Project (Auto-Revision)
| Year | Title | Abstract | Funding Information | Program | Project Type | People-Roles |
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Year: 2012 to 2013 Yearly Budget: 19 600.00 Year: 2013 to 2014 Year: 2014 to 2015 |
An Integrated Approach for the Detection of Estrogenic Activity in a Tropical Urban Watershed |
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PRWRERI-FY-2014 104-B | Research |
Investigator: Jorge R Ortiz Zayas Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2009 to 2010 Yearly Budget: 98 266.00 Year: 2010 to 2011 Yearly Budget: 99 075.00 Year: 2011 to 2012 Yearly Budget: 0.00 |
An integrated internship, entoring, and skill- building program promoting the geosciences at the University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras: a track 1 initiative |
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NSF-OEDG | Research |
Investigator: Jorge R Ortiz Zayas Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator: Olga L Mayol-Bracero Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator: Rafael Rios Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2016 to 2017 Yearly Budget: 15 050.00 |
Assessment of water quality of six release ponds associated to the PR crested toad |
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Research |
Investigator: Jorge R Ortiz Zayas Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2008 to 2009 Year: 2009 to 2010 Year: 2010 to 2011 |
Caribbean Coastal Scenarios |
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IAI-CCS | Research |
Investigator: Jorge R Ortiz Zayas Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2009 to 2010 Year: 2010 to 2011 Year: 2011 to 2012 |
Center for Applied Tropical Ecology Conservation |
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NSF-CATC | Research |
Investigator: Elvia Meléndez Ackerman Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2009 to 2010 Year: 2010 to 2011 Year: 2011 to 2012 |
Circuit Rider Program for Non PRASA System, Puerto Rico Health Department, Medical Sciences Campus of the University of PR |
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PRHD-Non PRASA Systems | Research |
Investigator: Rafael Rios Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Director Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Director |
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Year: 2011 to 2012 Yearly Budget: 0.00 Year: 2012 to 2013 Yearly Budget: 135 600.00 Year: 2013 to 2014 Yearly Budget: 114 168.00 Year: 2014 to 2015 Yearly Budget: 0.00 Year: 2015 to 2016 Yearly Budget: 0.00 |
CNH-Ex: The Collapse of the Ancient Maya: Interdisciplinary Research on Society and the Environment | Our research addresses the collapse of a civilization and the consequences of deforestation in the tropics. The ancient Maya reached a high population density, deforested much of their environment, and caused significant soil erosion in southern Mexico and northern Central America by about 800 AD. In the next century their civilization declined over large areas, with populations reduced by 90% in some regions. Our goals are to: 1) understand the interactions between the ancient Maya and their environment that contributed to the collapse of their civilization in northwest Belize, Central America, and 2) to assess the impact of ancient Maya land use, ending 1200 years ago, on the present environment. To do this we will study archaeology, geology, and ecology at the same research sites and overlay the results to reveal connections among ancient land use, ancient impacts on soil and topography, and the present soil characteristics and tree species composition of a tropical forest. We will work in an area where there was a variety of intensive ancient Maya land uses, but where there has been little disturbance since the collapse of the Maya and the re-growth of the forest beginning c. 1200 years ago, which means that the footprint of the ancient Maya in our study area should be more evident than in other places. The study will be carried out in the 250,000-acre Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area, administered by the Programme for Belize (PfB), a Belizean conservation organization, and be conducted under the auspices of the PfB Archaeology Project, operated by the University of Texas at Austin. Humans increasingly affect the planet, for example, by deforesting the landscape and accelerating soil erosion. These changes could lead to "tipping points", when ecosystems suddenly change radically and no longer support agriculture, provide adequate water, or otherwise supply human needs. Scientists need to study these impacts and suggest how to mitigate the present changes and prevent future tipping points. But we can also learn by studying tipping points reached in the past, such as the collapse of the ancient Maya described above. To understand that collapse we are combining social science (archaeology), geo-science, and ecological science to study past events at sites of ancient Maya civilization in present-day Belize. Archaeologists in our team will study past land use. Geo-archaeologists will study past topography and soils. Ecologists will study past and present forest environments. Our work is guided by a model connecting ancient land use, deforestation and soil erosion, consequences for the environment, and responses by the ancient Maya to these landscape changes. In addition to understanding past events we are interested in the long-term consequences of ancient deforestation for the present-day forests. The similarities and differences between ancient deforestation (after which the modern, fairly diverse forest re-grew in Belize) and modern deforestation could provide clues to the consequences of modern land use and provide recommendations for improved use. Another goal for us is to create a model collaboration between social, geological, and biological scientists for the study of the ancient Maya and the modern forest, and that can be a general model for studying and managing environmental problems. |
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NSF Programs | Research |
Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2010 to 2011 Year: 2011 to 2012 Year: 2012 to 2013 |
Collaborative Research: Interactive Effects of Climate Variability and Human Land Use on Long-Term Tree Community Dynamics in a Puertorican Wet Forest |
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NSF-LTER | Research |
Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2009 to 2010 Yearly Budget: 17 000.00 |
Developing a Sustainable Education and Research Agenda at El Verde Field Station, Puerto Rico |
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NSF-LTER | Research |
Investigator: Alonso Ramírez Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator: Olga L Mayol-Bracero Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator: Elvia Meléndez Ackerman Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2013 to 2014 Yearly Budget: 51 780.00 Year: 2014 to 2015 Yearly Budget: 74 915.00 |
Development of engaging and readily transferable laboratory experiences for the introductory program |
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NSF Programs | Research |
Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2009 to 2010 Year: 2010 to 2011 |
Digitizing a Virtual Flora of the El Verde Research Area in the Luquillo Mountains, Puerto Rico |
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UPR-FIPI | Research |
Investigator: Elvia Meléndez Ackerman Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2007 to 2008 Year: 2008 to 2009 Year: 2009 to 2010 Year: 2010 to 2011 Year: 2011 to 2012 Year: 2012 to 2013 Year: 2013 to 2014 |
EcoHydrology of Critical Coastal habitats in a Tropical Dry forest |
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NSF-CATC | Research |
Investigator: Jorge R Ortiz Zayas Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2011 to 2012 Yearly Budget: 91 347.20 Year: 2012 to 2013 Yearly Budget: 91 347.20 Year: 2013 to 2014 Yearly Budget: 91 347.20 Year: 2014 to 2015 Yearly Budget: 91 347.20 Year: 2015 to 2016 Yearly Budget: 91 347.20 |
