Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering
Altieri Lab
Led by Andrew Altieri · Environmental Engineering Sciences
What we study
The Altieri Lab studies how human activities like overfishing and pollution affect coastal ecosystems. They use fieldwork in places like coral reefs and mangroves to understand resilience and recovery in these changing environments.
What working here is like
- Fieldwork
- Wet lab
- Marine organisms
- Wild animals
- Coding helps
- Projects
- 5
- Papers
- 5
Current projects
Elevation manipulations in coastal wetlands
Field studies examine how sediment additions affect wetland vegetation success.
Quantifying trophic level increase with ontogeny of the Great Barracuda
The lab studies how the size and age of Great Barracuda affect their position in the food web by measuring nitrogen and carbon isotopes in white muscle from fish 174‑525 mm collected in Florida Bay and the Florida Keys. The student performed the stable‑isotope analyses and compared trends across size classes and locations.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 528
Show 3 more projectsShow fewer
Key Drivers of Growth and Survival for Coral Outplanting Restoration Success in the Florida Keys
The lab monitored growth and survival of three coral species (Montastraea cavernosa, Orbicella faveolata, Pseudodiploria clivosa) in the Florida Keys from 2022 to 2024, comparing inshore and offshore sites and noting a 2023 heatwave. They found inshore conditions helped two species grow and survive, while one species grew slowly but tolerated heat better.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 252
Response of Acropora cervicornis and Orbicella annularis coral microbiomes to warming and deoxygenation
The lab studies how coral microbes change when coral fragments are exposed to higher temperatures and lower oxygen. Students will expose coral pieces from the Florida Keys to four lab conditions and measure how the microbes shift, especially looking for disease‑related bacteria.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 227
Quantifying Age and Body Condition of White and Bluestriped Grunts in the Florida Keys
The team collected 148 White Grunts and 137 Bluestriped Grunts from inshore and offshore reefs between June 2022 and June 2024, measured ages and body condition, and found older fish stay inshore, with no condition differences between habitats or species and a slight decline over time.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 200
Summaries are written by AI in plain language from public symposium abstracts and may be imperfect.
Recent papers, explained
- Decline in Mytilus galloprovincialis cover between 1997 and 2022 on the mid-shore differs along a latitudinal gradient on the coast of Portugal
2026 · Marine Ecology Progress Series
- Eight recommendations to enhance biodiversity outcomes of nature-based solutions at multiple scales
2026 · Journal of Environmental Management
Gives eight tips to improve biodiversity in nature-based solutions.
Show 3 more papersShow fewer
- Informing Thin-Layer Placement for Coastal Wetland Restoration Through Remote Sensing and Community Outreach
2026 · Remote Sensing
Shows how remote sensing and community input can help plan wetland restoration.
- Experimental tests of snail grazing on turtlegrass, Thalassia testudinum: short-term tolerance of plant function to scarring of live tissues
2026 · Marine Biology
Examines how snail grazing affects turtlegrass health and fungal growth.
- Comparing drone imagery and in situ quadrats for monitoring Mytilus galloprovincialis cover on Portuguese intertidal rocky shores
2026 · Marine Ecology Progress Series
Plain-language summaries are AI-written and reviewed by us; check the paper for details.
How to reach out
Andrew Altieri hasn't set up this page yet. You can also look them up in the UF directory (search “Andrew Altieri”).