When tackling the challenges of protecting the environment, education is “huge,” according to Quinton White, executive director for the Marine Science Research Institute.

And, if education begins as a conversation, a panel discussion hosted Friday, March 4, by THE PLAYERS Championship took a step toward that goal.

“Championing Change” was conducted at the TPC Sawgrass Clubhouse. Participants included representatives and advocates across diverse industries in Northeast Florida who are leading environmental sustainability, resiliency and inclusion efforts in the community.

White, a professor of biology and marine science at Jacksonville University, was joined by Jacksonville’s first chief resiliency officer, Anne Coglianese; Jeff Plotts, director of golf course operations at TPC Sawgrass and winner of the 2021 Environmental Leaders in Golf Award; Laureen Husband, in charge of public policy and community for Feeding Northeast Florida; and Neera Shetty, executive vice president of social responsibility and inclusion for the PGA TOUR.

The goal of the discussion was to promote an exchange of information and best practices that extend beyond current standards. Members of the panel addressed environmental issues from their own professional perspectives.

Among the subjects discussed: water conservation and clarity, as well as the related impact on the community.

“In order to have a strong economy, we’ve got to have a clean environment,” White said. “Nobody wants to come to Jacksonville — nobody wants to come to Sawgrass — if the water is green, if there’s dead fish in the lake.”

Plotts described one of the strategies TPC Sawgrass uses to address that concern.

“We’re using stormwater or reclaimed water to irrigate our golf course,” he said.

He added that turf grass offers the best water filtration available and that golf courses can actually have a cooling effect on the local community.

Coglianese said Jacksonville is currently doing a vulnerability assessment to determine which areas of the city are subject to flooding and has plans for a heat study this summer to find out which areas are hot.

“The goal with the city’s upcoming resilient strategies is to identify policies, projects and programs that can really achieve as many benefits as possible,” she said.

Shetty explained why she believes there’s been a change to the perception that protecting the environment impacts profits.

“I think it’s the reality of what people are seeing,” she said. “This is not something that’s hidden. We see it every day. We feel it every day. We recognize the catastrophic weather events that occur.”

Husband spoke about the benefits of gardening and encouraged attendees to eat at least one vegetarian meal per week. This idea dovetailed with White’s assertion that “we can all make a difference if we think about the little things we do.”

“It takes all of us working together,” White said. “We each individually can make a difference, but collectively, we make a bigger difference.”