Emergent landscape patterns in stream ecosystem processes resulting from groundwater/ surface water interactions | This study focuses on how the water chemistry of tropical streams is influenced by surface and groundwater inputs and how these inputs are, in turn, affected by climatic variations such as the El Nino Southern Oscillation. This is a continuation of a long-term study that has compiled the only continuous long-term (>20 yrs) record of stream chemistry in Central America. Following long dry periods associated with El Nino events, poorly-buffered lowland streams exhibit 100-fold increases in acidity for up to eight months. These prolonged acidification events appear to be an amplification of normal seasonal (i.e. dry season/wet season) trends. This project investigates the mechanisms causing these events and how this acidification affects the ecology of the streams. Lowland streams in Central America support diverse aquatic communities and transport large amounts of carbon from highly productive terrestrial ecosystems to the atmosphere and ocean. The climate in Central America is predicted to have decreased dry-season rainfall. This climatic shift will likely have major deleterious effects on the chemistry of neo-tropical streams. To better understand these research findings in a more global context, the long-term data set from this project in Central America is being linked to other data sets throughout the tropics (e.g., Amazon, Congo, Mekong and Ganges Rivers). In addition, the results of this project will be disseminated in the Water for Life/Agua para la Vida program, which includes outreach activities in local communities and an internationally accessible web page equipped with teaching tools on river conservation and water quality/quantity issues. |
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NSF-LTREB | Research |
Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator: Alonso Ramírez Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2006 to 2007 Yearly Budget: 69 166.67 Year: 2007 to 2008 Yearly Budget: 69 166.67 Year: 2008 to 2009 Yearly Budget: 69 166.67 Year: 2009 to 2010 Yearly Budget: 69 166.67 Year: 2010 to 2011 Yearly Budget: 69 166.67 Year: 2011 to 2012 Yearly Budget: 69 166.67 |
Emergent landscape patterns in stream ecosystem processes resulting from groundwater/surface water interactions | The overall scientific objective of this study is to understand how groundwater, supplied to rivers via inter-basin transfers (i.e., from outside the immediate watershed), affects how tropical streams function in the long term (>25 yrs). The project is based in lowland Costa Rica, where solute-rich groundwater account for over half of stream discharge in the dry season. This groundwater is naturally-rich in nutrients such as phosphorus (P), with levels higher than those typically found below sewage treatment plants. Prior research has shown that landscape patterns in stream chemistry (resulting from variation in solute-rich groundwater inputs) reflect rates of primary production and decomposition. This project continues to build a long-term (1988-present) data set on stream solute chemistry, which is the only one for lowland primary rainforests of Central America. The investigators are relating long-term trends in stream chemistry to large-scale climatic phenomena: solute-rich groundwater (also rich in bicarbonates) buffer receiving streams against increases in acidity during periods following El Nino-related droughts, while those streams that do not receive solute-rich groundwater experience dramatic increases in acidity. An outgrowth of the project is the development of an environmental outreach program that focuses on water quality and quantity issues in tropical regions. |
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NSF-LTREB | Research |
Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator: Alonso Ramírez Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2009 to 2010 Year: 2010 to 2011 Year: 2011 to 2012 Year: 2012 to 2013 Year: 2013 to 2014 Year: 2014 to 2015 |
From Hectares to Nanometers: GK-12 Multidisciplinary Explorations of Functional Nanoscience and Tropical Ecosystem | From Hectares to Nanometers: GK-12 Multidisciplinary Explorations of Tropical Ecosystems and Functional Nanoscience This GK-12 project builds a strategic interdisciplinary partnership between the University of Puerto Rico?s Institute of Tropical Ecosystem Studies and Institute for Functional Nanomaterials, which together provide doctoral research projects to over eighty PhD students in chemistry, biology, chemical physics, and environmental science. It will strengthen 7th-9th teachers and students? scientific knowledge through multidisciplinary explorations of tropical ecosystems and functional nanoscience, while improving graduate students? abilities to communicate and teach science. Through this GK 12 project: 24 graduate students will be better prepared to be leaders and to communicate and collaborate effectively with colleagues and peer reviewers as well as with teachers, students, and the general public; 48 science teachers in eight 7th-9th level schools will broaden their science content knowledge and have a better understanding of nano and environmental sciences; 165 additional teachers will participate in the Summer Institute gaining science content knowledge and acquire educational materials development skills; 3,000 7th?9th students will experience the excitement of scientific research and improved understanding of science. This GK-12 project will increase and diversify the national pool of competent scientists, enhance teachers? content knowledge in two multidisciplinary science fields, provide 7th 9th students understanding of the core concepts and ideas in nano and environmental sciences, and develop modern educational materials. The GK-12 educational materials and other products will be incorporated into the Pre Service Teacher Science Methodology Course, impacting future teachers and their students, and they will be available online for teachers and students around the world. |
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NSF Programs, NSF-GK12 | Research |
Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator: Elvia Meléndez Ackerman Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2014 to 2015 Year: 2015 to 2016 Year: 2016 to 2017 |
Human impacts to coastal ecosystems in Puerto Rico - A remote sensing, hydrological, ecologic and socio-economic assessment with management implications |
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NASA Programs, NASA IDS | Research |
Investigator: Jorge R Ortiz Zayas Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2009 to 2010 Year: 2010 to 2011 Year: 2011 to 2012 |
Impact of African Dust on Clouds and Precipitation in a Caribbean Tropical Montane Cloud Forest | This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The project will combine field and modeling investigations to address how the physico-chemical properties of long range transported African dust (LRTAD) aerosol influence Caribbean cloud properties and precipitation levels in a unique Puerto Rican tropical mountain cloud forest (TMCF). TMCFs occur globally in the Americas, Africa, and Asia and represent a primary source of drinking water. Three major hypotheses will be tested: 1) are cloud properties in the TMCF different during intense LRTAD periods; 2) Does LRTAD have unique chemical and physical properties which influence cloud properties and processes; 3) what is the correlation between precipitation patterns and LRTAD events? The study will be performed in Puerto Rico (PR), at Pico del Este (PE) and Cape San Juan (CSJ) stations. PE is in a TMCF with an elevation of 1051m asl which is at/above the cloud condensation level. This location facilitates the study of clouds without the need for aircraft studies which reduces the overall complexity and costs while allowing longer term observations within a single cloud. CSJ is a near sea level regional station of the Global Atmosphere Watch, upwind from PE, and is the first contact point for the trade wind air masses in PR. This station allows the sampling of the properties of the aerosol that enter the cloud (below-cloud aerosol). Data on the chemical and physical properties of aerosols, clouds, and rainwater samples will be collected via long term measurements and during an intensive field campaign in year 2. Using these results in conjunction with existing data sets of precipitation, cloud cover, temperature and humidity profiles and surface energy budgets, the sensitivity of precipitation distribution to LRTAD events will be investigated, particularly focusing on the length and intensity of the summer dry season in the Caribbean. Underrepresented student groups will interact with scientists and state-of-the-art instrumentation and be exposed to unique research opportunities. The regional capacity to cope with AD and climate change will be strengthened. Project results will be used in educational materials for students and communities over a range of educational levels. The "Program of Intensive Short Courses in Atmospheric Sciences", where CoPIs/collaborators will offer a short course at the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras (UPR-RP), as well as the exchange of students among participating institutions will compensate for the non-existent curricula in atmospheric sciences at the UPR-RP. |
