An $80 million environmental research center is coming to St. Pete
/University of South Florida is planning to construct a four-story environmental research center with research labs, classrooms, and teaching areas for future graduate and undergraduate studies.
St. Petersburg is once again paving the way for environmental research. Thanks to funding efforts by local leaders and state legislators, the University of South Florida is planning a new environmental research center on its St. Petersburg campus - with a budget of $80 million.
The Center of Excellence in Environmental & Oceanographic Sciences will serve as a hub for pressing issues such as climate change, sea level rise, and environmental disasters. The northwest wing of the College of Marine Science, located at 830 First Street South, will be demolished to make way for construction. A four-story building will stand in its place, with research labs, classrooms, and teaching areas for future graduate and undergraduate studies.
The center will introduce unique programs for the university, from environmental chemistry degrees, coastal and ocean engineering majors, and more. Funds for the project will also be used to renovate the remainder of the existing Marina Science Complex.
The new research center will be located at 830 First Street South in downtown St. Pete’s innovation District
“What this innovative, groundbreaking center of excellence will achieve can be summed up in a single word – impact,” USF President Rhea Law said. “It will make an enormous difference for our students, our faculty and our community, and is poised to make waves both nationally and internationally.”
This new facility will also help Pinellas County and Florida examine its relationship with environmental hazards. With the City of St. Petersburg’s website listing flooding as a “major concern for St. Pete residents,” the need for the research and data coming out of the center will be more important than ever before.
The Florida Flood Hub for Applied Research and Innovation will find its home here as well, providing research for hazards impacting Florida’s coastal areas. Cutting-edge radar technology and weather predictions are on the horizon too.
An aerial shot of the UNiversity of South Florida’s College of Marine Science in downtown ST. Pete’s Innovation District
The center will sit in the heart of St. Petersburg’s growing Innovation District. The nearly mile-long neighborhood is full of vital research opportunities in the marine science, life science, and technology fields. The center itself will be just a stone’s throw away from the Maritime and Defense Tech Hub, which recently opened in a 30,000 square foot building that was vacated by SRI Corporation.
In March, the Florida Legislature approved its latest budget, proposing to fully fund the Center of Excellence in Environmental & Oceanographic Sciences.
Dr. Martin Tadlock, regional chancellor of USF St. Petersburg, celebrated the news in a memo to faculty and university supporters and highlighted the center’s importance. Tadlock was a proponent of the center from the beginning, including other supporters like the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership and Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls.
The northwest wing of USF’s College of Marine Science building will be demolished to make way for construction of the new research center.
“Think about the benefit to the community,” Tadlock said, “...as we enhance our ability to analyze sea level rise and high-tide flood events, and to make that information accessible to policymakers, planners, elected officials and the general public.”
To Tadlock, the time to start finding solutions is now. And with the center’s planned construction, getting those answers will be in our grasp, helping future students and researchers “meet the serious challenges ahead.”
While the project is included in the approved budget by the State Legislature, it must still get final sign off from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. However, Tadlock mentioned that the community “feels very positive about the current situation.” When the budget is signed it will mark an incredible milestone for St. Petersburg, the Innovation District, and the University of South Florida.
