New construction of an educational facility in Jacksonville, Florida. Conceptual plans call for the construction of a 9,010-square-foot educational facility.

The proposed Coastal Sciences Laboratory will serve UNF’s growing research and teaching needs in coastal biology and coastal engineering. The coastal biology program is one of UNF’s original Flagship Programs, while coastal engineering is the centerpiece of UNF’s Taylor Engineering Research Institute. Other UNF programs are also key contributors to the coastal sciences focus, including Chemistry, Transportation & Logistics, and Civil Engineering, while external collaborators range from companies such as Taylor Engineering to state agencies such as the Florida Department of Transportation, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. UNF’s new strategic plan identifies Coastal Resilience as one of UNF’s primary areas of focus. The Coastal Sciences Laboratory will be constructed on state land in the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve (GTM-NERR) under a 2021 sublease agreement with the state. Located between Jacksonville and St. Augustine, the GTM-NERR is used by UNF faculty and students for a wide variety of educational and research activities, but it lacks sufficient research lab and classroom space for the growth of UNF’s coastal sciences programs. The proposed 9,000-sq-ft building will include offices for researchers; classroom and research lab spaces, including a “flow-through” wet lab tied to the estuary for maintaining live specimens; a living space for temporarily housing on-site researchers; and a wave channel for simulating coastal shoreline processes, such as wave action and beach erosion. As required under the sublease with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the building will be designed to blend into the coastal landscape and will be built to LEED Gold standards. As of April 24, 2025, this project is in the conceptual phase. An architect has not been selected. A firm timeline for construction has not been determined. This project is included in the State University System FY 2024-25 through 2028-29 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). *Project information has been obtained through a public capital improvement plan (CIP). A CIP is a financial schedule for short- and long-range projects which is updated regularly. Information listed in the CIP often evolves based on funding availability and the project details, including timeline and value, are subject to change. The content management team will continue to pursue additional details as they become available.