The First Read: Building a New Wetland Elevation Record at Canaveral National Seashore
FCES returned to newly installed Surface Elevation Table stations at Canaveral National Seashore for their first monitoring read—the moment when field infrastructure begins becoming a long-term environmental record.
FCES completing the first read at a newly installed SET station at Canaveral National Seashore.
In June, First Coast Ecological Services (FCES) installed new Surface Elevation Table (SET) stations at Canaveral National Seashore (CANA). In August, we returned to complete their first monitoring read.
Installing an SET establishes a stable benchmark. Returning to it with the same equipment, orientations, and measurement protocol is what creates the science.
This first read does not establish a trend by itself. It does something equally important: it begins the repeat-measurement record that future observations will be compared against. It also gives the field team an early opportunity to inspect each station, confirm that the equipment seats correctly, verify repeatability, and establish a consistent workflow for the years ahead.
Measuring change that is difficult to see
Coastal wetlands are always changing, but many of the most consequential changes occur a few millimeters at a time. Those changes are easy to miss during an ordinary field visit and impossible to reconstruct later without a reliable reference.
A SET station in the CANA landscape. The removable measurement arm is attached to a permanent subsurface benchmark.
A SET provides that reference. The benchmark is driven deeply enough to remain stable relative to the shallow wetland surface. During a monitoring event, the SET arm is attached to the benchmark in a prescribed position. A series of pins is lowered until each one touches the wetland surface, and the height of every pin is recorded.
Because the same benchmark, arm positions, and procedures are used during each visit, later measurements can be compared with earlier ones at millimeter-scale precision.
Recording pin heights during the first read. Consistency in equipment placement and field procedure is essential to a defensible long-term record.
Over time, those repeated readings show whether the wetland surface is gaining elevation, remaining relatively stable, or losing elevation relative to the underlying benchmark.
The question is simple to ask and difficult to answer:
Is the wetland surface gaining elevation fast enough to keep pace with changing water levels and relative sea-level rise?
One visit cannot answer that question. A carefully maintained record can.
What SETs and marker horizons reveal together
SET measurements track net change in surface elevation relative to the benchmark. Marker horizons provide a complementary measure of material accumulating at the soil surface.
The SET arm and vertical pins translate small changes in the wetland surface into repeatable measurements.
When the two methods are used together, they help separate processes occurring at the surface—such as mineral sediment deposition and organic matter accumulation—from shallow subsurface processes such as compaction, subsidence, root-zone expansion, or swelling.
That distinction matters. A marsh can receive new sediment at the surface and still fail to gain enough total elevation if shallow subsidence offsets that accumulation. Conversely, belowground growth and soil expansion can contribute to elevation gain even when surface deposition is modest.
Together, SET and marker-horizon measurements help explain not only whether a wetland is changing, but how that change is occurring.
Installing a feldspar marker horizon beside the SET station. Future soil cores can measure the material that accumulates above this visible reference layer.
A new record within a long monitoring tradition
Canaveral National Seashore protects a complex transition among ocean, barrier island, lagoon, and coastal wetlands. The National Park Service reports that salt-marsh elevation monitoring at CANA has been underway since 2014, with measurements focused on surface elevation, accretion, erosion, and the processes driving change. Learn more about monitoring at CANA through the National Park Service.
The new stations installed by FCES add another long-term record to that broader monitoring landscape.
SET monitoring also has a strong scientific track record well beyond CANA. A 2022 study published in Wetlands used SET-marker horizon measurements from 14 coastal marshes across five National Wildlife Refuges in Texas. The researchers documented substantial differences among sites and evaluated the effects of sediment deposition, Hurricane Harvey, shallow subsidence, and relative sea-level rise. FCES founder William C. “Ches” Vervaeke was a coauthor of that research. Read the study through the U.S. Geological Survey.
The lesson from long-term SET programs is consistent: the value is not simply in installing the equipment. It comes from careful installation, repeatable measurements, quality-controlled data, and the commitment to maintain the record over time.
Putting those principles into practice requires continuity from the first site decision through every return visit. Equipment, installation, surveying, field protocols, data management, and interpretation must all support the same long-term record.
Details matter. Repeatable seating, alignment, and indexing allow measurements from different visits to be compared confidently.
Turnkey SET monitoring from FCES
FCES brings those pieces together in a turnkey SET solution for agencies, universities, conservation organizations, consultants, and research programs that need to establish a new wetland-elevation program or strengthen an existing one.
Support can include:
Site evaluation and monitoring-network design
SET benchmarks, arms, receivers, pins, rods, and field components
Benchmark and marker-horizon installation
Initial and recurring SET measurements
GNSS surveying of SET benchmarks
Existing-station inspection, rehabilitation, and repair
Field protocols, data organization, and QA/QC
Analysis, visualization, interpretation, and reporting
Development and management of recurring monitoring programs
Keeping those responsibilities coordinated matters. A client should not have to assemble separate providers for equipment, installation, surveying, field measurements, database design, and analysis—or discover years later that small inconsistencies have weakened the value of the record.
FCES can carry an SET program from initial planning and installation through long-term monitoring and interpretation. Whether the need is a single three-station site or a regional network, the objective is the same: collect consistent, defensible measurements capable of answering meaningful questions about coastal wetland change.
Learn more about FCES services and turnkey SET monitoring.
