[LTER-luq-students] Fwd: LUQ-LTER February 2016 Newsletter

[Aaron Hogan]

Hey Luq-students,

Congratulations to Craig Ramseyer (UGA), "our resident LTER grad-student
climate expert", for his paper on climate down-scaling for Puerto Rico;
Nice work!

Attached is the article, if you're interested

If you have articles being published  that are LTER relevant please send
them to Sarah Stankavich (sarahstankavich at gmail.com) AND one of your grad
student reps (me, Omar Gutierrez del Arroyo (omar.gutierrezdela at gmail.com)
, or Ricardo Rivera (rikijota at gmail.com))

All the best,

Aaron Hogan
(970) 485-1412
hogieskier at gmail.com

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Sarah Stankavich <SarahStankavich at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Feb 2, 2016 at 8:55 AM
Subject: [LTER-luq-students] LUQ-LTER February 2016 Newsletter
To: LTER <Luq-students at lternet.edu>


LUQ-LTER February 2016 Newsletter
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Thank you to everyone who attended the LUQ planning meeting in January!

*Join us by computer or phone via GoTo meeting on the following dates for
the LUQ Monthly Meetings!*

Feb 23: 3 pm AST 2 pm EST
March 29: 3 pm AST, 3 pm EDT
April 26: 3 pm AST, 3 pm EDT
May 31: 3 pm AST, 3 pm EDT

Meetings are generally ~ 1 hour of scientific presentations and discussion
followed by a general business meeting. The link/phone number to join is
sent out via e-mail before the meeting.

*LUQ REU Applications Open*

We are now accepting applications for the Summer 2016 internship in
Tropical Ecology and Evolution at El Verde Field Station. The internship
will run from May 30 - August 5.

Application deadline: 28 February 2016

The program will offer students the opportunity to have hands-on experience
fields such as:
- Aquatic insect ecology
- Web-spinning spider ecology
- Plant-animal interactions
- Plant population biology
- Soil and leaf litter fungal diversity

Students receive a stipend for the ten weeks duration of the program.
Round-trip plane ticket from home institution to Puerto Rico will be
reimbursed, up to a maximum of $600.  The program will cover housing at El
Verde Field Station.  The National Science Foundation and the University of
Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras campus, fund the program.

The program is limited to undergraduate students pursuing a bachelor degree
at a college or university during summer 2016 that are US citizens or
permanent residents.

Application materials and further information can be found at
http://reu.ites.upr.edu/
<http://lternet.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3bfbcf00b80c0e72a4ca091af&id=d664fe59a3&e=cdc2d0dea1>
*Field Protocol Workshop for Teachers*
On November 21, 2015, the Luquillo Schoolyard LTER Program conducted an
eight hour field protocol workshop, welcoming two of our former Schoolyard
participants: Glenda Almodóvar and Diana González, and two new teachers,
Arlene Gómez and Yomaira Ortiz from the Carmen Feliciano Middle School in
Palmer, a local El Yunque community. The objective of the workshop was to
learn about field methodologies for assessing forest dynamics, stream
ecology and soil characterization at El Verde, in addition to data
collection, entry and analysis.

During the workshop, the teachers were organized and trained by UPR
researchers and graduate students in the methods of three data collection
protocols within the rainforest setting. (1) The teachers studied stream
structure, shrimp and water quality of one of the tributary of Quebrada
Sonadora. Stream structure measurements included stream width and depth and
stream flow. Water quality measurements included dissolved oxygen, presence
of nitrates, and phosphate, turbidity, and pH. Shrimp measurements included
size and abundance. (2) The teachers examined forest structure in a
permanent study plot established for the ongoing students’ internships,
located near the Luquillo long-term forest dynamics plot. Program
participants measured DBH and height and identified species for every tree
in a given area. (3) The teachers studied soil characteristics along a
slope near the forest study plot. They measured soil texture, compaction,
infiltration, and moisture at the top, middle, and bottom of the slope, and
were introduced to more sophisticated equipment such high-end soil moisture
probe and bulk density coring tools.

Guiding the teachers were Dr. Omar Pérez Reyes, Christopher Nytch, and Seth
Rifkin, Research Manager of the Luquillo Forest Dynamics Plot. The teachers
and the mentors conducted a brief analysis of the data, comparing their
results to those collected in previous internships. In addition to the
regular data collection activities, Adriana Herrera, a post-doctoral
technician at El Verde Field Station, together with Sarah Stankavich, LTER
Coordinator, lead a night walk that focused on discovering the nocturnal
biodiversity at El Verde.

Each teacher chose one protocol that they would like to conduct with their
students during the spring semester.  They will return to El Verde with up
to 20 students in the coming months to be trained in their chosen protocol,
and they will also have the option to use LUQ LTER data sets to develop an
ecological research question that leads to a presentation at the 2016 LTER
Schoolyard Annual Symposium.



LUQ's first "Data Jam" was held on Nov 20, 2015


On November 20th, 2015, 22 science teachers from private and public schools
in Puerto Rico participated in a six-hour Data Jam Workshop hosted at the
Forward Learning facilities in Guaynabo. During the workshop, teachers had
the opportunity to work with the 1994 and 2015 drought data and parameters
such as stream flow, rainfall, reservoir height and soil moisture obtained
from LUQ-LTER, LCZO, and USGS databases to investigate a basic ecology
question and develop a claim-evidence-reasoning PowerPoint presentation to
demonstrate their findings. Excel and PowerPoint training was provided by
Dayánez Torres from Forward Learning. Following the workshop, the teachers
will conduct data jams with their students back in the classroom over the
course of the school year, motivating them to use ecological data collected
in the Luquillo Experimental Forest by the LCZO, LUQ-LTER and USGS to
create a project that presents the data in a non-traditional way. Students
will be able to submit their creative projects for consideration to present
at the annual symposium at UPRRP in May. Those teachers who successfully
implement the data jam with their students are eligible be invited to
participate in a Fieldwork Protocols workshop for the subsequent school
year.