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NSF-ARRA | Research |
Investigator: Olga L Mayol-Bracero Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2010 to 2011 Yearly Budget: 135 496.00 |
Improvement to El Verde Field Station, Puerto Rico |
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NSF-LTER | Research |
Investigator: Alonso Ramírez Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2012 to 2013 Year: 2013 to 2014 Year: 2014 to 2015 |
Increasing laboratory capacity at El Verde Field Station, University of Puerto Rico | The University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras campus, is awarded a grant to increase the laboratory capacity of El Verde Field Station. El Verde has been a vital location for scientific research and training in the only neotropical rain forest under the jurisdiction of the United States. The field station is located in El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico, which is an Experimental Forest, a Biosphere Reserve, a research site for the University of Puerto Rico, and the focus of the Luquillo Long-Term Ecological Research Program. A master plan covering the period 2009-2019 highlights the need to improve available spaces and create new work areas for research at the station. Lack of workspace for visiting researchers has been a major factor limiting ongoing research projects and potential new ones at El Verde. The station currently has a maximum housing capacity of 51 visitors and only 15 work stations, some of limited use for some types of research. The award will solve the pressing space problem at El Verde by building a new laboratory for visiting scientists. The new 1,000 sq. ft. research building will house 10 new high-quality work stations. Each station will consist of bench space that can be used for computer or microscope work, or sample processing. In combination with ongoing efforts to improve available space, a plan to increase research space availability for 30 work stations has been developed. This will provide enough research space to accommodate ongoing projects and facilitate new research at the station. REU students (from 10-12 every summer) will now have designated work areas and less dependenc on mentors to find places to work. El Verde Field Station has been serving a variety of users for more than 30 years. Since the early 1990s the station has maintained a visitor record of over 2000 days in residence a year. Undergraduate and graduate students, technicians and faculty from more than 50 institutions in Puerto Rico, mainland United States, and other countries use the field station as their base of operations to study tropical rain forest ecosystems. The Luquillo LTER site has made El Verde one of its main sites since its foundation in 1988. Our REU site program in tropical ecology has a record of enrolling Puerto Ricans and other minority students every summer, many of them continue to graduate school after their term at El Verde. El Verde Field Station web site can be found at http://evfs.ites.upr.edu/. |
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NSF Programs | Research |
Investigator: Alonso Ramírez Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2011 to 2012 Yearly Budget: 111 336.00 |
Increasing Public Health Workforce Capacity to Implement and Deliver Laboratory Services and Public Health Interventions in the Dominican Republic Under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) |
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NGEF-PEPFAR | Research |
Investigator: Jose Molinelli Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2009 to 2010 Yearly Budget: 87 918.00 |
Integrating landscape atributes, ecosystem services, and stakeholder perceptions and incentives for determining land use suitability for conservation |
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USDA-CSREES | Research |
Investigator: Jorge R Ortiz Zayas Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2016 to 2017 Year: 2017 to 2018 Year: 2018 to 2019 |
LTER5: Understanding Ecosystem Change in Northeastern Puerto Rico | This long-term research project in Puerto Rico integrates research, educational activities, and outreach to broad audiences through examination of responses of wet tropical forests to disturbances. Development of strategies to manage and conserve tropical forested ecosystems globally depends critically on understanding the mechanisms by which these ecosystems respond to natural and human-induced change. The program will train numerous graduate and undergraduate students, especially members of underrepresented groups, producing a cadre of collaborative, multidisciplinary scientists who can link population, community, and ecosystem approaches to provide a predictive understanding of environmental change. An active schoolyard program develops K-12 curricula in science and mathematics throughout Puerto Rico, including a new 'data jam' workshop in which teachers will use the project's data to investigate basic ecological questions. The program will engage Puerto Rican high school students and teachers in educational programs at the El Verde Field Station. To date, 954 teachers and 1662 students have participated in an interactive teaching website, the Journey to El Yunque. The project collaborates with other large-scale networks including the National Ecological Observatory Network, the Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory, the Cloud Forest Research Coordination Network, and the Forest Global Earth Observatories, strengthening research infrastructure to tackle future challenges. The Luquillo LTER project will, over the coming three years, explore the development of novel ecosystems resulting from the separate and combined effects of increased drought and hurricane frequencies as these disturbances are mediated by land use legacies. Researchers predict that novel ecosystems resulting from these altered disturbances will differ from previous and current ones both structurally and functionally, and will integrate biogeochemistry, productivity, and population and community ecology studies to understand these differences. Two new experiments will be added to ongoing efforts: a stream drought experiment in which stream flow is reduced by manipulation and a forest through-fall reduction experiment in which rainfall is manipulated. The stream experiment will manipulate stream flow to examine the short- and long-term effects of drought on biota and biogeochemical cycling. The through fall exclusion experiment will determine the impact of multiple short-term droughts on soil biogeochemistry as well as on microbes, seedlings, and litter organisms. Results from both manipulations will be incorporated into models to investigate long-term effects and to evaluate the feasibility of future large scale manipulations that are logistically challenging in the forested ecosystems. A novel canopy trimming experiment will continue to simulate hurricanes in order to examine the effects of changes in hurricane frequencies and to separate the effects of canopy openness from deposition of material to the forest floor on forest composition, soil carbon storage, nutrient dynamics, and forest floor community structure. Results will test the hypothesis that increased frequency of intense hurricanes will increase the dominance of shade intolerant species with cascading effects through other biota and biogeochemistry. This integration of observational and experimental approaches is powerful because the effects of these disturbances over long time periods are poorly understood. The potential to gain insight into the mechanisms whereby these disturbance regimes result in future non-analog ecosystems in tropical forests is high and will significantly advance understanding of ecosystem ecology. http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1546686&HistoricalAwards=false |
