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News2026-01-27T21:46:33+00:00

TBS News

Stay current with our latest updates and announcements.

What if science data could look (or sound) like ART? Dr. Heather O' Leary has made quite a name for herself and her project, CRESCENDO, gaining data in creative ways with our community! At the 46th Annual Society for Economic Anthropology meeting, our USF anthropologist Heather O’Leary invited participants to turn their perspectives into colorful “oyster” filter-feeders. Each one represented how people think about seafood and environmental health. We’re proud to celebrate Dr. Heather O'Leary for earning the Kate Browne Creativity in Research Award for this innovative work! 🦪✨ Using simple materials like coffee filters and markers, attendees visualized their concerns about: 🌎 The environment 💰 Economic impacts in Gulf regions like Tampa Bay 🗣️ Community conversations around seafood safety The result? A vibrant, collective snapshot of how people connect to planet, prosperity, and people. This approach brings the United Nations’ triple bottom line to life, making complex issues around seafood safety, environmental change, and community perspectives in places like Tampa Bay more visible, accessible, and human. #innovation #anthropology #communityscience #art
🌊 Everyone has a water story - what’s yours? Watershed Stories invites Tampa Bay residents to share personal memories of local waters - from storms and flooding to fishing spots, swimming holes, and everything in between. Through free, hands-on storytelling workshops, you’ll listen to water “come to life” through sound (sonification), reflect on your experiences, and craft your own short story. ✨ Selected stories will be recorded, archived by USF Libraries, and featured in a live showcase in October 2026. 📍 Locations across Tampa Bay 🗓 Saturdays | ⏰ 10 AM – 1 PM 🎟 Free to attend   Come connect, create, and be part of a community story about water. 🔗 Learn more & register - link in story.
Look at our barnacles move! 💃🏼If you want to learn why we’re recruiting barnacles all around Tampa Bay, join the Science in Session Webinar on April 23rd from 2:30-3:30 pm ET. Our very own, Layne Leggett, AKA barnacle queen 👸 will be presenting! Swipe to learn more & click the link in bio/story to register. This video is from Layne’s weekly photography session at our backyard barnacle array 📍Bayboro Harbor
April Fools’! It took a few tries, but Marine Environmental Chemistry Lab manager Ethan Goddard finally caught on. Same outfit. Same energy. Increasing suspicion. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery…and we're sure Ethan agrees 😂
You can’t see PFAS… but they may be in your catch. The Tampa Bay Surveillance Project is looking into it!👀🧪 “Forever chemicals” do not break down easily in the environment. Currently, there are guidelines for PFAS in drinking water, but not in fish. This matters for subsistence fishers especially, because we don’t fully know what levels are safe for people who regularly eat local catch. 💧🐟 Our project chemist, Devon Firesinger, was recently published as an author on the paper titled “PFAS contamination in Florida estuarine fishes: Levels, patterns, and estimated human and ecological health risks”. Click the link in our story to read it. Science isn’t just data, it’s a tool to support our communities. 🧬 #TampaBay #PFAS #ScienceCommunication #fish #environmentalhealth
TBS is collecting oyster samples from Tampa Bay year-round. 🦪➡️🔬 Quarter 3 collections occurred in rather chilly weather, but they sure were fun! 🥶❄️ With a total of 4 field days & help from our local charter captains, the TBS team collected oysters from 19 different sites around the bay. These oysters will eventually be processed and analyzed for contaminants in our lab. The analyses will help us determine the health of our community, invertebrates included! 🌊🦪 #tampabaysurveillance #oysters #fielddayfun
TB REACH at #SDAFS2026 🎣 Dr. Noëlle Boucquey (@eckerdlife) presenting research on accessing wild fisheries in large metropolitan areas at the Southern Division of the @americanfisheries meeting in New Orleans (March 5-8). Her talk explored how people access wild fisheries in large metropolitan areas and what those experiences reveal about shifting environmental conditions. This work is part of the TB REACH study, a companion project within Tampa Bay Surveillance (TBS). #FisheriesScience #Urbanfisheries #Tampabay #AFS
