Gulf Coast Life

On one day every January, a Point-in-Time — or PIT — Count is conducted in counties to document the number of people who are experiencing homelessness on a single night. The PIT Count in Collier County this past January found a 230% increase in the number of people over the age of 60 who were homeless as compared to the previous year. So, we check in with the CEO of St. Matthew’s House in Naples, to get a sense of what they’re facing.

Since OpenAI released ChatGPT in November of 2022 there has been a surge in public awareness about, and use of, Artificial Intelligence. And this represents both a leap forward in technological capability, and the possibility for massive disruption in many fields including education. We learn about efforts at Florida Gulf Coast University to stay on top of this new learning curve we’re all facing on some level.

Wood Storks are one of Florida’s most iconic wading birds. After downgrading the birds’ protection status from “endangered” to “threatened” in 2014, now federal officials are considering de-listing the species altogether.We hear from Shawn Clem, Ph.D., Conservation Director at the National Audubon Society’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, which is home to the historically most significant rookery of wood storks in North America.

During the first Republican presidential candidate debate Governor Ron DeSantis said he would use U.S. military special forces inside of Mexico to help stem the flow of illegal drugs like fentanyl into the United States. While this kind of rhetoric — the idea of using the U.S. military in a sovereign foreign nation to combat illicit drug production and distribution — might seem shocking, it’s not entirely new for a political candidate or even a sitting president to say something along these lines, but rather goes back decades. To get some context we sit down with Dr. Rick Coughlin, he’s an Associate Professor of Political Science at Florida Gulf Coast University who focuses on Mexican politics and culture.

We learn about a UF/IFAS Extension and Florida Sea Grant citizen science program called Eyes on Seagrass that has been collecting information about seagrasses in upper Charlotte Harbor and Lemon Bay since 2019 — and is planning to expand into Lee County next year. Citizen Science is the collection and analysis of data relating to the natural world by everyday people who aren’t necessarily scientists themselves, typically as part of a collaborative project with professional scientists. In other words — giving scientists more hands to collect the information they need to better understand whatever it is they are studying.

Over the decades, researchers have worked to develop, and improve ways to track incidents of antisemitism — and our guest is among a small group of scholars seeking to better understand the phenomenon through research and controlled experimentation. Dr. Ayal Feinberg is Associate Professor of Political Science & Antisemitism Studies, and Director of the Center for Holocaust Studies & Human Rights at Gratz College in Philadelphia.

"Oh, no — please, not again" — is a sentiment it’s fair to think that many residents of Southwest Florida have been thinking and feeling as Hurricane Idalia made its way north through the Gulf of Mexico and toward the Florida peninsula. While not on the exact same track as Hurricane Ian last September, and doesn't appear to be on a path that will severely impact Southwest Florida, Idalia is coming from the same general direction and revives memories of Hurricane Ian in September of 2022.

Found on the northern end of Marco Island in 1896 during an expedition led by a renowned archeologist named Frank Hamilton Cushing, the Key Marco Cat is considered a true gem — a once in a lifetime, or more, find — discovered during the early days of the science of archeology. Just six inches tall and carved out of some sort of hardwood, the Cat, and the many other objects that were discovered alongside it, represent the most comprehensive and spectacular collection of pre-Columbian Native American material culture ever discovered in Florida.

The Florida Wildlife Corridor Act is helping create new opportunities to help the endangered Florida panther, but the species is facing some new and emerging threats including a neurological disorder called feline leukomyelopathy and a number of proposed new developments in Lee and Collier counties. We take a closer look in a conversation with Amber Crooks from the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.

“Fort Myers Historic Hurricanes” offers a history of severe storms that have impacted southwest Florida dating all the way back to 1841, but also a dire warning about this area’s severe risk from hurricanes and storm surge in general. It opens with a hurricane in 1841 that swept across the region making landfall near Sanibel Island and bringing 14' of storm surge to the U.S. Army fort on Punta Rassa.