Society of Environment Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC)

American Water Resources Association (AWRA)

Florida Academy of Sciences

Mercury biomagnification through food webs along a salinity gradient down-estuary from a biological hotspot

Mercury concentrations in feathers of adult and nestling Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) from coastal and freshwater environments of Florida

Assessing the ecological risk of a municipal solid waste landfill to surrounding wildlife: A case study in Florida

Located just south of Fort Myers and north of Naples on the Southwest Florida coast, Florida Gulf Coast University encompasses 800 acres on which academic buildings, residence halls and athletics facilities share space with wetlands, pinewoods and boardwalks in a natural setting. FGCU serves 16,000 students and offers more than 95 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. It emphasizes a university-wide commitment to sustainability and service learning, with students having completed more than 4 million hours of service since the university opened in 1997. With six colleges, FGCU is committed to serving Southwest Florida with academic programs designed to meet the workforce demands of the five-county region. Growing interdisciplinary programs include The Water School and the Daveler & Kauanui School of Entrepreneurship. 

Florida Gulf Coast University

Darren Rumbold is a professor of Marine Science and director of the Coastal Watershed Institute at Florida Gulf Coast University.  Prior to this, he was a Lead Environmental Scientist coordinating all mercury monitoring and research conducted by the South Florida Water Management District. He is a former recipient of an Environmental Science and Engineering Fellowship from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, during which he worked at U.S. EPA’s National Center for Environmental Assessment in Washington, DC. His research interests include landscape ecotoxicology and risk assessment. His current research focus is on the sources and fate of methylmercury (MeHg) in estuarine and coastal systems.

Marine Ecology

Ecological Risk Assessment

Mercury Biogeochemistry and Biomagnification

Environmental Toxicology

Water Quality

FGCU Coastal Watershed Institute

ResearchGate Profile

FGCU study gains insight on how blacktip sharks are exposed to mercury

Red tide continues from Captiva south to Marco

Burmese python could be coming to a dinner table near you

Chicken of the Glades: Can we eat pythons? Mercury levels studied to see if snakes could be the new other white meat

FGCU student researchers head to sea to check the red tide-devastated zone they found last year

Under our toxic sea

Darren Rumbold describes the problem

FGCU professor, students study freshwater releases' effect on ecosystem

Drivers responsible for the high rates of mercury biomagnification and its extreme geographic and temporal variability in the Florida Everglades: A formal causal analysis

Status and trends of the landscape-scale mercury problem in South Florida and the Everglades

Trophic transfer of mercury to sharks off Southwest Florida

Marine Pollution: Is it all gloom and doom?

Impacts from MC252 Oil on ecologically and commercially important plankton of the Gulf of Mexico

South Florida Mercury Science Program: Lessons Learned

Darren Rumbold

Darren Rumbold 1

Darren Rumbold 2

Darren Rumbold 3

Long-term monitoring of oysters Crassostrea virginica in Southwest Florida

Trophic transfer of mercury along salinity gradients in estuaries

Expert in landscape-scale ecology

FGCU associate professor of marine science Darren Rumbold leads a team of researchers as they catch sharks, satellite tag them, and take tissue biopsies and fin clips.  Rumbold's ongoing study, which he is conducting in partnership with with University of Miami researchers, measures the amount of mercury in shark tissue to better understand the levels of toxicity throughout the marine food chain.  He's also attempting to identify areas where larger concentrations of mercury enter the water - and by extension, the food web - in an effort to potentially control the flow of mercury and more effectively manage Southwest Florida's coastal ecosystems.

For more information, see the article in FGCU's magazine, Pinnacle: http://www.fgcupinnacle.com/pinnacle-articles/features/mercurial-mysteries

Shark Tagging &amp; Mercury Testing

FGCU Provost and Professor of Marine Science Ronald Toll,  Associate Professor of Marine Science Darren Rumbold, Professor of Marine Science Aswani Volety, and Associate Professor of Marine Science and Co-Director of the Coastal Watershed Institute Mike Parsons join host Kevin Pierce to discuss The Health of Our Estuaries.

FGCU Perspectives - The Health of Our Estuaries

FGCU Professor of Chemistry Jose Barretto, Associate Professor of Marine Science Darren Rumbold, and Professor of Environmental Studies Win Everham join host Kevin Pierce to discuss the impacts of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

FGCU Perspectives - Oil Spill Impacts

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