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NSF Programs, NSF-LTER, NSF-LTER5b | Research |
Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2003 to 2004 Year: 2004 to 2005 Year: 2005 to 2006 Year: 2006 to 2007 Year: 2007 to 2008 Year: 2008 to 2009 Year: 2009 to 2010 Year: 2010 to 2011 |
Luquillo Schoolyard LTER |
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Luquillo Schoolyard | Research |
Investigator: Jorge R Ortiz Zayas Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2011 to 2012 Year: 2012 to 2013 Year: 2013 to 2014 Year: 2014 to 2015 Year: 2015 to 2016 |
Maximizing Yield Through Integration (MYTI): Science and Math Education in the Context of a Disposing Society | The Maximizing Yield Through Integration (MYTI): Science and Math Education in the Context of a Disposing Society brings together NSF awards from the Math and Science Partnership (MSP), Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT), Center for Research and Education in Science and Technology (CREST), Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER), Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biology (UMEB) and Geo-Internships via the Innovation through Institutional Integration themes of integrating research and education, broadening participation, and critical junctures. Led by the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras (UPRRP), the project establishes a Center for Science and Mathematics Education (CSME) to integrate research and education by incorporating existing NSF-funded programs in the broad area of environmental sciences and science education. The CSME will provide support to conduct research on science education and establish outreach opportunities with partnering K-12 schools, thus instituting a model for developing educational research incorporating up-to-date research from NSF-funded programs. The Center will provide the infrastructure for the following: cooperative teaching approaches; pilot studies; internet resources; research in science education, including statistical support; and assessment tools, including a variety of surveys. The Center will provide the infrastructure for developing cooperative teaching approaches, supporting pilot studies, support for internet resources and for research in science education, including statistics support, building survey support, and other assessment tools. MYTI will broaden the participation of underrepresented minorities by increasing the number of Hispanic teachers and faculty that are proficient in the best teaching practices in mathematics and science education and improve the attitude of students at a critical juncture (7-12) towards STEM. It will ultimately develop 48 master teachers, 18 during the first three years and 30 more teachers during years 4-5, who will serve in 25 partnering schools/towns throughout Puerto Rico. In addition, it will support 12 scientists from UPRRP who will pursue science education as a scholarly activity. By utilizing funded NSF projects that are at different points on the educational continuum, CSME will have a holistic effect on the pipeline, leading to increased numbers (yields) of students, particularly students underrepresented in STEM disciplines, entering careers in STEM fields. |
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NSF Programs | Research |
Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator: Rafael Rios Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2013 to 2014 Year: 2014 to 2015 |
Mechanisms of Tropical Ecosystem Functions in Responses to Land Use and Climate Change |
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NASA-PR IDEAS-ER | Research |
Investigator: Qiong Gao Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator: Mei Yu Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Graduate Student Investigator Project Role - DES: Graduate Student Investigator Project Role - DES: Graduate Student Investigator Project Role - DES: Graduate Student |
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Year: 2012 to 2013 Year: 2013 to 2014 Year: 2014 to 2015 |
Microbes of built environments spanning human urbanization, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation |
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APSF-MicroBE | Research |
Investigator: Rafael Rios Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2011 to 2012 Yearly Budget: 26 742.00 Year: 2012 to 2013 Yearly Budget: 19 500.00 |
Modeling Successional Vegetation Dynamics in Wet Tropical Forests: Integrating Neighborhood Effects, Functional Traits, and Phylogeny |
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NSF-LTER | Research |
Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2009 to 2010 Year: 2009 to 2010 Year: 2010 to 2011 Year: 2011 to 2012 Year: 2012 to 2013 Year: 2013 to 2014 Year: 2014 to 2015 |
Natural-Human System in the Ubanizing Tropics | The goal of this Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) program is to train Ph.D. students to apply an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to environmental problems in urbanizing, tropical landscapes. Puerto Rico has a dynamic environmental history, suffering nearly complete deforestation, then enjoying forest recovery, and then experiencing urban sprawl as the economy modernized. This last shift produced environmental problems, overlaid by changes in climate and vulnerability to catastrophic storms. Set against these environmental problems are researchers from different disciplines at the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras (UPR-RP), all of whom study these problems, and who will improve communication among themselves and with researchers at other UPR campuses to achieve effective research and solutions. The IGERT program will bring these faculty and students together in an interdisciplinary and collaborative framework. Reflecting the strong interaction between natural and human systems, both research theme and training in the IGERT program will be based on an iterative model of human-environment interactions, addressing the question of how human activity alters ecosystems, and, in turn, how do altered ecosystem services change human activity in an urbanizing tropical environment. Dissertations will focus on these interactions and thus will have both natural and social science components. Students will be co-advised by faculty in natural and social sciences and other disciplines. A new, integrative core for the program is also aimed at the interactions between human and natural systems, and will include the development of six new courses. IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. |
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NSF-IGERT | Research |
Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator: Alonso Ramírez Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator: Rafael Rios Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2011 to 2012 Year: 2012 to 2013 Year: 2013 to 2014 Year: 2014 to 2015 |
Partnership for a Research Center for Excellence in Reanewable Energy |
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DoD-REC | Research |
Investigator: Loretta Roberson Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator: Gary W Gervais Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Professional Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2009 to 2010 |