Meet the scientist behind the chemistry powering the Tampa Bay Surveillance Project.👩‍🔬 Dr. Isabel Romero, an organic geochemist, helped build the analytical backbone of our lab by developing the methods we use to track contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in Tampa Bay using tools like the ASE (Accelerated Solvent Extractor) and GC-MS (Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometer). In simple terms: She helps us figure out what chemicals are hiding in Tampa Bay and what they tell us about the health of this community.🧪🐟 From maintaining complex instruments to training students and technicians in quality control, data interpretation, and analytical chemistry, Dr. Romero has shaped how our team studies pollution in the bay. Even though she recently began a new faculty position at the University of South Carolina’s School of the Earth, Ocean and Environment, she remains deeply involved with TBS and continues to mentor our students and help ensure the data we produce is accurate and impactful.🌎 Safe to say… a lot of the science happening in our lab today started with her.🏁 Check out Isabel’s Staff Feature Friday to learn about the role curiosity and persistence have played in her scientific journey, the people and experiences that helped her build confidence as a scientist, and a simplified look at her contributions to the TBS project. 🌊🩵 #TBSProject #environmentalhealth #StaffFeatureFriday
Learn a little about the role of the GCMS (Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry) in the Tampa Bay Surveillance Project. 💧📈 Stay tuned for Friday’s Staff Feature👀 #tbsproject #environmentalhealth #GCMS #data
Meet Holly Shuff, Survey Coordinator for the Tampa Bay REACH project. 👋 A Florida native and graduate student in Florida Studies at @usouthflorida , Holly serves as the bridge between faculty and undergraduate surveyors, training students, coordinating field efforts, and helping ensure community voices are reflected in our research. Her work reminds us that strong science depends on strong relationships. From fishing tournaments to shoreline conversations, Holly has seen firsthand how local knowledge deepens our understanding of Tampa Bay and strengthens environmental decision-making. 🤝 She also credits much of her academic journey to mentorship – a powerful reminder of how investing in students today shapes the research leaders of tomorrow. Read more in this week’s Staff Feature Friday and learn what advice Holly would give her younger self, Dr. Heather O'Leary's role in Holly's academic and professional pursuits, and what she loves most about the USF community! ✨ #EnvironmentalAnthropology #CommunityEngagement #USF #ResearchInAction #StaffFeatureFriday
We’re continuing to spotlight the social science side of TBS with a look at the latest TB REACH surveyor training at @eckerdlife . Led by Drs. Noelle Boucquey and Jessie Fly, students from @usouthflorida and Eckerd are preparing to serve as the boots on the ground across Tampa Bay – engaging local fishers in conversations about where they fish, what they catch, how often they fish, and what they eat. This summer marks one full year of fisher interviews – a major milestone for the project. 🎣 During training, students practiced survey operations, reviewed field procedures, and role-played real-world scenarios. The information they collect is paired with toxicology and contaminant findings from TBS to inform risk assessments and pollution mitigation strategies, helping protect community health. Spot one of our surveyors at a pier or bridge? Say hello 👋 – or better yet, participate in the anonymous survey to support research working toward a healthier Tampa Bay. Learn more about companion project TB REACH at the link in our bio. 📸 Drs. Fly and Boucquey leading training; students practicing mock survey conversations; a preview of the official TB REACH fisher survey. #TampaBay #TampaBaySurveillance #TBREACH #MarineScience #communityscience
Meet Dr. Jessie Fly! With arguably the coolest name on the project, Dr. Fly is an environmental anthropologist at @eckerdlife and a social science lead on the Tampa Bay REACH project – a companion study to TBS that pairs contaminant and toxicology data with community-based social science research to understand how chemical pollutants affect subsistence fishers. For nearly a decade, Jessie has studied shore fishing communities around Tampa Bay, exploring how people use public fishing spaces, how those spaces function as shared “commons,” and how environmental change affects livelihoods, food access, and community connection. Through surveys, interviews, and conversations at piers and bridges, Jessie helps our team understand not just what’s in the water, but what fishing means to the people who rely on it. Shore fishing spots, she reminds us, are more than places to cast a line – they’re some of the few public spaces where people from all walks of life gather, connect, and build community. Check out Jessie’s Staff Feature Friday to learn more about her work – and a few fun tidbits, too. #TampaBayREACH #TampaBaySurveillance #EnvironmentalAnthropology #CommunityHealth #SubsistenceFishing
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Funding for this work was made available through award NA23NOS4690261 of the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science Competitive Research Program to the University of South Florida Tampa Bay Surveillance Project.

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