These great 4 year olds and staff from Headstart, Quebrada Arriba, Patillas, spent a really fun morning at Las Casas de la Selva, looking closely at all kind of plants and animals in the forest, with Andres and 3t.
George LoCascio from Bunkerhill Community College in Boston, returned to spend a few days at Las Casas de la Selva, along with Denise O’Malley, helping out on gardens and continuing with George’s ongoing Lepidoptera project. This consists of a species survey and a population survey. The species survey involves the use of aerial mesh traps, that carry fruits as bait to attract butterflies,that remain unharmed for proper identification. Along with aerial traps traditional hand nets are used to capture species for identification. Both methods are used to compile a list of Lepidoptera species that are found on the property. The population survey is along a predetermined 1.1 km transect that can be, and is, repeated to find population trends of different known species. George and Denise also continued with a project begun last year, measuring the volumes of tree trunks and using the density of the wood to determine the amount of carbon dioxide that has been sequestered within them. George has been returning to Las Casas frequently over the last few years. This was Denise’s second trip here.
4to. Simposio de Educación, Interpretación e Investigación en Bosques y Áreas Naturales,
Viernes, 21 de marzo de 2014, Edificio de Agencias Ambientales, Rio Piedras.
Speakers:
Introduction and closing by Frank H. Wadsworth
Carmen Guerrero Pérez, Secretaria – DRNA
Dayamaris Candelario, Directora – Centro Ambiental Santa Ana (CASA)
Astrid Maldonado, Asistente de Proyecto – Para la Naturaleza
Pedro Rios, Forest Staff Officer – US Forest Service
Glorienell Pérez Vélez, INTER (Receinto de Bayamon)
Edgardo González González – DRNA
Eliezer Nieves, Ayudant Especial de la Oficina de la Secretaria -DRNA
Christian Torres, Director – Parque Doña Inés (FLMM)
Waldemar Feliciano Estudiante Subgraduado – INTER (Bayamon)
Julio Vallejo González, Coordinador de Alcance Comunitario – San Juan ULTRA
Gracias Yaritza Bobonis y Dayamaris Candelario y voluntaries por une dia muy interesante.
A team of Fountain Valley High School students from Colorado Springs, CO, spent five days with us. Led by Andrés and 3t, the students completely emptied out the entire woodworking and machine shop, cleaned and organized all the tools, cleaned machines, took out all the wood stockand re-organized it, and left the workshop clean, organized and far more user-friendly! Students also worked in the nurseries and trails with Norman. Thank you to Deb Prantl and Vydia Garcia for tremendous team leadership, and a super big thanks to all the students who carried out such an incredible task. We really appreciated your help, and also the constant smiles and endless enthusiasm.
Please come back in the future!
Genny and Tim, spent 10 days with us during the Appalachian State University group’s visit, and helped with all aspects of the project. We really appreciated their wonderful company, super hard work, and enthusiasm! They are off to spend more time at our sister project Synergia Ranch, Center for Innovation and Retreats, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. https://synergiaranch.com/about-us/
Vella Lovell, a student at The Julliard School of Dance, Drama and Music, NY, volunteered at Las Casas de la Selva for the days that Vanderbilt University students were here. She helped with tree pruning, team management and all homestead duties.
Appalachian State University students worked really hard on a diversity of projects at Las Casas de la Selva; plastering the bunkhouse, making a ramp for access to the dining room, pruning, gardening, nursery work, moving soil, making a new compost, emptying the humanure compost ready for use, and many other tasks. Wow! We thank you all for being such wonderful company this last week. We’ll see you again!
Vanderbilt University students have just spent several days with us at Las Casas de la Selva, and we have had a super time, working hard! Students learnt the art of plastering on the bunkhouse, led by Andres, and also helped with heavy labor and soil renewal on the Papaya Terraces with 3t. In their time here, they also got to do a leaf litter study with Norman and hiked into the forest. Thank you for your remarkable teamwork, and thanks Zach and Julia, team leaders who did a great job. We salute you all! Come back and see us again soon.
Vella Lovell, a student at The Julliard School of Dance, Drama and Music, NY, volunteered at Las Casas de la Selva for the days that Vanderbilt University students were here. Thanks for all your hard work and enthusiasm lovely lady!
Meeting at Cyber Café, Caguas, 4th March 2014
| Nombre | Agencia o grupo |
| Andrés Rúa González | Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry |
| Thrity Vakil | Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry |
| Magaly Figueroa | USDA US Forest Service |
| Arnaldo Astacio | Departamento de Agricultura de Puerto Rico |
| Fernando Arroyo | USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service |
| Christina Cabrera | Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales de PR |
| Enrique Santiago | Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales de PR |
| Lisette Fas | Cafiesencia |
| Franklin Román | Servicio de Extensión Agrícola |
| Mariano Robledo | Bamboo Puerto Rico |
| Maria Benedetti | Botanicultura |
| Daniel Caban | Bamboo Puerto Rico |
| Sheila Ward | Mahogany for the future |
| Félix Aponte González | Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales de PR |
| Enrique C. Colon Burgos | Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica |
Images by 3t Vakil, 2014