Category: Cayo Santiago

Field notes from my research trip to the Cayo Santiago Biological Field Station, in Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico. For more information, you can visit the field site’s website here: http://cprc.rcm.upr.edu/

Greetings from Cayo Santiago!

by Alyssa

On Tuesday, I returned (finally!) to Puerto Rico to continue my research at the Cayo Santiago Biological Field Station.

A monkey on an island
One of the monkeys looks over the sea, Cayo Pequeño visible in the background. Photo credit: Alyssa M. Arre.

 

On this trip, we hope to run some follow-up studies to studies from last summer’s trip. I hope to go over these in more detail in a future post. Last trip it was only Astrid and I, but this summer I will be working with Daniel Horschler, a graduate student from the University of Arizona. Our main project is one that we are collaborating on together and we’re both really excited about it! We will also have two research assistants coming down in another week.

UofA Graduate Student, Daniel Horschler, happy to be at the Cayo Santiago Biological Field Station.

 

That’s all I have time for today, but I will be trying my best (!!!) to keep this updated throughout the next few weeks. This summer presents a particular challenge because we need to drive an hour to get reliable Wi-Fi, so it has been a lot just to get the necessary work done each day (on top of field work). Hasta pronto!

 

Day 68: Working with Project Monkey Island

by Alyssa
On the boat heading back to Punta Santiago, with Nahirí at the helm.

If I am being completely honest, the last few days working on Cayo Santiago have been incredibly tough. While I hope to cover the changes in the landscape in more detail soon, it is enough to say for now that with hardly any shade on the island, the working conditions for both us (and the monkeys) are completely different from last year.

To cheer us up, Astrid and I have been coming back from the island and heading straight to the CPRC office, where we have been assisting wherever needed on the current reconstruction project.

Project Monkey Island, headed by Dr. Steve Shapiro, is an organization dedicated to rebuilding the Cayo Santiago Field Station following the damages caused by Hurricane Maria. The group has also been dedicated to projects all across Punta Santiago, the small community we live in while working at Cayo Santiago. These projects have included the construction of a small computer lab for use by the community, fixing up homes of some of the locals who lost everything, and rebuilding a preschool that was washed away in the storm. For details and tons of photos, you can check out the facebook page for Cayo Santiago and for Project Monkey Island.

We have been trying to help every day on a small scale project. On Tuesday, we helped peel old latex paint from the walls, and today, we put up a fresh coat of new paint on a  different set of walls (and the ceiling). I am now covered in gray paint, but am happy I got the opportunity to help out at the center today.

More on the current state of Cayo Santiago, Punta Santiago, and my summer research projects coming up this week. Thanks for following along!

Day 63: Bienvenidos a Puerto Rico

by Alyssa

After many long months waiting to return, today I finally boarded a plane and arrived in sunny Puerto Rico. From the plane, the damage that Hurricane Maria caused was still evident.

The edge of the island (top) and a more inland view (bottom), visible as my plane landed in Puerto Rico. Blue tarps, used as makeshift roofing, still dot the landscape. Photo credit: Alyssa M. Arre

While here, we hope to run a few projects investigating social development in baby rhesus macaques, the species of monkey that call the Cayo Santiago Biological Field Station home.

We also hope to work with the community to improve access to educational resources through work with Project Monkey Island, and Fundacion Amigos del Yunque. In my last post, I mentioned the book drive that I conducted at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, and I am excited to finally bring those books to their new home (pending their arrival next Monday).

A map of Puerto Rico, outlining our drive from the airport down to Punta Santiago. Screenshot courtesy of Google Maps.

Today is a busy day for us, filled with a lot of driving, unpacking and digging our various field equipment boxes out of the storage shed, and reconnecting with old friends. Looking forward to writing more about my favorite place in the world! Stay tuned for an update soon.