Research in our lab takes advantage of Puerto Rico's central position in the Caribbean and proximity to South America. There are several nearby field sites that offer excellent opportunities to blend molecular genetic techniques with field and behavioral data to study adaptation, population structure, and mating systems tropical marine and terrestrial organisms.
South America
Many current projects have a broad geographic focus and rely on field research and collections from across the Neotropics. We have contacts and field experience in many South, Central American and Caribean countries, including Ecuador, French Guiana, Panama, and Costa Rica.
The Caribbean National Forest, El Yunque, is located in the Sierra de Luquillo Mountains approximately 45 kms for the University. The forest covers 11,000 hectars and includes a variety of tropical habitats and forest types. The forest is also home to the Luquillo Experimental Forest Long-Term Ecological Research Program funded by the NSF through the Institute for Tropical Ecosystem Studies.
Culebra
Located 28 kilometers east of Puerto Rico, Culebra is a small island with many associated cays. A large proportion of the coastal region of Culebra and many of the surrounding islands fall under the jurisdiction of the Culebra National Wildlife Reserve. The reserve supports large sea bird colonies and includes important nesting habitat for many endangered marine turtles. In addition, the recently established, Louis Peña Marine Reserve offers wonder opportunities for coral reef research.
Mona is located approximately midway between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic in the Mona Channel. The island is about 42 square kilometers (twice as large as Culebra) and is the home of large populations of land iguanas, three species of endangered sea turtles, and many sea bird species. In addition, the surround waters contain some of the least disturbed coral reefs in the Caribbean. The island is administered by the Puerto Rican Department of Natural Resources.
