Dr. Lisa Waidner, assistant professor, Dr. Jane Caffrey, professor, and Dr. Wade Jeffrey, professor, are heading up a large-scale survey of Escambia County waters in a partnership between the UWF Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation and Escambia County.
The professors and a team of UWF students began sampling water from 44 sites on Feb. 3 throughout Escambia County. The sites are in bodies of water, such as bays, bayous and rivers. Area waters being tested this year for Vibrio vulnificus and other bacterial species include lower Pensacola Bay, Santa Rosa Sound, Escambia Bay, Bayou Chico, Bayou Texar, Bayou Grande, Perdido Bay and Big Lagoon.
The researchers will collect water, sediment, and biofilm samples and perform various microbiological tests through the end of winter and will repeat all analyses in summer 2020. Waidner will report the team’s findings to the Board of County Commissioners once the project is completed.
The team’s goals are to determine whether various Vibrio species are present in local bodies of water, measure concentrations of the bacteria and identify factors that affect the bacteria’s growth.
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