[Coral-List] Steven Miller

[International Coral Reef Observatory]

Dear Steven,

Great to have made you smile and to know you are an academic person.
Because you did not have a signature in your first message and you were
supporting the point of view of EIA performed by restoration practitioners,
it was possible to confuse you with Steven Miller (smiller at dredge.com).
According to your message, we both perhaps have a bias. Mine is on
effective coral reef conservation. I simply can not agree with the
scientists that say that they can not ask for alternatives only before the
megaprojects, they should be allowed passively to study what is going to be
destroyed.

Dredging is happening everywhere in the world even in coral reef protected
areas and then blaming only climate change and investing all the
environmental costs in restoration practices but very little in avoiding
local and global causes of habitat and ecosystems destruction, pollution
and biodiversity loss.

Priorities should be clear according to the objectives of conservation or
development. We can not have beautiful healthy coral reefs in sanctuaries
and other marine protected areas if not focus in avoiding massive tourism
(e.g. cruises in key West) Or the coral reef futures goal is to become all
ports close to coral reefs (Florida Keys) and coral habitats (Biscayne Bay)
like this https://twitter.com/PortMiami/status/1709969713613209742

NOHORA GALVIS
ICRS World Reef Award Winner
International Coral Reef Observatory, ICRO Director
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El vie, 13 oct 2023 a las 12:49, Steven L Miller (<smiller52 at gmail.com>)
escribió:

> Dear Nohora
>
> Oh my. You made me smile this morning.
>
> It's human nature I guess to make assumptions. In this case, maybe some
> confirmation bias too?
>
> Just to be clear, I am not the Steve Miller you addressed in your last
> post. I am not the Regional Sales Manager for Restoration Dredge, or any
> other dredge company affiliation.
>
> Here's my contact information.
>
> Steven Miller, Ph.D.
>
> Senior Research Scientist
>
> Nova Southeastern University
>
> https://works.bepress.com/steven-miller/?_aiid=12167
>
> https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=1QLmgmQAAAAJ
>
> My career spans the time from when coral reef research was not dominated
> by monitoring, but instead was defined by experimental ecology, to where
> we are today - catastrophic decline.
>
> Related to your post, what you call a coral reef adjacent to Port Miami
> is instead a naturally occurring hardbottom characterized by extremely
> low coral cover. The area is also subjected to major human-caused
> modifications that started over 120 years ago when dramatic shoreline
> modifications began in south Miami, including development of the port.
>
> My point is, pick your battles. Damage caused by Port Miami dredging was
> a fly-speck compared to losses elsewhere in Florida from global warming.
> However, Port Miami dredging was an easy target that allowed local
> groups and agencies to solicit public sympathy and funding. That's why
> the science matters. It also matters how the science is communicated.
>
> Please don't get me wrong. I am not advocating for unconstrained
> dredging. Instead, best-practices are called for in terms of how
> dredging is conducted, scientific monitoring is performed to evaluate
> damages, mitigation costs are derived, and ultimately what restoration
> activities arise.
>
> If you want to discuss further, please contact me at smiller52 at gmail.com
> or smiller at nova.edu.
>
> Best Regards
>
> Steven
>
>