The Seminole Tribe of Florida’s Tribal Council recently approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with The Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers to work together on projects related to water and the environment on the reservations.

“The MOU was developed with the protection of the Tribes data sovereignty and governance as the central component,” said Paul Backhouse, senior director, Environmental Protection Office. “By providing a framework for collaborative projects to be proposed, while protecting the Tribe as each project, will also require subsequent approval from the Tribe.”

The Water School has world-class experts on staff – including professors who cover many areas of the environment – and numerous modern instruments, equipment and laboratories.

The Water School reached out to the tribe when it was launched in 2022. Backhouse, Big Cypress Councilwoman Mariann Billie and staff toured the university and participated in a think tank to talk about possible collaboration opportunities. The faculty spoke about their expertise, listened to the challenges facing the tribe and mapped out areas in which they could cooperate.

The EPO team was focused on a five-year plan with water quality at the top of the list of priorities. One of the tribe’s concerns is algae blooms. Professor Barry Rosen is a leading expert on algae and can work with EPO on high-end analysis.

“We want to study and understand specifically what causes [algae blooms] so we know what to do next time, or not to do,” Backhouse said.

“We want a synergistic relationship with the tribe,” said Brian Bovard, FGCU Water School associate dean of student and faculty affairs. “The Seminoles have been on this landscape for a very long time and understand it better than we do. We have all be affected by water issues.”

Greg Tolley, Water School dean and professor, hopes the partnership will increase the tribe’s scientific capacity through access to FGCU’s latest instruments and equipment.

“Indigenous knowledge is very compatible with western science and shouldn’t be viewed as competitive,” Tolley said. “We can appreciate each other’s world view and combine them. Data sovereignty is very important to the tribe. We understand the tribe owns the data and will decide whether or not the data will be made public for each project.”

Tolley believes the collaboration with the tribe will be good for tribal students and other FGCU students.

“We would like to make tribal students feel comfortable here,” Tolley said. “It’s a huge benefit for students to learn how other cultures live on and use the land. They will all gain a fuller appreciation of the human experience.”

Backhouse wants to build opportunities for tribal and FGCU students to engage and work together.

“They have made us feel really welcome,” Backhouse said. “I think we have found an ally we can really work with.”

“The MOU is just the beginning,” Tolley said. “There are a lot of possible projects we can’t even foresee now. The main thing is that the tribe will choose what projects are in their best interest.”