Friday, October 29, 2010

ASLO International Conference/ William Meléndez new multimedia editor at local newspaper/ New mural at the Caño Martín Peña


Photo credit: Spectacled Caiman by Robert Lawton

This week update (October 23, 2010 to October 29, 2010) is as follow:

1) SJBEP’s Caiman study highlighted at El Nuevo Día newspaper’s editorial: Last Wednesday’s editorial was devoted to the topic of invasive species and our Caiman study was highlighted and used to call for the attention of authorities regarding this issue:

http://www.elnuevodia.com/columna-urgeunplanparaespeciesinvasoras-806079.html

Next week we will have another meeting with DNER’s Dr. Miguel García to continue discussing the management plan for the Caiman species.

2) William Meléndez new multimedia Editor in Chief of Primera Hora newspaper- Our communications contractor, William Melédez, recently accepted an offer to become the Editor in Chief of the new multimedia department of the Primera Hora newspaper. We will miss him and his truly extraordinary job. Next week Javier Laureano will be interviewing several candidates recommended by Meléndez and other stakeholders.

3) SJBEP key local sponsor of ASLO international conference: The professional society for the Advancing the Science of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO), and the society’s president, Carlos Duarte, invited Dr. Jorge Bauzá to serve on the local organizing committee for the Aquatic Sciences Meeting that will take place for the first time in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in February 2011. The meeting will attract more than 2,000 aquatic scientists from all over the world. The organizing committee meeting concluded Wednesday and more than 500 abstracts were analyzed to organize the conference. The San Juan Bay Estuary Program is one of the main local sponsors of this meeting and scientists all parts of the globe will visit the ecosystem through boat field trips.

Link of the international meeting:
http://www.aslo.org/meetings/sanjuan2011/

SJBEP as one of the key organizers:
http://www.aslo.org/meetings/sanjuan2011/sponsors.html

4) Informative meeting to discuss the Condado Restoration’s RFP took place at the SJBEP: The informative meeting to discuss the Request for Proposals for the water quality and seagrass restoration project at the Condado Lagoon was held on Monday in the SJBE Program offices. Approximately 22 environmental consulting firms attended the meeting where Dr. Jorge Bauzá presented a brief PowerPoint presentation about the SJBE program and a more detailed discussion about the Condado Lagoon restoration project. After the presentation, Dr. Bauzá addressed questions regarding proposals submission and project objectives.

5) On the run for the MAPFRE Foundation’s Environmental Improvement Award- Javier Laureano is preparing the submission package and will send it to MAPFRE Foundation next week. This is a key environmental award for Spain and Latin America. Thanks to Ernesto Díaz from the DNER; Pedro Carrión from the Corredor del Yaguazo and Carlos Fernández Luego from McConnell Valdes for sending their endorsement letters. Gladys Rivera is preparing a set of key pictures to include it as part of the submission package.

6) Guachinanga island restoration and enhancement: On Friday morning, Dr. Jorge Bauzá is attending a field trip with staff from the USACE, PRDNER, Peninsula de Cantera and USEPA around the Guachinanga Island in the San José Lagoon. The purpose is to explore alternatives to perform an aquatic clean-up and floating weed removal project around the Island and in the mouth of Caño Martín Peña. The main objective of this project is to restore the tidal circulation over the area.

7) Please, go and see the extraordinary murals of the FOCUS students at the MAC!!- Javier Laureano attended the award ceremony of Wyland’s Foundation’s “Forest, Ocean, Climate and Us-FOCUS-” outreach initiative in Puerto Rico on Thursday, October 28, 2010 at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo. As part of the project, 300 students from several communities of the island painted murals with the guidance of an artist using the theme “Mangroves, where the forests meet the sea”. The exhibit opened yesterday and will be for two weeks and the MAC.

http://www.wylandfoundation.org/education-FOCUS.shtml

8) Restoration of the Devil Island’s Urban Creeks- On Friday afternoon, Dr. Jorge Bauzá will participate in a field meeting discussion with hydrologist , Dr. Greg Morris and Dr. Jorge Ortiz at the Isla del Diablo urban creek. The objective is to discuss viable alternatives for the restoration of this polluted urban creek.

9) New mural on the Barbosa bridge, one of the main access to the Martín Peña communities: please, refer to the following newspaper link:

http://www.elnuevodia.com/develadounmuralhechoporjovenes-806379.html

10) Meeting with Manny el Manatí cartoon creators: Gladys Rivera and Javier Laureano met with the creators of Manny el Manatí, the first Puerto Rican cartoons series for TV. The producers will submit a proposal to have a 30 minutes program devoted exclusively to the San Juan Bay Estuary. Follow the link for a preview of the cartoons show:

http://mannyelmanati.com/MANNY_EL_MANATI/%22PRONTO_EN_LINEA%22.html

11) Educational module update: The Universidad del Sagrado Corazón (Sacred Heart University) is devoting one of their curriculum classes to the update our educational module. Gladys Rivera and Javier Laureano met with the students this week and they are doing a remarkable job updating with current technology this key outreach outlet for 4th grade students.

12) TV interview: María Lourdes Rivera, from the Península de Cantera, and Javier Laureano were interviewed on the live show “Ellas” at Channel 13 last Tuesday to promote the EcoCantera documentary.

13) Estuary’s Green Cinema: Last Saturday, October 13, 2010 we screened the EcoCantera documentary and the movie “Full Moon”. Representatives of the movie in Puerto Rico offered posters and premiums of Twilight and Full Moon to the attendees.

Save the Date!! EPA’s 40th Anniversary-December 10th, 2010- The Environmental Protection Agency is celebrating its 40th Anniversary with an all-day seminar comprised by themes related to Vieques, Recycling and the Martín Peña dredging. The event will take place at the Inter American University on December 10, 2010 from 8am to 5:30pm. Judith Enck, EPA Regional Administrator, will highlight EPA’s priorities for the island. For reservations please call Mrs. Brenda Reyes at 787-977-5869

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