Proposed Renovation of Mata de Platano Field Station in the Karst Region of Puerto Rico, West Indies

波多黎各美洲大学(IAUPR)巴扬校区是一所主要为拉美裔社区服务的大学，它获得了一笔赠款，用于在西印度群岛波多黎各喀斯特地区的Mata de Plátano野战站(MPFS)和保护区建造三间额外的卧室和一间浴室。野战站和保护区位于波多黎各北部喀斯特地区的阿雷西博市，被认为是岛上生物多样性最丰富的地区之一。MPFS为外地站提供的所有三个方案组成部分提供服务，即：研究、教育和外联。新的结构将允许继续增加在该地区工作的科学家队伍，与波多黎各和国外的其他大学合作，并提供一个改进的教育平台，我们可以在这个平台上为K-16学生和一般公众提供外联活动。MPFS提供设施，允许对喀斯特地区的环境过程进行基本发现；并促进当地和来访的研究人员和学生的参与。过去三年，MPFS的活动比前七年的总和还要多，对了解喀斯特生态系统做出了越来越重要的贡献。一些研究领域包括动物生态学、植物生物学、保育、古生物学、寄生虫学、入侵物种和地质学。该电台还为不同群体的教育做出了贡献。在MPFS，定期向来自岛上和美国的学校、大学、教师和社区团体提供实地考察和讲习班。研讨会的主题包括岛屿生态、蝙蝠和蟒蛇的相互作用、卡丁车生态和植物生殖生物学，通常是与其他旨在改善科学和数学教师教育的项目合作举办的。生态、世界展望和文学、论文和叙事的本科课程，以及人口生态学的研究生课程经常使用该站。两本围绕“MPFS经验”写成的儿童读物在学校里很常见，这些书的作者和MPFS的科学家经常被邀请演讲。许多报纸、电视和广播节目也帮助了外展工作。

The Bayamón Campus of the Inter American University of Puerto Rico (IAUPR), a university that mainly serves a Hispanic community, is awarded a grant for the construction of three additional bedrooms and one bathroom at Mata de Plátano Field Station (MPFS) and Reserve in the Karst Region of Puerto Rico, West Indies. The Field Station and Reserve are located in the municipality of Arecibo, within the northern karst region of the island of Puerto Rico, and is considered one of the most biologically diverse regions on the island. MPFS serves all three programmatic components available to field stations, namely: research, education, and outreach. The new structure will allow continuing to increase the pool of scientists working in this region, the collaboration with other universities in Puerto Rico and abroad, and offer an improved educational platform from which we can provide outreach activities for K-16 students and the public in general. MPFS provides facilities that permit fundamental discoveries about environmental processes in the karst region; and promotes participation by local and visiting researchers and students. The last three years MPFS has seen more activity than the previous seven combined, making increasingly significant contributions to the knowledge of karst ecosystems. Some areas of research include animal ecology, plant biology, conservation, paleontology, parasitology, invasive species, and geology. The station also contributes to the education of diverse groups of people. At MPFS, field trips and workshops are offered on a regular basis to schools, universities, teachers, and community groups from the island and the United States. Workshops are offered on topics such as island ecology, bat and boa interactions, karts ecology, and plant reproductive biology, often in collaboration with other programs designed to improve the education of science and math teachers. Undergraduate courses in Ecology, World Vision and Literature, Essay and Narrative, and a graduate course on Population Ecology use the station regularly. Two children's books written around the "MPFS experience" are commonly used in schools where both the author of the books, as well as the scientist from MPFS, are often invited to offer talks. Numerous newspaper, TV and radio programs also help the outreach efforts.