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This experiment might actually work!


Last week on the farm we had a major event. It could mean that once our experiment is up we might have some success!


At Gurabo Experimental Field Station at the very moment of the surprise!

But before I tell you the happy news, let me tell you about our experiment. Like I mentioned in our first post, I’ve had a long standing dream of studying the impact of the green iguana on agriculture in Puerto Rico. When we read the outcomes of experiments that assess impact, it often seems like the science flows smoothly from idea to practice, but it doesn’t. Future scientists be warned (but not discouraged!) there are billions of unexpected obstacles in the process of creating science. My challenges to date involve paperwork, purchasing, weather, seedlings, cars, R, meetings and my own life. Luckily, through all those challenges I've had endless outpourings of support. If you’re lucky, and network your butt off, maybe you will have the same luck as me.


And so, this week I want to tell you about The experiment, The people who (in addition to the Dream team) support the experiment and The great news!



The experiment

After almost a year and a half of planning, designing, thinking, making connections and budgeting I created a field experiment that will evaluate the impact of the green iguana on two farms and on two crops.


Don’t you just love a nice figure in the morning? I do. Getting to this design took weeks! Here each of those gorgeous 15 feet blocks represent replicates within our plot. The green ones are lettuce(13/ea) and the grey ones cucumber(13/ea). Each are labeled with the treatments we will be applying.


We will monitor the plants as they grow and at the end compare each of the treatments’ yield. We are also using camera traps to make sure green iguanas are the culprits of any plant disappearance. I can’t wait till our plants are in the ground, and it actually looks like this!


I’ll post pictures.



The people who support us

Last year I was a GRIP intern for the National Science Foundation and did my work at the GIS Lab of the USDA Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) and the Caribbean Climate Hub. It’s an awesome place to work. I am lucky to be there. During the internship I did the first part of my research, but that’s another story. For now I’ll tell you that I’m still at IITF and am part or a team of extremely talented researchers and professionals. Here is a picture of [most of] them!




Among them, Dr. William Gould, Dr. Sandra Soto-Bayó, Dr. Jessica Castro, Tania Diaz, Eva Holupchinski, Maya Quiñones, Gary Potts, Olga Ramos, Edgardo Gonzalez


The people don’t end at the IITF. On top of this, I work with awesome agronomists from the Agricultural Extension Service in the Agricultural Experimental Stations of Juana Diaz and Gurabo. Agro. Carlos Almodovar is in charge of the experiments held at Juana Diaz and is the missing link between me and this experiment. I knew NOTHING about farming before starting my work, but thanks to Carlos I am learning and I'm able to move forward with the dream. Similarly, Agro. Ramon Couto from Gurabo has been an immense contributor to the design of these experiments. Without their support, I would still be on the drawing board.



Agro. Carlos Almodova shows us how to mark our plots at the Juana Diaz Agricultural Experiment Station

Finally (for now) my advisor, Dr. Jason Kolbe and the awesome staff at University of Rhode Island (Thanks Judy Palmer and Denise Brown). My advisor, who will maybe find out I have coined him as Sensei Miyagi, has been deeply supportive in this work. I sometimes can’t believe how supportive he is about my ideas. That’s not to say I don’t get frustrated though, because he is definitely a constructivist teacher (i.e I’ll guide you but you have to figure this out). But all in all, I feel like I have become a better scientist thanks to him.



THE BIG NEWS

I chose the two experimental stations (Juana Diaz and Gurabo) based on the agronomists reports that green iguanas were causing them major problems. But neither I or the Dream team had seen green iguanas on the areas where we will be planting our crops. This had us all concerned, because you can’t really do a study about how much green iguanas eat crops… without green iguanas.


A very suspicious set of prints.

Then, suddenly and without warning, they arrived! After rains hit the farm in Juana Diaz, an abundance of weedy plants popped up overnight and with them… my friends… came this beautiful dinosaur. I think this experiment might actually have been a good idea. It just may work!




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