Water Quality Survey, Acknowlegements&Dedication

ACKNOWLEGEMENTS AND DEDICATION

I would very much like to thank all the many volunteers who cheerfully gave their time and efforts towards this program, and without whom none of this would have been possible. It was a pure pleasure working with you all, and I am very grateful you could take time out of your busy lives to give something back to the community. This survey is really your work, and is dedicated to you all.
Water sampling stars of the survey are (in order of appearance): George & Marylou Maldonado, Milton Medina, Leon Richter, Jack Miller, John Foldan, Roger Wagner, Sally Fleming, Miguel Conty, Gina Mikan, Robert Watts, Jennette Rice & Rich Taylor.
An extra special mention and gold halo are given to: Colleen Donovan, Corey Senise, and Judith Anne Tamar for their excellent work, particularly for their heroic efforts to collect samples and get them to the lab during the deluge caused by tropical storm Olga on Dec. 11 2007 Such dedication to a long term project is all too rare, and I cannot thank them enough for providing real-time sampling during an extreme rain event. Volunteer collector extra ordinaire Susan Wruble not only gets a halo but a shiny gold star for her commitment and copiously detailed notes during her participation
I would also sincerely like to thank Dr. Luis A. Rios Hernandez, Assistant professor of Biology at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, for his support and interest in the program. I am particularly grateful for two in-depth discussions and lab tours of the laboratory side of water quality testing, his inspection of our facilities, and the donation of lab supplies so we could do some basic research in the Rincón area.
Equally sincere thanks to Dr. Ernesto Otero, Research Associate at the Department of Marine Sciences, UPR Mayagüez, for a very interesting morning while doing parallel testing and being shown standard field collection technique- a short course in microbial ecology at the beach He also inspected our facilities and sample processing routine, and made valuable suggestions regarding the practical aspects of our program. Both these gentlemen have been very kindly bringing to my attention whatever studies and papers they come across pertinent to our program, but more noted still is their willingness to actually go out into the community with their work and experience, both in Rincón and elsewhere on the island. We all cannot thank them enough for that.
I am very grateful to Dr. Jorge Capella, the Modeling Coordinator for CaRA (Caribbean Regional Association for Integrated Coastal Ocean Observing), for a very clear and concise explanation of the mechanics of current mapping and coastal modeling, and a virtual tour of his databases, showing what little is known so far about our area. His willingness to collaborate in future projects is also appreciated

I would also like to gratefully thank the following, all from UPR-Mayagüez, for their input into our program:
Dr. Amos Winters, Commonwealth Climatologist, for a fascinating morning discussing climate modeling, statistical analysis, and the affects of fecal contamination on acopora palmata, as well as lunch.
Dr. Mark Jury for a very informative discussion of hydrological modeling and the tools available on the internet, as well as recounting tales of life and teaching in Ethiopia.
Dr. Dallas Alston for the tour of lab facilities available in Magueyes, and several enlightening discussions on the affects of contamination in marine ecosystems carried on while kayaking, amongst many other things.
Dr. Robert Watts, recently of the Mayagüez campus, for his interest, support, and participation in the program, in addition to providing the geological explanation of how our coastline was formed.
I would give my special thanks to Mara Dias, the Water Quality Coordinator of Surfrider Foundation, for answering far too many questions when the survey began, and faithfully forwarding articles of interest to me.



For more information, or to volunteer to assist with this program, please contact Steve at stevetamar@gmail.com