Partnership for Undergraduate Education in the Natural Sciences for Transformational Engagement of STEM Students: PUENTES, Department of Education |
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PRDE-PUENTES | Research |
Investigator: Rafael Rios Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2012 to 2013 Yearly Budget: 32 663.00 |
Population status and reproductive success of endangered epiphyte gesneria pauciflora - A conceptual framework towards delisting |
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DoI-USFWS | Research |
Investigator: Elvia Meléndez Ackerman Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2012 to 2013 Yearly Budget: 354 594.00 Year: 2013 to 2014 Yearly Budget: 0.00 Year: 2014 to 2015 Yearly Budget: 355 384.00 |
Preparing students for careers with the USDA Forest Service by linking student success with experimental learning opportunities in forest management and climate change ecology | This ROCN proposal is a collaboration among 14 Hispanic Serving Institutions in New Mexico and Puerto Rico focusing on Climate Change and Forest Service (FS) Labor Force Track. Our main objectives center on identifying and mentoring cohorts of students to prepare them for careers in Natural Resource Management. These students will be provided a series of experiential learning opportunities appropriate for their academic level that engage them in resource management. Annual programs include semester faculty mentorships, summer internship & research experiences, graduate student mentorship, field courses, a semester exchange program between New Mexico and Puerto Rico, high school field trips, and advising and tutoring programs. These programs will result in improved recruitment, retention, academic performance and graduation rates; a greater number of students transitioning from 2 to 4 yr institutions; and more students moving directly to careers with the FS or other USDA agencies. |
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USDA Programs | Research |
Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Director |
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Year: 2011 to 2012 Year: 2012 to 2013 Year: 2013 to 2014 Year: 2014 to 2015 Year: 2015 to 2016 |
Puerto Rico Center for Environmental Neuroscience | Human activities are altering the environment at an alarming rate. A multidisciplinary approach is essential to understand the complex interplay between molecular, cellular, and behavioral responses by organisms under these increasingly stressful conditions. The nervous system is the interface between an organism and its environment. The Puerto Rico Center for Environmental Neuroscience (PRCEN) will combine neuroscience (the study of the nervous system and behavior) and environmental science (the study of local ecosystem environments) to tackle environmental issues in Puerto Rico's tropical setting. The Center will combine neuroscientists from the Institute of Neurobiology and the Dept. of Anatomy of the University of Puerto (UPR) Medical Sciences campus and environmental scientists from the Environmental Sciences Program and the Depts. of Biology and Chemistry of the UPR Rio Piedras. The alliance will bring together cutting-edge techniques normally associated with cellular and molecular neuroscience with expertise in local ecosystems and environmental science to create a novel field that will require participants to move outside of their comfort zones and learn about entirely new areas of research. Objectives of the center will be to: (1) establish research programs in the new field of environmental neuroscience, (2) enhance research productivity through faculty and infrastructure development, (3) increase the numbers of minority students attaining advanced degrees in interdisciplinary science, and (4) generate community understanding of the work being done in the Center. The research subprojects focus on four local ecosystems: terrestrial, freshwater rivers, estuaries, and marine systems. The habitats under study are intimately connected: contaminants in the mountains make their way into rivers, pass through the estuaries, and end up in the sea. The oceans subproject is designed to understand the consequences of environmental pressures on tropical corals, using state of the art molecular-cellular techniques. The estuaries project will focus on the blue crab, which supports one of the largest fisheries industries in the United States. This project will use high resolution monitoring to track the presence of contaminants and other environmental stressors, and correlate the resulting environmental data with physiological monitoring of heart and endocrine functioning in this crab. The freshwater studies will monitor contaminants in three representative Puerto Rican rivers. Four animal models (zebrafish, mosquitofish, and two types of prawn) will be exposed to pollutants found in the three rivers, and a range of physiological and behavioral parameters will be examined. Finally, the terrestrial project will use sophisticated molecular biology and electro-physiology to examine the nervous systems of fruit flies from different habitats in Puerto Rico. The standard laboratory-reared fruit fly (Drosophila) is a prized and widely-used model system in neurobiology laboratories throughout the world. However, there is a paucity of studies examining this animal in the wild, especially with respect to the specific habitats in which they are living. Intellectual Merit The conceptual linchpin of the PRCEN is that the nervous system is the interface between an organism and its environment; a multidisciplinary approach is essential to understand the complex interplay of molecular, cellular, organismal, and ecosystem dynamics faced by organisms under the increasingly stressful conditions created by human impacts on the environment. We refer to this approach as environmental neuroscience. The program will be unified by the central hypothesis that a full understanding of the consequences of pollution and climate change requires dialogue between investigators monitoring environmental conditions and organismal biologists using that information to determine how environment affects function. Broader Impact The PRCEN center will change the way we look at environmental problems, and will create a new category of scientists prepared for the environmental challenges developing from human activities. The Center will impact a large number of minority students by tapping into the collective student population of over 19,000. Our undergraduate participants will integrate closely with ongoing NSF sponsored mentorship initiatives such as the Lewis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, the Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, and the Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program. Our graduate students will have access to broad training here, and will also be given the opportunity to take courses and train stateside at places like the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA. Finally, our studies will integrate with local organizations such as the San Juan Bay Estuary Program to coordinate community outreach targeting K-12 education. |
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NSF Programs, NSF-CREST-PRCEN | Research |
Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2010 to 2011 Year: 2011 to 2012 Year: 2012 to 2013 |
