Weekly Estuary Update

Happy Mother's Day to all the incredible mothers of the San Juan Bay Estuary Watershed, Puerto Rico, and the diaspora! Your strength, resilience, love, and care inspire us every day. We appreciate your dedication to your families, communities, and the environment. Today, we celebrate mothers and what they represent: kindness, compassion, and that loving spirit that makes the world a better place. Thank you for everything you do!

Job opportunities

[REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS] ESTUARY ENVIRONMENTAL PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE PROVIDER

Estuary is seeking proposals from experienced organizations or firms with a proven track record of success to conduct an environmental health impact assessment as a public health service provider for the Estuary. The assessment will analyze the relationship between illegal discharges in the San Juan Bay Estuary watershed and public health in the community.

View the request for proposals: https://estuario.org/request-for-proposal-estuario-environmental-public-health-service-provider/

[CONTRACT ANNOUNCEMENT] GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE SPECIALIST

Estuary is seeking to hire a Green Infrastructure Specialist to support projects and facilitate stakeholders related to urban reforestation, coastal resilience, restoration, and Estuary's Green Infrastructure Master Plan.

See the announcement at: https://estuario.org/contract-announcement-green-infrastructure-specialist/

[CONTRACT ANNOUNCEMENT] ESTUARY PROJECT COORDINATOR – CITIZEN SCIENTIST CERTIFICATION PROJECT

The Estuary Project Coordinator – Citizen Scientist Certification Project will be responsible for training citizens in the Coastal Resilience module of the Estuary Citizen Scientist Certification Project.

See the call for applications at: https://estuario.org/contract-announcement-estuario-project-coordinator-citizen-scientist-certification-program-3/

Certification of scientific citizens

We are certifying students in grades 9 ^through 12 through the Coastal Resilience module. The certification includes an introductory workshop, an elective workshop, and two field trips related to the ecosystem of your choice: seagrass beds, mangroves ^, or coral reefs.

Through certification, you will be able to complete your Green Contact hours or community service.

Open to public and private school students. Adult accompaniment is required on field trips.

To learn more and coordinate your participation, please contact us by email at: [email protected] and [email protected].

Participatory bird census module:

Join the scheduled participatory bird census this Saturday, May 13, from 7:00 am to 10:00 am in the Piñones State Forest, in celebration of Global Big Day! Spaces are still available.

Introductory workshops:

We continue with the following scheduled workshops:

May 17: Introduction to microplastics and other aquatic debris – with Eliezer Nieves Rodríguez
May 24: Introduction to coastal resilience – with Patria Aponte Marcano

All workshops are held virtually via Zoom from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

Coastal resilience module:

May 13: Field trip—planting red mangrove; 8:00 am to 12:00 pm, in Isabela
May 30: Thematic workshop—ecological restoration with planting of red mangrove; 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm via Zoom

Water quality module:

May 18: Field trip—bacteriological monitoring in the County Lagoon and coastal shoreline; 9:00 am to 12:00 pm

Microplastics characterization and reduction module:

May 27: Field trip—characterization of microplastics; 9:00 am to 11:00 am, location to be announced.

Register today! See all events and additional information about the certification process and thematic modules at https://estuario.org/ccc/.

Family day out at County Lagoon

Last Saturday, May 6th, we held a family day out at the Estuarine Nature Reserve of the County Lagoon, in honor of all mothers.

We thank our collaborators: Taller Aurora PR, Laura Magruder, Amigos de la Laguna, Euforik Live Performance School , and the Municipality of San Juan, for their contribution to making this event a success. Thanks also to everyone who joined us! 92 people attended the Estuary Cinema, 70 attended the silent concert, 13 attended the macrame workshop, and five attended the Pilates class.

Until next time and happy Mother's Day!

See photos of the event here.

Characterization of microplastics in San Juan Bay

A big shout-out to the volunteers who participated in the microplastic characterization field trip, as part of the citizen scientist certification program, last Saturday, April 28th. Sixty-eight microplastics were collected from the Caño Martín Peña and Canal San Antonio areas. Congratulations! See the photo gallery here.

EarthEcho highlights the participants of Puerto Rico Water Quality Day 2023

Read the article from EarthEcho International, the organization behind the EarthEcho Water Challenge, published on monitorwater.org.

Media coverage

May 3, 2023. Become a citizen scientist. Viva La Tarde. WAPA TV. Web. https://youtu.be/7heXmnV0Mf0

Weekly bacteriological monitoring

Evaluation conducted on Wednesday, May 10, 2023. We have a GREEN flag for the Condado Lagoon Estuarine Nature Reserve. We recommend avoiding the area that did not meet the water quality standard (70 CFU/100 ML). Remember to avoid these bodies of water during rain events.