David P. Norton, Ph.D., has spent nearly a decade building a collaborative, leading-edge research environment at the University of Florida. But as the number of coronavirus cases began to swell in Florida this spring, Norton and his leadership colleagues faced a daunting challenge: how to pause — and then restart — research at UF’s 16 colleges in Gainesville and dozens of facilities statewide.
Students, staff and faculty get swabbed to check for potential COVID-19 infections. Beneath their feet, another testing system churns away, searching for the virus in UF’s wastewater.