PROJECT TEAM

Elvia Meléndez-Ackerman, Ph.D

She is an ecologist by training, but an interdisciplinary researcher by experience. Her disciplinary research assesses evolutionary ecology, bio-conservation, and ecological responses to climate variability. In the past 10 years, her research has expanded to address sustainability and adaptive capacity issues within the context of urban social-ecological systems. She has served as a Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on grants from state and federal agencies, and non-governmental organizations such as the Department of Natural Resources, NSF, USFS, USDA and Ford. Her work has assessed the vulnerabilities experienced by endangered plants, but she has also worked on projects that combine ecological and social knowledge to answer questions about resilience and urban sustainability.

Luis Santiago, Ph.D

Associate Professor and Director of the Urban and Regional Planning Program. He also served as Professor at the University of Puerto Rico Graduate School of Planning. Dr. Santiago holds a doctoral degree in City and Regional Planning from Cornell University. His interest in the role of ecosystem services in Planning has led him to participate as Co-PI in the NASA Puerto Rico Human Impacts of Coastal Ecosystems and the NSF San Juan Urban Long-Term Research Area-Exploratory projects.

Co-Principal Investigator 

Jess Zimmerman, Ph.D

My primary research interests are in the impact of hurricanes, drought, and human land use, and their interaction, on the dynamics of tropical tree communities.  I am also interested in seasonal and long-term changes tropical forest reproduction.   I have worked on linkages between socioeconomic factors and forest dynamics in rural and urban environments and restoration ecology.  I conduct research on timber management with my former graduate student, Dr. Jimena Forero.

Jimena Forero, Ph.D

My research interests are in the sustainable management of tropical forests. My main interest is to study management strategies based that allow the sustainable use of forest products and resources, which could help to develop ecological corridors and matrices that create connectivity among forests fragments as well as improve the livelihoods of the communities that live near forests

Sandra S. Vázquez Ortíz, B.S

My research interests are in urban environmental planning. My main interest is to study urban and regional planning approaches and exploring innovative planning interventions that help manage and regulate the use and development of land and water resources and reduce air pollution exposure, for the development of sustainable communities and ecosystems.

Jonathan Alfredo López Colón, MSEM

My research interest and focus are on the management and conservation of endangered species. I currently work with the Chamaecrista glandulosa var. mirabilis is an endemic legume of Puerto Rico and classified as an endangered species in 1995.  I build on past work to gather information on its reproductive biology and vulnerabilities related to climate variability and the role of natural disturbances. Results will be used to develop a population viability analysis and evaluate the potential effects of different climatic/disturbance scenarios of the population growth rate of this species. The long-term goal is to use this information to develop recommendations on the best management practices to generate self-sustaining stable populations.

Eng. Carlos Lee

Is President of Lee Engineering and a licensed engineer in Puerto Rico. Mr. Lee has been involved in private-forest management practices for the past 45 years. He consults on and sells low-impact logging and timber processing equipment and has been the construction manager on projects using locally harvested hardwoods. Mr. Lee was the proponent of the University of Puerto Rico’s project Developing the infrastructure for a Puerto Rico Wood Products Team and is the business/industry collaborator on this project. In May 2019, this project received a grant from the US Forest Service under the Wood Innovation Program.

Rayza M. Hernández-Muñiz, B.S.

My research interests focus but are not limited to wildlife populations/communities and their management. Currently, my work involves the evaluation of the population status of a small epiphytic orchid, Lepanthes eltoroensis Stimson, a rare species endemic and restricted to The Luquillo Experimental Forest/El Yunque National Forest in the northeastern of Puerto Rico. In this study, we collaborate with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment to collect demographic, habitat, and climatological data to evaluate the dynamics of L. eltoroensis populations and re-valuate their current status, and make recommendations on towards its recovery and potential for de-listing.