One read at a time
The first read at the new CANA stations is complete. There is no trend to announce yet—and that is precisely the point.
Long-term environmental records are built before the change becomes obvious. They begin with a stable benchmark, a documented method, and the discipline to return.
One station. One measurement. One read at a time.
Fieldwork complete at one of the new CANA stations. The first read begins the record; consistent future measurements give it meaning.
First Coast Ecological Services provides field-based coastal science throughout Florida and the southeastern United States, including turnkey SET programs, GNSS surveying, shoreline-change analysis, wetland monitoring, GIS, and coastal data analysis.
Planning a new SET network or trying to restore value to an existing one? Contact FCES.
From Federal Service to First Coast Ecological Services
After more than two decades working in coastal science with the United States Geological Survey and the National Park Service, I recently made the difficult decision to step away from federal service and begin a new chapter with First Coast Ecological Services.
This decision was not about stepping away from coastal science, but rather stepping away from federal service and continuing this work through a different path. In many ways, it is an opportunity to remain focused on the coastal issues, ecosystems, and long-term monitoring efforts that have defined my career for more than two decades.
At the same time, I would be dishonest if I did not acknowledge how difficult the past year and a half has been for many federal employees. Since January 20 of last year, uncertainty surrounding the future of federal agencies, shifting priorities, staffing concerns, and the overall atmosphere within public service began to take a real toll on morale. For the first time in my career, the sense of purpose and fulfillment I had always associated with federal service began to fade.
I spent more than 23 years believing deeply in the mission of coastal science and public stewardship. That never changed. What changed was realizing that the stress, uncertainty, and growing disconnect from the work I loved were beginning to outweigh the satisfaction that had carried me through most of my career.
Leaving federal service was not an easy decision. In many ways, it was one of the hardest professional decisions I have ever made. But it also created an opportunity to reconnect with the parts of coastal science that I care about most: field work, long-term monitoring, practical problem solving, and directly supporting the protection and restoration of vulnerable coastal ecosystems.
“For more than 23 years, coastal monitoring and field science have shaped both my professional career and my personal life. I have spent countless days working in salt marshes, mangrove forests, barrier islands, tidal creeks, and remote stretches of coastline throughout the southeastern United States. Those experiences have given me not only technical expertise, but also a deep respect for how dynamic and vulnerable these systems truly are.”
About five years ago, I transitioned to the National Park Service, where I served as a Coastal Ecologist with the Southeast Coast Inventory and Monitoring Network. In that role, I helped lead long-term shoreline monitoring and coastal change projects across several national parks and protected areas throughout the Southeast.
One of the most meaningful accomplishments of my career came during my time with the National Park Service when I helped document mangrove expansion along the Georgia coast. Observing and documenting these changes firsthand provided a powerful example of how rapidly coastal ecosystems are responding to changing environmental conditions and warming temperatures. That experience reinforced the importance of long-term field monitoring and the value of consistent, defensible scientific data in understanding coastal change over time.
Prior to joining the National Park Service, I spent approximately 18 years with the United States Geological Survey working on coastal and wetland science projects throughout the Gulf Coast, the Everglades, as well as projects in Panama and Belize. My work focused heavily on wetland elevation monitoring, marsh vulnerability, GIS and spatial analysis, ecological field monitoring, and hurricane-related GPS surveying and flood documentation. Much of that effort centered on understanding how coastal wetlands respond to sea-level rise, storms, flooding, and long-term environmental change over time.
Working within the National Park Service reinforced something I had already come to believe strongly throughout my career: long-term monitoring matters. Reliable field data plays a critical role in helping managers understand coastal change, prioritize restoration efforts, respond to storm impacts, and make informed decisions about the future of vulnerable ecosystems and infrastructure.
Over time, however, I also began to recognize a growing need outside of traditional federal science programs. Coastal communities, nonprofits, reserves, agencies, and restoration practitioners increasingly need experienced scientists who can provide practical, field-based support quickly and efficiently. Many organizations need high-quality coastal monitoring and analysis but may not have the staff, time, or specialized expertise to carry out that work internally.
I began to realize there was an opportunity to take everything I had learned over the course of my federal career and apply it in a more flexible, responsive, and service-oriented way. That realization ultimately led to the creation of First Coast Ecological Services.
First Coast Ecological Services was built around the idea that strong coastal management begins with reliable field data. The company focuses on Surface Elevation Table (SET) installation and measurements, wetland elevation monitoring, shoreline monitoring, GNSS surveys, GIS analysis, coastal mapping, and long-term environmental monitoring support.
“My goal is simple: provide accurate, defensible, field-based coastal data that helps agencies, organizations, and communities make informed decisions in the face of sea-level rise, storms, erosion, and long-term environmental change.”
I live, work, and spend my time on these coastlines. I have seen firsthand how rapidly these systems can change and how important good science is for understanding and responding to those changes. Whether supporting restoration projects, monitoring shoreline movement, or helping develop long-term datasets, I believe field-based coastal science remains as important today as it has ever been.
Although I am stepping away from federal service, I am not stepping away from the coast. In many ways, this next chapter feels like a continuation of the same mission that has guided my career for more than 20 years.
The coastlines of the southeastern United States are changing rapidly. Reliable data, long-term perspective, and experienced field scientists will continue to play an important role in helping communities and agencies adapt to those changes.
I am excited for what comes next.