Governor Ron DeSantis announced this month that Tom Frazer, PhD, dean of the USF College of Marine Science (USF CMS), is one of four new appointees to the Florida Environmental Regulation Commission (ERC).
Thomas K. Frazer, Dean and Professor USF CMS
鈥� a non-salaried, seven-member board -- sets standards and rules that protect Floridians and the environment based on scientific and technical validity, economic impacts, and analyses of risks and benefits. Most issues presented to the ERC pertain to water quality, air pollution, and waste management.
鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to the opportunity to represent the scientific community on the Environmental Regulation Commission,鈥� Frazer said. 鈥淔lorida鈥檚 rich array of natural resources is vulnerable to a suite of natural and human-caused changes, and we must continue our commitment to data-driven, science-based decision-making so that we can effectively guide management decisions moving forward.鈥�
Frazer, whose tenure as USF CMS dean began in August, previously served as Florida鈥檚 first Chief Science Officer. He was appointed to the ERC along with:
- Cari Roth, of Tallahassee, Vice President of Governmental and Regulatory Affairs for Lykes Bros. Inc.
- Jim McCarthy, of Ponte Vedra, President of the North Florida Land Trust; and
- Eric Buermann, of Key Largo, attorney and former chairman of the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board
Throughout his career, Frazer has received substantial funding from a variety of sources for research to address topics ranging from water quantity and quality to nutrient dynamics, biogeochemical processes, fish population dynamics, food web interactions, and ecological restoration of degraded ecosystems. He has conducted field research in both freshwater and marine systems around the globe, and he is intimately familiar with a broad suite of environmental and natural resource issues facing Florida and other environments around the world, such as eutrophication of fresh, estuarine, and coastal waters; invasive species; and the ecological impacts of contemporary environmental change, including coral bleaching, ocean acidification, and sea level rise.
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