Assessing the health of the Indian River Lagoon – The IRL Report

Marine Resources Council (MRC) is publishing the first comprehensive evaluation of lagoon health, the State of the Indian River Lagoon Report (card). This enormous project required compiling millions of data from dozens of agencies, establishing health indicators and targets, designing easy to understand infographics, and producing print and web-based communications.

Dr. Leesa Souto, MRC’s Executive Director, will talk about the report card challenges and findings and the vision for how this tool will move our community forward to save our lagoon!

(Doors open at 6:30 PM)

Dr. Souto is the Executive Director of Marine Resources Council, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the Indian River Lagoon through science, education, and habitat restoration. She is an urban ecology researcher investigating the complex linkages between land-based human actions and water quality. Her professional career spans over twenty years of working to improve Florida’s water quality at Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Brevard County Natural Resources Management Office, and UCF’s Stormwater Management Academy. She has lived in Melbourne since 1994, where she grew to know and love the Indian River Lagoon and she came to MRC in 2013 to help protect it!