What began as a default campus assignment turned into a defining experience one that led Oliver Laczko to environmental research, student leadership, and a deeper understanding of the ecosystems shaping the St. Petersburg community.
I didnt choose USF St. Petersburg it chose me, Laczko said.
Florida-Grown Passion
Laczko, a USF Judy Genshaft Honors College Spring 2026 graduate, began his path toward environmental science long before starting college. Growing up in South Florida, he developed an early interest in environmental justice and ecosystem restoration.
When I was growing up, I would go to the Everglades with my family. Those memories were very formative for me and helped steer my way to the focuses that I have now: restoration and wetland ecology, Laczko said.
Laczko and other students volunteer with the Student Green Energy council to install native plants at the USF St. Petersburg campus waterfront.
Laczko didnt waste time before getting involved in one of the most influential student groups on campus: . A student-led initiative established in 2007 and funded by a $1-per-credit-hour fee, SGEF supports sustainability projects at USF by investing in alternative energy, energy efficiency, waste reduction, and conservation efforts.
During his second year at USF, Laczko joined SGEF as the Green Funds Manager and later served as chair and vice chair of the council, managing over $500,000 in funding for sustainability initiatives. During his time as a student leader, he led projects like the rejuvenation of Bayboro forest.
As student leaders, we have this incredible capacity and energy to get these projects going and to see them through, Laczko said. But we have a limited time, so ensuring that these projects can be completed is of the utmost importance.
Beyond SGEF, Laczko served as sustainability coordinator for the USF St. Petersburg Student Government, an environmental intern for Environmental Science Associates, and a research assistant in the campuss Geospatial Analytics Laboratory. There, he studied the impacts of local food deserts and disparities in access to nutritious food.
I studied how food deserts changed in variability from decade because several important food stores in South St. Petersburg have closed within the past decade and left the population there without access to fresh and nutritious food, Laczko said. And the supermarkets that do exist are sometimes incredibly inaccessible, both socioeconomically and physically.
Place-Based Research
Laczko presents his Honors thesis research at the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library as part of USF's 2026 Climate Teach-In Week.
Laczkos academic work consistently focused on local impact. For his Honors thesis part of the Judy Genshaft Honors Colleges academic research requirement that encourages students to pursue faculty-mentored research projects he conducted archival research at the Nelson Poynter Library to better understand the history of Bayboro Harbor.
It is surrounded by so much life, industry, education, and research, and yet this harbor that has served as the catalyst of so much growth and development for the city of St. Petersburg doesnt have a really well-compiled history, from its development up until the present day.
Through archival research, including newspapers dating back to the late 1800s, Laczko uncovered the harbors ecological past. Before its development into an industrial port, the area was a healthy network of varying marine environments and sea life.
Laczko and one of his mentors at the Judy Genshaft Honors College, Catherine Wilkins, celebrate after his talk on Bayboro Harbor at the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library.
Through my research, I was able to determine that before Bayboro Harbor became the city of St. Peterburgs first industrial port, it was a string of bayous, salt marshes, and mudflats known as Fiddlers Paradise because of the abundance of fiddler crabs that lived amongst this marsh ecosystem, Laczko said.
His thesis, "Restoring the 'Eyesore: Bayboro Harbor and the Case for Restoration, earned the colleges Anita Cutting Outstanding Honors Thesis award, providing Laczko with the funding to take his research off the page and into community.
With mentorship from Honors faculty member Catherine Wilkins, Laczko organized a public lecture in partnership with and its . He presented his collection of Bayboro Harbor history at the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library. Additional support from an Environmental Humanities Program grant awarded to Preserve the Burg has funded and will continue to fund educational signage along the Bayboro Harbor waterfront and guided tours of the area, including Salt Creek and Booker Creek.
Home in St. Petersburg
Educational signage about USF St. Petersburg's shoreline ecology
As Laczkos time at the 51做厙 comes to a close, he remains grateful that his path led him to the St. Petersburg campus.
I will always say that I'm a proud USF St. Pete grad, Laczko said.
For Laczko, the St. Petersburg campus offered more than academic opportunity it created a direct connection to the environment he was studying. With the waterfront just steps away, the city became an extension of the classroom, while the Honors College community of peers and mentors helped shape both his academic journey and personal growth.