After a year without state funding, a new Environmental and Marine Science Research and Education Facility was allowed to proceed with construction at the University of South Florida’s St. Petersburg campus.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the budget for fiscal 2023-24 on Thursday, but the veto list did not include $24.3 million for the facility.
“This facility will strengthen St. Petersburg as a world-class center for marine and environmental science, education, and community engagement,” USF President Leah Law said in a statement.
The law emphasized in the budget a number of items related to U.S. forces in Japan, including:
- Increased USF’s operating budget by $63.3 million to support three college campuses and USF Health.
- $14 million will be donated to clinical trials of the medical effectiveness of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in treating post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury in veterans and active duty military personnel.
- State investment in performance-based funding for colleges would increase by $85 million, of which USF would increase by $14.7 million, Law estimates.
Thursday’s announcement comes just weeks after USF accepted an invitation to join the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU), which comprises some of the country’s leading research institutions.
University of South Florida
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“This funding will allow us to continue our student and faculty success, increase the visibility of our research, make a significant impact in the Tampa Bay area and the state of Florida, and strengthen our efforts to become a top 25 public university and university. “I am a new member of the Association of American Universities,” Law said in a statement.
The goal of marine research facility According to a 2022 USF news release, it plans to expand the College of Marine Science as a means to study climate change, sea level rise and other coastal hazards.
“In a nutshell, what this innovative and groundbreaking Center of Excellence will achieve is: impact‘” Law said in a release. “This will make a big difference for our students, our faculty and our community, ready to make waves nationally and internationally.”
The $80 million project calls for the construction of new buildings at the St. Petersburg Marine Corps, creating space for postgraduate and undergraduate studies at the University of Marine Science, Arts, and Science and Engineering.
It will also be home to the Florida Flood Hub for Applied Research and Innovation, approved by Congress in 2020.
While Lo touted these budget items, he also mentioned some items DeSantis had vetoed.
- $20 million was to be used to build a new academic nursing STEM facility at the Sarasota-Manatee campus
- $2.9 million to the Department of Mental Health Law and Policy to develop tools to improve management and treatment of opioid use and overdoses.