Renovating Infraestructure for Tropical Ecology and Environmental Sciences | This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The mission of the Institute for Tropical Ecosystem Studies (ITES) of The University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras (UPR-RP) is to serve as a world center for advanced research and education in tropical ecosystem ecology and management, and, as such, ITES strives to establish and maintain long-term experimental and reference studies of tropical ecosystems through interdisciplinary research. Funding is provided to UPR-RP to renovate the basement floor of the Facundo Bueso Building. These renovations will support the development of the ITES Research Center by enhancing the level of research activities and increasing the impacts of its programs. ITES is the home of the Luquillo Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Program, a multidisciplinary collaboration investigating tropical ecosystem dynamics along a rural-urban gradient that includes the International Institute of Tropical Forestry (USDA Forest Service) and eleven mainland US institutions. The new center would place most of ITES's research and related student training in a single facility. The remodel will consolidate the research facilities, which are currently distributed over four buildings in two different areas of campus, on the basement floor of the Facundo Bueso Building. Renovations include modernization of the electrical and lighting system, plumbing, the HVAC system, and casework and the addition of fixed equipment. The spaces will also be redesigned specifically for the type of research performed in the new laboratories. Increased cohesion among faculty and students and administrators (located in an adjacent building) would be a direct result of this effort. Moreover, the creation of a single facility for ITES would contribute strongly to its role as a nexus for the development of integrative research activities on the UPR campus as well as for the island of Puerto Rico. The new Center will allow further expansion in research training. At present, faculty members supervise the research of 42 BS, 18 MS, 18 PhD students, 3 postdocs, and 14 research staff. Therefore, in addition to the ITES faculty, staff and students will benefit from this renovation. |
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NSF-ARRA | Research |
Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator: Elvia Meléndez Ackerman Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2012 to 2013 Yearly Budget: 132 800.00 Year: 2013 to 2014 Yearly Budget: 136 469.00 Year: 2014 to 2015 Yearly Budget: 137 948.00 Year: 2015 to 2016 Yearly Budget: 0.00 |
Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES): Vulnerability and Adaptive Management of Tropical Coastal Wetlands in the context of Land Use and Climate Changes |
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NASA-LCLUC | Research |
Investigator: Mei Yu Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator: Qiong Gao Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Graduate Student Investigator Project Role - DES: Graduate Student Investigator Project Role - DES: Graduate Student Investigator Project Role - DES: Graduate Student Investigator Project Role - DES: Graduate Student Investigator Project Role - DES: Graduate Student Investigator Project Role - DES: Graduate Student |
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Year: 2010 to 2011 Year: 2011 to 2012 Year: 2012 to 2013 Year: 2013 to 2014 |
Social-Ecological System Change, Vulnerability, and the Future of a Tropical City | Large cities have a disproportionate influence on environmental conditions from local to global scales because to support large human populations and high living standards, they must import enormous quantities of energy, food, and materials. Cities are also the foci of human interactions and innovations concerning cultural diversity, economic inequality, institution building, and policy formation. Recent projections indicate that human populations will become more urban in distribution, with people becoming more concentrated in cities. Understanding the conditions that affect urban sustainability is important for city planning and operations and also important to the sustainability of other landscapes, such as hinterlands and rural areas, on which the city depends. Urbanites need to be in a position to identify and mitigate any emerging vulnerabilities that might threaten the persistence of their cities. An ideal place to study these conditions is the San Juan metropolitan area in northeastern Puerto Rico. As the capital of Puerto Rico and home of 68 percent of the island's population, San Juan has one of the largest economies in the Caribbean and is often seen as a model for the development of other Caribbean or Latin American economies. Pervasive urban development and susceptibility to potential perturbations of the global oil market and climate change, however, are exacerbating ongoing social and environmental risks associated with urban development, including the reduction of forest cover, biodiversity changes, diminishing stream quality, increasing risks to floods, exposure to pollution, decreased access to local natural resources, and droughts. San Juan stakeholders are taking measures to prevent further degradation through social organizing and stewardship activities, such as restoring streams, building city gardens, contesting illegal construction projects, and forming underground economies, in a bottom-up response to the socioeconomic conditions that generate risks. Despite these trends, the influence of these interactions and responses in reducing vulnerabilities and moving San Juan to sustainability is uncertain. This research project will analyze the interactions among the biophysical, economic, and social sources of vulnerability for San Juan and evaluate to what degree they influence the city's potential for sustainability. The investigators will develop an intellectual framework based on urban social-ecological systems theory; develop an integrated system of sampling, data collection, and experimentation; synthesize and model changes in the San Juan social ecological system based on probable future biophysical realities as well as the desires/actions of stakeholders and policy goals; implement a stakeholder participation support structure that builds the capacity and tools for engagement in research and decision-making; and educate and empower students and citizens through their effective participation in both research and city governance. The methods to be used in this study include field observations, interviews and survey with stakeholders and public in general, statistical tools, geographical information systems, environmental monitoring, systems modeling and simulation, and participatory research methods. This research project will have significant implications for urban sustainability theory in general and urban social-ecological systems theory and methodology specifically. The theoretical framework will combine social science vulnerability theory; physical laws like conservation of mass and thermodynamics and their relation to development and economic activity; and the ecological focus that explains the biodiversity of the city and the functioning of ecosystems to its inhabitants. In addition to the rigorous synthesis and modeling of cities' long-term sustainability, this project will enhance interdisciplinary methods through transformative collaboration between social and biophysical scientists, and development of a vocabulary among the disciplines to achieve an effective synthesis. The proposed activities of this project will affect the way San Juan inhabitants relate and plan the future of their urban environment, and they will provide new information to help manage tropical cities more effectively. The project also will develop new approaches for the integration of social and biophysical studies of urban areas in general. The project will educate and train the next generation of scientists, especially women and minorities, using the integration of social and ecological sciences in an urban setting representative of cities that will face substantial socio-ecological challenges during this century. This award was funded as an Urban Long-Term Research Area Exploratory (ULTRA-Ex) award as the result of a special competition jointly supported by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. |
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NSF-ULTRA-Ex | Research |
Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator: Elvia Meléndez Ackerman Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2009 to 2010 Yearly Budget: 15 700.00 Year: 2010 to 2011 Yearly Budget: 15 200.00 |
Spatial-temporal variations in land cover and human population and their effects on wetlands in Puerto Rico |
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UPR-FIPI | Research |
Investigator: Mei Yu Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff |
