UWF Student-Built Environmental Instruments

Bradley Stephen

Brad Stephen is a student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UWF.

Sam Russel

Phillip Schmutz

Phillip Schmutz, Ph.D., I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of West Florida. My primary research interests center on themes of environmental monitoring and modeling of coastal beach and dune environments. In recent years I have developed an interest in the design and construction of geotechnologies to monitor environmental data.

Michael Hopko

Michael Hopko has spent his time at the University of West Florida participating in various research projects. He participated in an ongoing research project for the two years as part of the NSF-funded GeoScholars program, studying Escambia River sediments for DDT. He has taken part in a six year stream restoration monitoring project and done various small scale projects using GIS programs, primarily studying land usage in local Bayou watersheds and analyzing water quality in relation to development. More recently, Michael moved into the graduate program at the University and has begun his thesis work, studying the physical and chemical changes that occur in agricultural soil. Outside of research, Michael has been employed by the Escambia County Marine Resources Division as an environmental technician, volunteered with the local Florida Department of Environmental Protection office participating in restoration projects comprised of building oyster shell breakwaters and replanting local vegetation in restored areas, and volunteered with the EPA serving as a GIS analyst.

Johan Liebens

Johan Liebens is a Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of West Florida and has more than 20 years of experience in teaching and research. Johan is a broad-based physical geographer with research interests in soil science and sedimentology. He studies soil and sediment pollution to characterize the origin, level and spatial distribution of the pollution. He has assessed organic and inorganic pollution of surface soils, estuarine sediments, and stormwater retention ponds. He also investigates the factors that affect streambank erosion on the coastal plain of the Guf of Mexico and has evaluated models to predict such erosion. Johan also has studied soil organic carbon stocks, debris flows, and surveying methods. GIS-based spatial analyses are part of most of his research. Johan’s research has been funded, among others, by NSF, GSA, USDA, EPA, and Florida Center for Solid and Hazardous Waste Management. He has published in Environmental Forensics, Environmental Geology, Geomorphology, Water Air and Soil Pollution, Soil and Sediment Contamination, Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, Soil Use and Management, and Journal of the American Water Resources Association. Johan has received university-wide teaching and research awards at the University of West Florida.