Over the years, the Everglades ecosystem – including prairies, mangrove swamps, and great swaths of saw grass – has been damaged by various flood control projects and a system of levees and canals built to support local agriculture and urban development. To address the issue in a sustainable way, officials with the Department of the Interior approached Dr. Matteo Convertino, assistant professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and his colleagues at the University of Florida to help them find workable, long-term solutions.