The success of this effort was achieved through the collaboration among
several partner groups and individuals: Dr. Steven McGee and Noelia Báez,
LUQ-LTER educator representatives; Dr. Jess Zimmerman, LUQ-LTER Lead-PI;
Bill McDowell, LCZO Lead-PI; Miguel León, LCZO Information Manager; Sra.
Dilia Haddock, PR Department of Education Science Director; Alexis Torres,
President of Forward Learning, and Mayrelis Narváez, a science educator
consultant for Forward Learning.
*Dr. Joseph Wunderle Awarded 2015 Ralph W. Schrieber Conservation Award*

The American Ornithologists' Union awarded IITF scientist Dr. Joseph
Wunderle the 2015 Ralph W. Schrieber Conservation Award. The award,
established in 2005, "recognizes extraordinary scientific contributions to
the conservation, restoration, or preservation of birds and/or their
habitats by an individual or small team." Congratulations, Joe! View the
full article from AOU here
<http://lternet.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3bfbcf00b80c0e72a4ca091af&id=e9f5100da6&e=cdc2d0dea1>

*White House Water Summit*

On March 22, 2016, the Administration will host a White House Water Summit
to raise awareness of water issues in the United States, and to catalyze
ideas and actions to help build a sustainable and secure water future
through innovative solutions. This event, which builds on the December 15,
2015 White House Roundtable on Water Innovation
<http://lternet.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3bfbcf00b80c0e72a4ca091af&id=debada61aa&e=cdc2d0dea1>
and other Administration activities, will bring together representatives
from Federal, state, regional, local and tribal levels, and from other
stakeholder groups, to discuss and advance progress in this important area.

As part of this effort, the White House is issuing a call-to-action for
individuals, organizations, and institutions from all sectors to take new,
specific, and measurable steps to address key water issues, such as drought
or flooding; water availability or quality; water-use efficiency; water
security; ecosystem requirements; or others. If applicable, announcements
of these steps may be incorporated into official materials for the White
House Water Summit, and involved individuals may be invited to participate
in the White House Water Summit and/or related events.

For more information on this event (including links to examples of
commitments made in response to previous White House calls-to-action), and
to submit your input, click *here
<http://lternet.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3bfbcf00b80c0e72a4ca091af&id=ccf7a9c27c&e=cdc2d0dea1>*
.
Tamara Heartsill-Scalley and Grizelle González holding a hardcopy of the 1st
special issue of Caribbean Naturalist on the 16th Caribbean Foresters
Meeting. See the contents of the issue here.
<http://lternet.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3bfbcf00b80c0e72a4ca091af&id=114d630309&e=cdc2d0dea1>
*Recent Publications*

Dalling, J.W., K. Heineman, G. González*, * and R. Ostertag, R. 2015.
Geographic, environmental and biotic sources of variation in the nutrient
relations of tropical montane forests. Journal of Tropical Ecology, Special
issue on RCN – TMF.  Published online. DOI:10.1017/S0266467415000619
    Click here to access this article
<http://lternet.us10.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=3bfbcf00b80c0e72a4ca091af&id=d854dd2185&e=cdc2d0dea1>

Figueroa-Nieves, D., McDowell, W. H., Potter, J. D., and Martinez, G. 2015.
Limited uptake of nutrient input from sewage effluent in a tropical
landscape. Freshwater Science DOI:10.1086/684992.
     Click here to access this article
<http://lternet.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3bfbcf00b80c0e72a4ca091af&id=007d1a22a0&e=cdc2d0dea1>

González, G., and T. Heartsill-Scalley. 2016. Building a Collaborative
Network to Understand Regional Forest Dynamics and for the Advancement of
Forestry Initiatives in the Caribbean. Caribbean Naturalist 245-256.
     Click here to access this article
<http://lternet.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3bfbcf00b80c0e72a4ca091af&id=fbe51ad86c&e=cdc2d0dea1>

Heartsill-Scalley, T. and G. González. 2016.  Introduction: Caribbean
forest dynamics and community and regional forestry initiatives. Caribbean
Naturalist 1-12.
     Click here to access this article
<http://lternet.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3bfbcf00b80c0e72a4ca091af&id=e142861569&e=cdc2d0dea1>

Meléndez-Ackerman, E., J. Rojas-Sandoval, D. S. Fernández, G. González, A.
López, J. Sustache, M. Morales, M. García-Bermúdez, and S. Aragón.
2016. Associations
between soil variables and vegetation structure and composition of
Caribbean Dry Forests. Caribbean Naturalist 176-198.
     Click here to access this article
<http://lternet.us10.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=3bfbcf00b80c0e72a4ca091af&id=66e5519a34&e=cdc2d0dea1>

Ramseyer, C. A., and T. L. Mote. Atmospheric controls on Puerto Rico
precipitation using artificial neural networks. Climate Dynamics (2016):
1-12.
     Click here to access this article
<http://lternet.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3bfbcf00b80c0e72a4ca091af&id=f0fb67914f&e=cdc2d0dea1>

Scholl, M.A., J. B. Shanley, S. F. Murphy, J. K. Willenbring, M. Occhi, and
G. González. 2015. Stable-isotope and solute-chemistry approaches to flow
characterization in a forested tropical watershed, Luquillo Mountains,
Puerto Rico. Applied Geochemistry 63:484-497.
   Click here to access this article
<http://lternet.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=3bfbcf00b80c0e72a4ca091af&id=a5e9fac104&e=cdc2d0dea1>

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