River… can’t tell where the water ends, and the sky begins
Photo submitted by Natasha Viadero
Head West
Photo submitted by Joshua Linenfelser
Departure
Photo submitted by Joshua Linenfelser
Rise and Shine
Photo submitted by Joshua Linenfelser
More than Gold
Photo submitted by Joshua Linenfelser
Nap Time. Photo of one of our most charismatic team members. After a long field day, there’s nothing better than to take a nap on the route home. As soon as the airboat is on, it’s lights out for Christian.
Photo submitted by Santiago Castaneda
Sunrise inside the WCAs while onboard the airboat – technicians normally set out for vegetation surveys as soon as the sun was above the water. Great way to start the morning.
Photo submitted by Santiago Castaneda
Artifacts of the Everglades. Many man-made objects have made their way into the Everglades National Park. Many scientists that have worked over a long period of time in the park will recognize the now endemic landmarks.
Photo submitted by Santiago Castaneda
Balloon-mania. As a team, we try to pick up as many balloons in the Everglades as we can. It’s a never-ending job, but we do what we can to clean up the park.
Photo submitted by Santiago Castaneda
When in doubt.. Dance it out. Spirits are high when you’re catching fish in the Shark River.
Photo submitted by Mack White
Holy Bass… Everglades research scientist, Natasha Viadero, is all smiles after sampling a beautiful Florida Largemouth Bass.
Photo submitted by Mack White
A Canepatch Sunrise
Photo submitted by Mack White
Big Seine for Little Fish. Researchers sample forage fish communities for isotopic study of coastal Everglades food webs.
Photo submitted by Mack White
Above and below
Photo submitted by Thomas Shannon
Succession of species
Photo submitted by Thomas Shannon
Assembly line
Photo submitted by Thomas Shannon
The jungle of mirrors. Pacaya Samiria National Preserve, Peru 2022.
Photo submitted by Lauren Emer
Blue foods. Iquitos Desembarcadero. Loreto, Peru 2022.
Photo submitted by Lauren Emer
Napo cuadra 1. Iquitos, Peru 2022.
Photo submitted by Lauren Emer
The Amazon giants. Loreto, Peru 2022.
Photo submitted by Lauren Emer
The fish lab, I swear we're working
Photo submitted by Evan Lindo
Mogan lake trout
Photo submitted by Evan Lindo
If you look closely, you'll see a wild horse in Biscayne Bay's Coastal Wetlands...
Photo submitted by Samantha Hormiga
Collecting water during Biscayne Bay fish kills of Aug 2020 with CREST at FIU
Photo submitted by Ikechukwu Onwuka
Collecting water during Biscayne Bay fish kills of Aug 2020 with CREST at FIU
Photo submitted by Ikechukwu Onwuka