Evelyn Baez Colon
PhD Candidate in Environmental Sciences at UPR-RP
She holds a Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) from UPR-MSC, the Graduate School of Public Health, University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus and a Bachelor degree in Biology Sciences from University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras. She has collaborated as a research assistant in courses such as Environmental Microbiology with Dr. Gary Gervais and Environmental Laboratory Techniques with Dr. Clifford Louime. She worked at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA/FSIS) on research regarding food safety and public health. She currently works in the U.S. Health and Human Services Department - FDA as a Public Health investigator.
Her interest in Socio-Ecological Systems and Sustainability led her to found the organization Hacienda Agroecológica Renacer, an agroecological project with the objective of promoting a production model that preserves the ecological base, allowing communities to educate about environmental sustainability. She has been training in agroecology and permaculture for four years by taking workshops, internships and courses in Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and Cuba. Her doctoral thesis project is aimed at bioenergy and sustainable models: "Production of biogas and biofertilizer using anaerobic reactors (bio-digesters) with animal manure for small scale farmers". She researches on the development of biodigesters as part of a sustainable model, looking for the feasibility levels for the implementation of small-scale anaerobic reactors in Puerto Rico. She wishes to be able to expand the concept of bioenergy in PR and continue contributing to our sustainable development with possible alternatives and strategies that benefit the environment and that respond to climate change. She is collaborating with us in the internship of Natural Resources Management with the use of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) -drones, for data collection and spatial analysis (ArcGIS) in different areas of study, especially in local farms in the first phase of the project.
Contact: evelyn.baez@upr.edu