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Year: 2009 to 2010 Yearly Budget: 122 244.00 Year: 2010 to 2011 Yearly Budget: 290 000.00 |
Strengthening Educational Capacities in Geospatial Science and Technology for Agricultural and Natural Resources |
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USDA-CSREES | Research |
Investigator: Mei Yu Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator: Elvia Meléndez Ackerman Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff Investigator Project Role - DES: Other Staff |
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Year: 2013 to 2014 Yearly Budget: 348 993.00 |
Subawarded Agreement awarded by UPR - Medical Sciences Campus project titled CREST |
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NSF Programs | Research |
Investigator: Loretta Roberson Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2009 to 2010 |
Teaching Ecosystem Complexity through Field Science Inquiry |
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Research |
Investigator: Jorge R Ortiz Zayas Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2009 to 2010 |
Temperature Sensitivity of Soil Respiration as Influenced by Rubber Plantations in Southeast Asia |
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Research |
Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2012 to 2013 Yearly Budget: 5 000.00 |
Transferencia de Tecnología para el Desarrollo de SMM en las Comunidades Rurales de Puerto Rico- Análisis del Estado Actual |
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Research |
Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2011 to 2012 Yearly Budget: 77 665.00 Year: 2012 to 2013 Yearly Budget: 77 912.00 Year: 2013 to 2014 Yearly Budget: 78 167.00 Year: 2014 to 2015 Yearly Budget: 78 429.00 Year: 2016 Yearly Budget: 78 699.00 |
Tropical Ecology and Evolution at El Verde Field Station | An award has been made to the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras campus, that will provide research training for 10 weeks for 8 undergraduate students, during the summers of 2011-2015. The program focuses on Tropical Ecology and Evolution -- the study of plant population biology, forest and stream community dynamics, forest ecology, and arthropod biology and coevolution in the tropical rainforest of Puerto Rico. El Verde Field Station is the base of operations of many tropical researchers and the Luquillo LTER program. Students can develop their own independent projects in a wide variety of fields under the advice of faculty mentors. Students spend most of their time working in their research projects, but are also expected to attend seminars and workshops on scientific data analysis and techniques to study tropical systems; along with workshops on the graduate school application process. An ethics component focuses on responsible conduct in research and issues commonly encountered by students during their careers, as well as discussions on the role of scientists in modern society. The program has a component that includes field trips to other forest types and historic areas in Puerto Rico. REU students have access to a very diverse tropical rainforest to conduct their research and basic facilities at the field station are complemented with modern laboratories on campus at UPR Rio Piedras. The program is advertised electronically in Puerto Rico and mainland US. Students are selected based on academic record and potential for outstanding research in the biological sciences. Students are tracked to determine their continued interest in their academic field of study, their career paths, and the lasting influences of the research experience. Information about the program will be assessed by various means, including use of an REU common assessment tool. More information is available by visiting http://web.ites.upr.edu/reu/ or by contacting the PI (Dr. Ramirez at reu@ites.upr.edu). |
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NSF-REU | Research |
Investigator: Alonso Ramírez Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2006 to 2007 Yearly Budget: 73 565.00 Year: 2007 to 2008 Yearly Budget: 73 565.00 Year: 2008 to 2009 Yearly Budget: 76 678.00 Year: 2009 to 2010 Yearly Budget: 76 678.00 Year: 2010 to 2011 Yearly Budget: 79 678.00 |
Tropical Ecology and Evolution at El Verde Field Station | The REU program in Tropical Ecology and Evolution, conducted by the University of Puerto Rico, is based at El Verde Field Station, in the tropical rainforest of Puerto Rico. The program goal is to provide undergraduates with meaningful research experiences under the guidance of established scientists, in research focused on tropical ecology and evolution. Undergraduate students will spend most of their 10-week internship developing a research project under the mentorship of a faculty, in various areas of ecology and evolution such as plant population biology, community dynamics, forest ecology, arthropod biology, soil ecology, plant reproductive ecology, and population genetics. Students have a wide variety of potential areas of study to choose from, depending on their areas of interest. Students also participate in seminars and workshops on scientific data analysis, data presentation, and techniques to study different groups of tropical organisms and ecosystems (e.g., forest, soil, streams). An ethics component focuses on common issues likely to be encountered by students during their careers as well as discussions on the role of scientists in modern society. This combination of activities provides students with the tools needed to conduct scientific research in any area of science, with emphasis on Tropical Ecology and Evolution. Each year, eight students are selected based on their academic qualifications (e.g., GPA, letters of recommendation) and interest in pursuing graduate studies. Emphasis is given to students from institutions where research programs are not easily accessible and those from groups under-represented in science. Additional information is available at http://sunites.upr.clu.edu/REU/index.htm, or by contacting the Program Director, Alonso Ramirez (aramirez@sunites.upr.clu.edu; Telephone: 787-764-0000, ext. 7781). |
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NSF-REU | Research |
Investigator: Alonso Ramírez Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2009 to 2010 Year: 2010 to 2011 |
Tropospheric Remote Sensing and Air Monitoring |
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Research |
Investigator: Olga L Mayol-Bracero Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2009 to 2010 Yearly Budget: 158 249.00 Year: 2010 to 2011 Year: 2011 to 2012 |
Undergraduate research on tropical ecosystems: from rainforest to cities | The main goal of this UMEB program is to provide undergraduate students the experience to learn how to conduct scientific research by developing an independent research project. To achieve this goal, the program provides students with an active research environment, guidance from established scientists, and educational activities designed to equip them with tools to conduct scientific research and to succeed in a career as environmental biologist. Students participating in the program will be involved in every stage of scientific research, from project design and data collection to data analysis and presentation. Students will conduct hypothesis driven research, produce publishable projects, and present their work at a national meeting. To help students during the process, the program provides workshops on data analysis, data presentation, and on techniques to study different organisms and ecosystems (e.g., forest, soil, streams). The program will also have an ethical component to expose students to issues likely to be encountered in their careers and to discuss the role of scientists in society. The program is expected to have a positive impact on student's careers. Students will be encouraged to pursue research or academic careers in ecology. For additional information, contact Alonso Ramirez (aramirez@ites.upr.edu; Telephone: 787-764-0000, ext. 7781) or visit the program's web site at http://ites.upr.edu/UMEB/. |
