Estudiantes Graduados

 

 

 

Jennifer M. Rivera Sanantonio

I was born and raised in Ponce, a city in the southern part of Puerto Rico. To counterweight the urban environment, my weekends were spent in the center mountainous region of the island. In the outdoors, surrounded by nature, I created my best childhood memories. I started studies in Biology but later discovered a passion for agriculture. During my years of academic study, I developed new interests towards Urban Agriculture, and Community Forestry. These practices require participatory and inclusive interactions with communities to make them adaptable and resilient to today’s changing environment. Luckily, I had the opportunity to be part of the Rio Hondo Community Forest Project in Mayagüez. There, I have developed my graduate research by studying forest structure and species composition as part of a community-based forest management plan. My research now also focuses on the effects of Hurricane María on the structure and composition of this community forest, and on discovering ways by which the community can manage forest resources in María’s aftermath to improve resilience and well-being of the forest.

 

 

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Genesis Z. Tua Ayala

I was born and raised in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, where my great-grandmother Florentina taught me to admire nature and love agriculture. After learning more about the importance of agriculture, I decided to pursue a Bachelor of Sciences in Crop Protection from UPR’s College Agricultural Sciences. My undergraduate coursework and research inspired my interest in the study of forests, specifically on how to integrate agroforestry into the management of novel forest ecosystems in Puerto Rico. My research addresses the relationships between dominant tree species and stand traits such as leaf area (LAI) and canopy phenology, and how these relationships affect the growth and survival of shade crops and fruit trees planted under novel forest canopies. I conduct my research in UPR Agricultural Experiment Station lands in Corozal, Gurabo and Mayagüez, and on public and private lands such as the Tallonal Forest Reserve in Arecibo and the Río Hondo Community Forest in Mayagüez.

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Estudiante Graduada

Rey E. Cruz Aguilar

My name is Rey E. Cruz Aguilar. I was born in Manatí and raised in Arecibo. My love for agriculture started to develop since I was thirteen years old. By helping to tend the crops that were growing in my backyard, my appreciation of nature started to grow. To develop agricultural expertise and understand the way nature works, I completed a bachelor’s degree in Agronomy in the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez campus. During my bachelors, my interest in plant ecology started to develop. My exploration of ecology and forestry related-disciplines has exposed me to new ideas and practices that have potential to improve agricultural practices in Puerto Rico, based on ecological principles. To this day, I’m pursuing my interest by completing thesis-related research in agriculture that has led me to conduct and learn from agroforestry and silviculture field experiments.

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Estudiante Graduado

 

 Gabriel Báez Rivera

Gabriel Báez Rivera is a graduate student of the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez campus. He was born in Bayamón and raised in Toa Alta. Gabriel developed an interest in agriculture and nature due to the influence of his parents and grandfather. They inculcated him to an environment which exposed him the importance of both. After obtaining his bachelor’s degree in Agronomy, Gabriel began studying the forests of Puerto Rico as part of his thesis. He documents the composition, structure, the effect of Hurricane Maria in his study sites and the species that are establishing in the novel forests of Almond after this disturbance. As a scientist, Gabriel will continue to study the effects of abiotic disturbances in forests to achieve a greater understanding of how these ecosystems respond to these events.

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Estudiante Graduado

 

Alejandro J. Marengo Casul

A graduate student of the Department of Agro-Environmental Sciences of the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus. Born and raised in the eastern valley of Caguas, Puerto Rico, he discovered his love for biology and the environment by exploring the natural resources of the Caribbean island. Inspired by the natural world, he completed his bachelor’s degree in Biology at the University of Puerto Rico in Cayey and currently pursues a Master’s Degree in Soil Science. His research is focused on forest ecology and the response of the highly novel moist forests of Puerto Rico to Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Specifically, he quantifies and studies the role of dead wood in the cycling of carbon and nutrients, and its implications for the global climate.

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Estudiante Graduado