Integrated Human Practices
In this page you will find details about our engagement with stakeholders and our community.
Overview
Our team is compromised in involving the community into our project. Throughout this year, we met and dialogue with people who provided us different perspectives that helped us enhance our engagement with our community. We also took part in events that provided us a space to discuss our project and initiatives. All of this allowed us to to develop a project in a responsible and ethical manner. We had the opportunity to:
- Visit Vieques
- Participate in a health fair in Vieques
- Participate in a Biology Symposium
- Meet Stakeholders
Visit to Vieques
Part of the team visited the Municipality of Vieques Island in May. The objectives of this visit included learning about the areas affected by military activity, speaking with residents who experienced the military occupation's events, and investigating the development of cleanup operations for the affected ecosystems. To meet these objectives we met in person Mr. Armando Torres, who has served as a community leader and his wife, Mrs. Elba Oquendo, who dedicated herself to being a teacher in Vieques. We discussed our project, listened to their experiences as community leaders during the early 2000’s, and received their feedback on our project. Mr. Armando led us on a tour throughout the island, where we visited the Sun Bay beach, old military bunkers, the wave barrier of Vieques, local communities and businesses. Mr. Armando took us to the main entrance of Camp García where most of the main protests took place. As we walked around the area, Mr. Armando provided us with historical and cultural information about the Island.
Mr. Amando informed us that a cleaning process was underway, which is bomb denotation. Since it does not reduce pollution but rather transforms it, this method is not the most efficient. He added that the residents do not receive updates regarding the cleaning process and those in charge of the job do not divulge any information. On the other hand, Mrs. Elba emphasized that the repercussions of the pollution on the Anones Lagoon are not covered in the educational curricula. She attempted to alter the school curriculum to raise awareness, however, it was rejected. Mr. Armando and Mrs. Elba believed that our project might be a solution.
Throughout our visit we conducted many informal interviews with residents, which provided us with diverse perspectives that we could integrate into our project. We had the opportunity to speak with a cab driver who served as a police officer during the early 2000s protests. He described how he grew up among the military practices and how it became normalized throughout generations. Later on, we met a car renter, who claimed that there was not any area contaminated on the island. Finally, we met Professor Moscoso, with whom we reviewed potential sampling locations and other scientific research related to our project.
This visit provided us many perspectives that will aid us in enhancing our approach to the public; with transparent information and with an academic purpose which is to be able, in some future, to improve environmental conditions through an alternative, non-invasive and non-damaging technique. Also, education, especially in school, is crucial to comprehend the effects of contaminations and what can be done about it. The most significant lesson we received is that viequenses have been able to emerge from this situation and they will always search for the best interest of their people, welcoming every help that is presented to them.
Health Fair
After meetings with stakeholders and reviewing the obtained insight, it was determined that access to health care was a priority for the island municipality given that there is no hospital and the number of specialty doctors is relatively limited. In the course of responding to Vieques' needs, we established a long-term collaboration with the H-MARIA Foundation and other medical institutions in Puerto Rico to provide free health care to Vieques residents. Among the specialists brought were cardiologists specialized in women, generalists, gynecologists, psychologists, dermatologists, chiropractors and more. We were able to interview numerous island residents informally during the health fair and receive their feedback on both the situation on Vieques. Similarly, it was stated what IGEM-UPRM is attempting to achieve in order to restore biodiversity over time. We learnt from some Vieques inhabitants that they feel the prevalence of cancer has increased since the start of military training. This is consistent with the most current cancer statistics of Puerto Rico.
Similarly, the majority of the residents were opposed to these practices and believe they are now paying the price. In contrast, we spoke with one resident who was adamant that the ecosystem had not been damaged as a result of military actions. As a result, we concluded that this is a contentious issue that must be handled with caution. We incorporated this information into our project and revised our purpose as well as our communication approach to affected residents.
On October 29, 2022, our team will return to Vieques to conduct the second health fair.
