Tag: Puerto Rico

NSF Grant Empowers FAU to Explore Caribbean Climate Crisis with Ethnography

sarah JonasAnnouncement

Researchers have received a $650,000 NSF grant to investigate the cultural dimensions of ecological instability by studying the experiences of vulnerable communities in South Florida and Puerto Rico. Using ethnography, they will capture the nuanced ways in which communities are responding to ecological disruptions. Understanding how cultures adapt to ecological instability can provide valuable insights for communities worldwide, including those in the Caribbean. By documenting and analyzing these responses, researchers can develop and refine strategies to enhance collective survival.

Protected Sex: Study Records Grouper Mating Calls in Marine Managed Areas

sarah JonasResearch Results

Groupers produce distinct sounds associated with courtship, territoriality or reproduction. An autonomous mobile wave glider and passive acoustics were deployed to survey two marine protected areas on the western shelf of Puerto-Rico to locate spawning aggregations of two commercially important species – the Nassau and red hind groupers. Findings show these sites are critical habitat for both species and multiple previously unknown grouper species, which highlight the importance of expanding existing seasonal regulations.

Remote Operations Are Making the World a Little Smaller for Nanoscale Research

sarah JonasFeature

When the pandemic forced us to keep our distance, people quickly found new ways to come together. By improving existing technologies and developing entirely new ones, we learned how to work, socialize, and share ideas without having to leave the solitary comfort of our living spaces. While this gave us the ability to take back parts of the activities we missed, it also allowed us to connect in new and interesting ways.

Investigación de ORNL maximiza la operación resiliente de microrredes en Puerto Rico

sarah JonasResearch Results

Los científicos del Laboratorio Nacional Oak Ridge, en colaboración con múltiples universidades, ONGs y organizaciones locales, están investigando como las microrredes pueden proporcionar electricidad más asequible, confiable y sostenible a comunidades históricamente desatendidas en Puerto Rico. En este proyecto, ORNL está desarrollando un control que permite operar un grupo de microrredes en un clúster, lo cual mejora la resiliencia en su operación inclusive cuando parte de la microrred está afectada por un desastre natural.

ORNL research to bring more reliable electricity to Puerto Rican microgrids

sarah JonasFeature

To provide more affordable, reliable and sustainable electricity to underserved communities like these, scientists from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are partnering with local organizations, nonprofits and universities to build resilience into independent microgrids powered by renewable energy. ORNL is developing a technology that will manage groups of small microgrids as a cluster, enhancing their reliability even when damaged.

Survey Launched to Learn More about Deaths Tied to Hurricane Maria

sarah JonasFeature

Researchers at the George Washington University and the University of Puerto Rico will launch a first-of-its-kind survey to investigate the causes of deaths that occurred during the first two weeks after Hurricane Maria. The fact-finding mission will help identify the factors and socio-environmental conditions that led to more than 1,700 deaths in the immediate aftermath of the storm.

‘Hail to the Queen’ – Saving the Caribbean Queen Conch

sarah JonasResearch Results

Second only to the spiny lobster, the queen conch is a prized delicacy long harvested for food and is revered for its beautiful shell. Conch populations have dwindled so low, creating a dire and urgent situation in ecological and economic terms. To preserve this most significant molluscan fishery in the Caribbean, the world’s leading expert on queen conch aquaculture has published an 80-page, step-by-step user manual that provides complete illustrations and photos of how to culture and restore the queen conch.

Cornell-designed Arecibo telescope ‘an inestimable loss’

sarah JonasFeature

In the wake of two recent support-cable failures, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will decommission and dismantle the giant dish at Arecibo Observatory – the world-class radio telescope in Puerto Rico that was conceived by Cornell University faculty, built with federal funding and then managed by Cornell for its first five decades.

Antibiotic resistance genes in three Puerto Rican watersheds after Hurricane Maria

sarah JonasResearch Results

Researchers monitored antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in three Puerto Rican watersheds after Hurricane Maria, finding that the abundance and diversity of ARGs were highest downstream of WWTPs. They report their results in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology.

Vulnerable Populations: How Will They Cope and Adapt This Hurricane Season?

sarah JonasAnnouncement

Researchers will study areas that include counties in south and central Florida and the Panhandle, which are still recovering from Hurricanes Michael and Irma, and which saw an influx of displaced individuals from Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. They will examine resilience of individuals and households, including their coping and adaptive capacities during a busy hurricane season in the midst of pandemic. The research will advance knowledge on several topics related to housing, health and hazards.

Rutgers Expert Can Discuss Ethnic or Exotic Crops in N.J., Mid-Atlantic

sarah JonasExpert Pitch

New Brunswick, N.J. (June 9, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick ethnic crop research specialist Albert Ayeni is available for interviews on growing non-native crops in New Jersey and the mid-Atlantic, including exotic peppers, okra, roselle (sorrel), tropical spinach (amaranths) and…

José A. Bauermeister, PhD, Appointed Chair of Penn Nursing’s Department of Family and Community Health

sarah JonasAnnouncement

José A. Bauermeister, PhD, MPH, Presidential Professor of Nursing, will be the next Chair of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing’s (Penn Nursing) Department of Family and Community Health, effective July 1, 2020.

Rutgers Expert Available to Discuss Earthquakes in Puerto Rico, Need for Preventative Policy Changes in Urban Planning

sarah JonasExpert Pitch

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media contact: Cynthia Medina, [email protected], 848-445-1940 Rutgers Expert Available to Discuss Earthquakes in Puerto Rico,  Need for Preventative Policy Changes in Urban Planning New Brunswick, N.J. (Jan. 13, 2020) – Rutgers scholar Zaire Dinzey-Flores, an expert on…

Puerto Rico earthquakes: Evacuations, health safety and compounding effects of multiple disasters

sarah JonasExpert Pitch

The University of Delaware’s Disaster Research Center has several sources who can contribute to articles about the earthquakes in Puerto Rico and offer valuable information for both during and after the disaster. – Jennifer Horney, a professor of epidemiology, can talk about…

SUNY and CUNY Chancellors Convene National Conference at UAlbany to Explore Disaster Preparedness, Recovery, and Response In Face of Climate Change

sarah JonasHigher Education Event

The University at Albany is hosting a national conference designed to explore ways that higher education institutions can strengthen disaster preparedness, response, and recovery efforts in an era of increasingly extreme weather caused by climate change.

Disaster researchers can comment on evacuation, sea level rise, health issues, pet safety as Hurricane Dorian approaches

sarah JonasExpert Pitch

The University of Delaware’s Disaster Research Center offers several experts who can talk about various aspects of a storm such as Hurricane Dorian. Tricia Wachtendorf: Evacuation decision-making, disaster response and coordination, disaster relief (donations) and logistics, volunteer and emergent efforts, social…