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NSF-UMEB | Research |
Investigator: Alonso Ramírez Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2010 to 2011 Year: 2011 to 2012 |
Undergraduate research on tropical ecosystems: from rainforest to cities Supplement |
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NSF-UMEB, NSF-UMEB Suppl | Research |
Investigator: Alonso Ramírez Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2013 to 2014 Yearly Budget: 980 000.00 Year: 2014 to 2015 Yearly Budget: 980 000.00 |
Understanding Change in the Ecosystems of Northeastern Puerto Rico |
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NSF-LTER5a | Research |
Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2006 to 2007 Yearly Budget: 820 000.00 Year: 2007 to 2008 Yearly Budget: 820 000.00 Year: 2008 to 2009 Yearly Budget: 820 000.00 Year: 2009 to 2010 Yearly Budget: 820 000.00 Year: 2010 to 2011 Yearly Budget: 820 000.00 Year: 2011 to 2012 Yearly Budget: 820 000.00 |
Understanding Change in the Ecosystems of Northeastern Puerto Rico | The Luquillo Long-Term Ecological Research Program (LUQ) focuses on understanding factors driving long-term change in tropical forest ecosystems in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico. Building on an earlier emphasis on natural disturbances (hurricanes, landslides, droughts, floods) and ecosystem responses, LUQ will continue studies of ecosystem structure and processes in mid-elevation tabonuco forest, extend research into other forest types along an elevation gradient, and begin investigations of regional-scale processes affecting the Luquillo Mountains. Four approaches will be used: long-term experiments and measurements, comparative analyses among different forest communities, gradient analysis from forest to urban, and synthesis using conceptual and simulation models. Mounting evidence suggests that increasing hurricane intensity, declining rainfall in the mountains, and rising temperature in lowland urbanized areas can significantly affect the ecosystems of the Luquillo Mountains. In this context, the overarching question is: How do changes in disturbance regime and climate alter biogeochemical cycles, biotic structure, and ecosystem services? This leads to three specific questions addressing key elements of the LUQ conceptual framework: 1) What controls variation in carbon and nutrient fluxes, and how are these variations modified by disturbance? Many processes in the Luquillo Mountains exhibit well defined seasonality and links to climate. Understanding these relationships is essential for determining the sensitivity of biota and biogeochemical cycling to environmental change. 2) Are changes in temperature, rainfall, light and wind (climate) along the Luquillo elevation gradient sufficient to explain variation in biogeochemical processes and biotic structure? LUQ proposes to study linear and non-linear trends in climate with elevation in the Luquillo Mountains as drivers of ecosystem processes and the distribution of organisms. By improving understanding of the importance of biotic and abiotic factors in determining the distribution of organisms over spatial gradients in tropical mountains, scientists will increase their ability to understand the effects of change. 3) How important are changes in land-use in determining long-term ecosystem biogeochemistry, biotic structure, and services? Land-use and land-cover are changing dramatically in northeastern Puerto Rico in response to socioeconomic changes. LUQ proposes to examine the long-term effects of land-use and land-cover change on a range of features, including regional and local climate, tree species composition, stream ecology, and a key ecosystem service: the delivery of clean water for humans. The proposed research will provide an improved scientific framework for the management of tropical ecosystems and ecosystem services. It will do so both through conceptual advances and documentation of human disturbance and ecosystem response. The project will continue to produce a cadre of young and minority scientists who are versed in linking population and ecosystem approaches to evaluating environmental change, and will provide them with skills that can be applied in tropical regions or elsewhere. LUQ has developed a comprehensive education program involving teachers at a network of six high schools and a web-based middle school curriculum for teaching ecology. Additional outreach activities are directed at improving the general public's appreciation of the water resources provided to surrounding towns by streams draining the Luquillo Mountains. |
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NSF-LTER4 | Research |
Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2006 to 2007 Yearly Budget: 410 000.00 Year: 2007 to 2008 Yearly Budget: 410 000.00 Year: 2008 to 2009 Yearly Budget: 410 000.00 Year: 2009 to 2010 Yearly Budget: 410 000.00 Year: 2010 to 2011 Yearly Budget: 410 000.00 Year: 2011 to 2012 Yearly Budget: 410 000.00 |
Understanding Change in the Ecosystems of Northeastern Puerto Rico Pareo |
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UPR-LTER4 Pareo | Research |
Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2014 to 2015 Yearly Budget: 820 000.00 |
Understanding Change in the Ecosystems of Northeastern Puerto Rico Pareo |
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NSF-LTER5a Pareo | Research |
Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2006 to 2007 Yearly Budget: 74 000.00 Year: 2007 to 2008 Yearly Budget: 94 000.00 Year: 2008 to 2009 Yearly Budget: 90 635.00 Year: 2009 to 2010 Yearly Budget: 113 879.00 Year: 2010 to 2011 Yearly Budget: 103 150.00 Year: 2011 to 2012 Yearly Budget: 34 999.75 Year: 2012 to 2013 Yearly Budget: 34 999.75 Year: 2013 to 2014 Yearly Budget: 34 999.75 Year: 2014 to 2015 Yearly Budget: 34 999.75 |
Understanding Change in the Ecosystems of Northeastern Puerto Rico Supplement |
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NSF-LTER4 Suppl | Research |
Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2015 to 2016 Yearly Budget: 50 000.00 |
Understanding Change in the Ecosystems of Northeastern Puerto Rico Supplement |
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NSF-LTER5a Suppl | Research |
Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2011 to 2012 Year: 2012 to 2013 Year: 2013 to 2014 Year: 2014 to 2015 |
UPR- Río Piedras Educational Initiative for a Sustainable Future HSI STEM |
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PRDE Programs | Research |
Investigator: Loretta Roberson Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator |
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Year: 2009 to 2010 |
Vulnerability Analysis and Emergency Response Plans for Non PRASA Systems, Puerto Rico Health Department, Medical Sciences Campus of the University of PR |
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PRHD Programs, PRHD-Non PRASA Systems | Research |
Investigator: Rafael Rios Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Director Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Director |
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Year: 2012 to 2013 Yearly Budget: 200 000.00 |
Vulnerability Analysis of Small Water Treatment Systems, Puerto Rico Health Department, Rio Piedras Campus of the University of Puerto Rico |
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PRHD Programs | Research |
Investigator: Rafael Rios Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Director Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Director |
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Year: 2011 to 2012 Yearly Budget: 62 911.00 |
Vulnerability of tropical wetlands in the context of landuse and climate changes based on high-resolution satellite images and socioeconomic data |
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NASA-PR IDEAS-ER | Research |
Investigator: Mei Yu Investigator Project Role - DES: Principal Investigator Investigator: Qiong Gao Investigator Project Role - DES: Co-Principal Investigator Investigator Project Role - DES: Graduate Student Investigator Project Role - DES: Graduate Student Investigator Project Role - DES: Graduate Student |
