As a statewide, university-based research and education program, Florida Sea Grant draws upon its partnership of people, universities, governments and businesses to help prepare future marine scientists and other environmental professionals. These individuals will one day design the creative management concepts to protect Florida’s coastal environment for future generations.

Sea Grant’s support for graduate education includes various scholarship and fellowship opportunities, as well as traditional research assistantships, funded from both public and private sources.

Moreover, Florida Sea Grant seeks to diversify and broaden the experiences of its graduate students, and in some cases, undergraduates to meet the increasing need for real-world solutions to today’s resource management problems. Sea Grant’s multidisciplinary approach gives students scientific knowledge with interdisciplinary perspectives; they use multiple contexts to solve problems; and they learn to communicate complex ideas.

At the same time, Florida Sea Grant continues to invest in its faculty and staff so that they, too, have the necessary skills and training to meet the long-term needs of the state and its coastal resources.

Over time, this support has produced substantial results. This publication reviews the progress of many Florida Sea Grant scholars as they have assumed professional roles in education, resource management and business. They have indeed positively influenced the sustainable use of marine and coastal resources — in Florida, nationally, and internationally. Their performance affirms Florida Sea Grant’s role in the training of future scientists as part of its total commitment to science serving Florida’s coast.