Chapter Directory > University of Puerto Rico - Río Piedras
"Amá,Ké,Kachi,Ará (AKKA)" » San Juan, Puerto Rico
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The purpose of the Ecology Chapter at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras is to promote ecology, conservation, education and a healthy environment through hands on experience targeting the general university community and pre-K schools (initially including those near the UPR-RP campus and later expanding to schools at other sites in the island). The Chapter will provide outreach activities such as lectures, field trips, workshops and opportunities for research experiences through volunteer work for undergraduate, elementary and high school students. Outreach activities to schools and communities will focus on this interdisciplinary approach through field trips and workshops. Members will benefit from academic lectures on graduate school, internships, volunteer work, careers in ecology and many other enrichment activities that undergraduate students can do while pursuing their bachelor's degree. The Chapter aims to convey that ecology is as an interdisciplinary subject that feeds on many areas of knowledge and not just biology (e.g. chemistry, physics, mathematics, social science, art, and economics). In that regard we see our Chapter and its focus area (ecology) as a link between students of various ethnic backgrounds and academic interests within the academic community, but this message needs to be transmitted more effectively. We see our SEEDS Chapter as an excellent tool to facilitate the formation of a new vision for Ecology in our institution and in our region. |
Plans for 2007-2008
- Complete process of incorporation of SEEDS as a UPR-Río Piedras student association with official status.
- Working ecological and environmental themes with CUBU (Unitarian Committee for an Urban Forest), a local community group that aims to improve green areas next to their housing project (Manuel A. Pérez).
- Develop conservation-oriented research projects with an emphasis on field work around different ecosystems in Puerto Rico.
- Networking activities with other student organizations on Campus (SEA: ECO-Environmental Society; SEPA: Pro-Environment Student Association).
- Visits to important ecological sites as a tool to motivate student membership.
- Career day and student outreach activities
2006-2007 Activities
- Night of the Ceiba - AKKA recruitment during an outing to see the campus Ceiba pentandra flowering and pollinization by bats as part of the botany class.
- Orchid census - Participated in the annual census of orchids done at El Verde Field Station to familiarize students with field experiments, data collection, and group field work.
- Ford Motor Company Award Ceremony - We used this activity to network with community groups with environmental projects and as an opportunity to obtain information of models of environmental education at the K-12 level. Groups contacted included Semillas para el Ambiente, Moriviví and Jardín Botánico de Caguas.
- Casa Pueblo Field Trip - As part of the first formal activity of AKKA, interested students got to know each other through an educational visit to one of the first community conservation groups established in Puerto Rico. We participated in a talk and a historical nature walk through the "Bosque del Pueblo" where we learned about the history and commitment of this organization. In the afternoon we walked up the third highest peak of Puerto Rico in the central mountain range and learned about the different vegetation gradients we find in a subtropical wet forest.
- Earth Day Recycling workshop with CUBU - Participate with CUBU, a community conservation organization, in the first ever Earth Day celebration in Manuel A. Pérez, a community which surrounds our University. This is AKKA's first step in networking with organizations (academic and community) in and around the university.
- Mona Project Talk at UPR Bayamón by Elvia Meléndez-Ackerman - Introductory talk to EOS-SEEDS (UPR-Bayamón) students to attract and integrate students in that SEEDS Chapter to the SEEDS-sponsored research project developed by AKKA to take place on Mona Island in May 2007.
"Introducing SEEDS students to field work in Mona Island Reserve, a biodiversity wonderland" Special Project |
Exotic species are the second most important cause of biodiversity loss in world ecosystems. The main goal of this activity is to provide students from the AKKA and LIFE SEEDS Ecology Chapters with a field research experience complimented with educational activities as a way to introduce students to ecological research related to the effect of exotic species on local biodiversity. Students will help establish long-term monitoring plots to assess the effects of different management strategies for an aggressive exotic grass on the regeneration of dry forest plant communities in Mona Island Reserve, Puerto Rico. Visiting and resident scientists at Mona Island will complement the fieldwork experience with educational activities such as a workshop on plant identification techniques and short talks. Project activities and results will be disseminated through the webswite of the Center for Applied Tropical Ecology and Conservation of the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras. As part of the project we will perform student follow-ups to determine the success of this project at engaging students in subsequent research activities. The proposed activities will benefit students from two SEED Chapters from the University of Puerto Rico System and will provide a platform for interaction between two societies, which share the mission to advance ecological research in Puerto Rico. |
Faculty Advisors | |||
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Elvia Meléndez-Ackerman, PhD |
Ricardo Morales de Jesus, PhD |