Biology Symposium
As being the first organization in the University of Puerto Rico - Mayagüez Campus dedicated to applying principles of synthetic biology in a research investigation, we were invited to present our project “R-DetoX” in the annual UPR-Mayaguez’s Research Symposium. Dr. Carlos Rios Velazquez, our mentor, and Dr. Jaime Acosta served as the judges, allowing students to reflect and question aspects of their project that need reinforcement. Students from the Biology department including undergraduate research students and students from Dr. Carlos Rios Synthetic Biology class partook in the symposium. The judges raised questions on the visual aspect of the expression of the reporter genes working simultaneously in the biorreactor. Our team suggested that there could be a range of color from yellow to red, since our reporter genes emit yellow and red fluorescence respectively. Lastly, we were asked if we had a plan to acquire water samples directly from the Anones Lagoon. We followed the question by answering that we were going to seek the corresponding permission from the The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and the The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Stakeholders
Armando Torres
Armando Torres is a prominent resident of Vieques, who stood out as a community leader during the early 2000´s. We decided to approach him due to his experience as a community leader, he could provide us a realistic view on our proposal. We discussed our initiative, listened to his leadership experiences and received feedback. Throughout the meeting, Armando mentioned the lack of knowledge by many Viequenses concerning the presence and impacts of pollution in the Anones Lagoon. He emphasized the importance of a transparent approach when visiting Vieques as we are not the first to propose a solution to this issue. Additionally, he emphasized the importance of utilizing basic terminology for a greater comprehension amongst residents. After speaking with Armando, we searched for initiatives to assist us build an effective approach when discussing our project.
Myrna Pagán
Myrna Pagán is the founder of “Vidas Viequenses Valen”, an organization devoted to enhancing the quality of life of Viequenses. Based on her experiences with her organization, we believed she could assist us communicate our proposal to Viequenses communities. Throughout the meeting, we addressed the cleaning strategies employed in the Anones Lagoons, where Myrna mentioned bomb detonation. She stated that it is not the most effective way as it is unsafe and does not reduce pollution. She also expressed a desire to see a cost-effective and time-effective cleaning method developed. After speaking with Myrna, we determined that presenting our project as a cleaning strategy might be an effective approach to receive feedback from the public.
Carlos A. Bermudez
Carlos A. Bermudez is the secretary of the mayor of Vieques, who could provide us with reliable information regarding the cleaning methods. He explained to us that the cleaning strategy involved open detonations up to three feet deep and that it may take up to 30 years to complete. He also stated that there was no remediation method in place to reduce water contamination. Carlos provided us crucial information that could assist us in developing a time-effective plan. After speaking with Carlos, we contrasted the actual cleaning strategy to our initiative in order to reach more accurate results.
Félix Díaz
Félix Díaz is a quality assurance safety auditor, to whom we presented our project proposal. We opted to meet with him because he could provide us strategies that could strengthen our proposal when presenting it to potential sponsors. As we discussed our work, he asked us questions regarding the financial, administrative and technical aspects of our project. He also emphasized the significance of redacting a detailed proposal that focuses primarily on the project and its objectives. After speaking with Félix, we revised and adjusted our proposal and discussed future implementations on our team and project.
Dr. Pedro Resto Irizarry
Dr. Pedro Resto Irizarry is a mechanical engineering associate professor and investigator. He has investigations that focus on microfluids, biosensing, and micromanufacturing. We thought it was an excellent idea to seek for his help and opinion with the design and functionality of our bioreactor. Meeting with him definitely was of great benefit to our team. We were able to define our bioreactor’s parameters and design with his help, since he is well experienced in this area.
Capitol of Puerto Rico
We were given the opportunity to present our project to the House of Representatives of the Capitol of Puerto Rico to receive feedback about the legal aspect of our project. Even though they did not have previous knowledge of our project they provided us with advice that will be implemented in our work. While explaining our bioreactor, they advised us to be aware of the details we include in the presentation and that it should be tailored depending on the audience. They also suggested that our team should patentize our stirred batch bioreactor because it included fine details of design and a very specific and organized function.
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