By Shaun Ryan
When tackling the challenges of protecting the environment, education is “huge,” according to Quinton White, executive director for the Marine Science Research Institute.
Education begins as a conversation. A panel discussion hosted by THE PLAYERS Champion on Friday, March 4th, took another step towards that goal.
“Championing Change” was conducted at the TPC Sawgrass Clubhouse. Representatives from diverse industries in Northeast Florida were invited to participate in this event.
White, a professor of biology and marine science at Jacksonville University, was joined by Jacksonville’s first chief resiliency officer, Anne Coglianese; Jeff Plotts, director of golf course operations at TPC Sawgrass and winner of the 2021 Environmental Leaders in Golf Award; Laureen Husband, in charge of public policy and community for Feeding Northeast Florida; and Neera Shetty, executive vice president of social responsibility and inclusion for the PGA TOUR.
The discussion had the goal of encouraging a dialogue and sharing of best practices that go beyond current standards. The panel members addressed environmental issues from their professional perspectives.
Water conservation and clarity were two of the topics discussed along with their impact on the community.
“In order to have a strong economy, we’ve got to have a clean environment,” White said. “Nobody wants to come to Jacksonville — nobody wants to come to Sawgrass — if the water is green, if there’s dead fish in the lake.”
Plotts described one strategy TPC Sawgrass uses in order to address this concern.
“We’re using stormwater or reclaimed water to irrigate our golf course,” he said.
He said that turf grass provides the best water filtration and that golf courses can have a cooling effect in the local community.
Coglianese stated that Jacksonville is currently conducting a vulnerability assessment to determine if areas are susceptible to flooding. He also plans to conduct a heat study in the summer to determine which areas are hot.
“The goal with the city’s upcoming resilient strategies is to identify policies, projects and programs that can really achieve as many benefits as possible,” she said.
Shetty explained why she believes there’s been a change to the perception that protecting the environment impacts profits.
“I think it’s the reality of what people are seeing,” she said. “This is not something that’s hidden. It is something we see every day. We feel it every single day. We recognize the catastrophic weather events that occur.”
Husband spoke of the benefits to gardening and encouraged everyone to eat at minimum one vegetarian meal per day. This idea dovetailed with White’s assertion that “we can all make a difference if we think about the little things we do.”
“It takes all of us working together,” White said. “We each individually can make a difference, but collectively, we make a bigger difference.”