The Environmental Sciences Program has many teaching labs, including a GIS computer lab, a Geophysics Lab, a Tropical Ecology Land Use Lab, an Aquatic Ecology and Eco-toxicology Lab, and a Limnology Lab.
In addition to facilities and equipment, the program has close ties and collaborations with local governmental agencies and groups such as the US Environmental Protection Agency, the US Geological Survey, the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, CAUCE (Centro de Acción Urbana, Comunitaria, y Empresarial of Rio Piedras, la Sociedad Eco-Ambiental, and our industry partner, Biolípidos de Puerto Rico).
Built in 1937 as a leader in tropical research and managed by the University of Puerto Rico, El Verde Field Station became the principal site for research in the department. Currently, the Environmental Sciences Department, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus (UPR-RP), administers the station and surrounding research area under an agreement with USDA Forest Service. The station is used by numerous faculty, post-docs, and graduate and undergraduate students from the University of Puerto Rico, USDA Forest Service, and other academic institutions in Puerto Rico, the mainland United States, and other countries.
