Trip Reports - Puerto Rico
Anne Chamberlain and Cath Lovelock wrote to the Crab last Spring to report on the Puerto Rican version of mangrove boot-camp. As this is the first issue of the Crab since then, it makes it to the web at last.

The course was taught by Candy Feller, Kelton Clark (SERC), Cath Lovelock, Steve Davis (Texas A & M), and Sharon Ewe (Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce) with assistance from Anne Chamberlain and Rachel Borgatti from SERC, and Hernán Torres Pratts from the University of Puerto Rico. It was made possible as the result of a partnership between the Biocomplexity Project, LSAMP (Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation) and the Smithsonian Institution.  Much of the inspiration and coordination for this course came from Kelton Clark, the LSAMP coordinator for the Smithsonian Institution.

Nineteen students and 3 instructors from the University of Puerto Rico and the Catholic University spent 10 days at the Department of Marine Sciences Laboratory (University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez) on Magueyes Island by the town of La Parguera. The students were motivated, curious, fun and full of energy.
The daily schedule included a half day of a lecture and formal field activity, with a half day in which the students pursued group research projects on and around the Islands of La Paguera.  Laboratory sessions occurred in the evenings. The four group projects, headed by the course instructors, looked at a diverse array of questions, from nutrient effects on herbivory (nutrient enrichment in the area is provided naturally by a bird rookery island and by a sewage outfall area), to understanding the environmental factors affecting forest structure and productivity. 
Guest lectures and field trips were given by Dr. Juan Gonzales (dinoflagellates), Dr David Ballantine (algae) and Dr. Ariel Lugo (mangroves). On the last day of the course the students participated in a Symposium where they presented their results, in English, to the group and to local journalists who came to cover the event. This was a wonderful achievement and a super finale to the course.