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Item Oral history interview with Edgardo Miranda Rodríguez, March 7, 2025(Oral History Lab (OHL))In this interview, artist, writer, organizer, and philanthropist Edgardo Miranda Rodríguez discusses his earliest memories of Puerto Rico as coming from the stories that his Diasporican mother told him while he was growing up in the United States. He tells the story of moving to Puerto Rico as an early adolescent, describing what it was like to move from a highly urbanized environment in which education was privileged to an extremely rural setting with few educational opportunities. While he moved around a great deal during his time in Puerto Rico, he emphasized the love and support that he received from family members and how much the culture influenced him as he created the mythology for his graphic novels in the series, La Borinqueña. Edgardo continues by explaining what patria means to him in terms of an internalized feeling of love and enthusiasm for his culture and discussing the impacts of climate change on this community. The interview culminates with an expression of hope for investing in la tierra in a way that would create an art and education experience for the young people of Puerto Rico.Publication Modifications of energy-efficient water vapor condensation technologies for reforestation and human consumption in arid regions and tropical islands(2025-02-11)Solar earth-water distillation technology is a suitable and cost-effective method for extracting water from arid lands. This water can be used for irrigation and human consumption, with modifications. Experiments were carried out in two locations in Puerto Rico with objectives of evaluating three different types of solar earth-water stills: trench type, box type and a commercially available still the Irripan. The trench-type stills evaluated were the traditional design of 1x1m, and elongated modifications with width to length ratios of 1/2 x 2 m and 1/4 x 4 m. The elongated trenches produced at least twice as much vapor condensate as the traditional trenches. Orientation of trenches in a north-south direction tended to produce slightly more condensate than in an east-west direction, yet with no significant differences. Box-type stills placed over bare ground were compared to stills placed over grass covered ground, with no statistical difference observed in the amount of water collected between grass and bare earth. Irripan water and dew collectors were modified to quantify dew collection and evaluate soil moisture retention capacity. Box stills over vegetation versus over bare earth were different if vegetation withstood high temperatures within stills leading to higher soil moisture and, under low rainfall, providing higher water collection capacity. Both stills, if used in multiple repetitions, can provide sufficient water for drinking, though water in box-type stills is of better quality yet less quantity than trench-type stills. Trench stills could suffice for reforestation and box stills could be used as well, if multiple stills are used. Irripans could provide sufficient water for reforestation. All technologies could prove useful for water collection in arid lands for reforestation. Further studies should be conducted to better understand and modify these systems in the future.Publication Landslide forecasting for Puerto Rico: Establishing hydro-meteorological thresholds for rainfall-induced mass wasting(2025)Puerto Rico experiences numerous landslides annually, primarily caused by intense and prolonged rainfall. They pose a significant risk to residents, many of whom live in landslide-prone areas. Monitoring soil hydraulic conditions before, during, and after rainfall events can provide insights into the conditions that trigger landslide activity on the island. This understanding can help establish antecedent soil moisture and precipitation intensity thresholds for rainfall-induced landslides in Puerto Rico. Data on rainfall, soil saturation, and groundwater pressure from 8 soil moisture monitoring stations across the island's mountainous areas, along with landslide reports, were used to optimize bilinear landslide-inducing thresholds based on rainfall and antecedent soil saturation conditions. The analysis employed the Threat Score, Precision, True Skill, and Optimal Point statistical metrics to evaluate both landslide reports and groundwater responses that may serve as a proxy for landsliding conditions at each monitoring station. Rainfall and antecedent soil saturation thresholds were established for stations with varying length of data record and located in distinct soil units. The results of this analysis show that for the Threat Score statistic and utilizing landslide reports as landslide proxies, the threshold for stations located in clayey soils was 62 mm of rainfall and 85% antecedent soil saturation, while for sandy soils resulted in 85 mm of rainfall and 54% soil saturation. These results contribute to developing an early landslide warning system for Puerto Rico.Person Person
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