Ciencia Puerto Rico (or CienciaPR) is US-based non-profit organization that advocates for science in Puerto Rico and supports Puerto Rican researchers. Their online community of more than 14,000 researchers, educators, students, and allies work to show that science can empower people to improve their lives and society.[1] They provide resources in both English and Spanish.

Ciencia Puerto Rico
AbbreviationCienciaPR
FormationJanuary 2006; 18 years ago (2006-01)
FounderDaniel Colón Ramos
TypeNonprofit
Registration no.63962
Region
Puerto Rico
Official language
Spanish, English
Exec. Dir.
Giovanna Guerrero-Medina
Websitehttps://www.cienciapr.org/en

Leadership

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Ciencia Puerto Rico was founded by Daniel Colón Ramos in 2006.[2] Giovanna Guerrero-Medina is the executive director, Mónica Feliú-Mójer is the director of communication and science outreach and Greetchen Diaz is the director of science education and community partnerships.[3]

Impact and Collaborations

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As of 2015, CienciaPR was the most popular science and science jobs website in Puerto Rico.[4] That year, CienciaPR was recognized as a Bright Spot in Hispanic Education by the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.[5][4] In 2018, CienciaPR was named Science Defender by the Union of Concerned Scientists.[6]

Although CienciaPR was planning a project to radically improve STEM education in Puerto Rico, the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season slowed down their progress and changed their focus.[7] They now provide disaster-related STEM lessons in addition to their other resources.[7][8] These lessons involve project-based learning.[8]

CienciaPR was used as a model for a diversity initiative at Yale University, called the Yale Ciencia Initiative.[9] The two programs received a joint grant from the US National Science Foundation to study the impact of the disaster-related STEM lessons in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria.[1]

CienciaPR has also worked with the AAAS Caribbean Division on a conference and on advocacy related to Puerto Rican science policy.[10]

Published works

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  • González Espada, Wilson J.; Colón Ramos, Daniel A.; Feliú Mójer, Mónica I., eds. (2011). ¡Ciencia Boricua!: Ensayos y anécdotas del científico puertorro [Boricua Science!: Essays and Anecdotes of the Puerto Rican Scientist]. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Editorial Callejón. p. 246. ISBN 978-1982060251.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Yale and Puerto Rico group receive federal grant to strengthen science education following natural disasters | Yale Ciencia Initiative". ciencia.yale.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-02.
  2. ^ Guerrero-Medina, Giovanna; Feliú-Mójer, Mónica; González-Espada, Wilson; Díaz-Muñoz, Greetchen; López, Marcos; Díaz-Muñoz, Samuel L.; Fortis-Santiago, Yaihara; Flores-Otero, Jacqueline; Craig, David; Colón-Ramos, Daniel A. (2013-12-31). "Supporting Diversity in Science through Social Networking". PLOS Biology. 11 (12): e1001740. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001740. ISSN 1545-7885. PMC 3876968. PMID 24391467.
  3. ^ "Thanks CienciaPR Team!". Ciencia Puerto Rico. Retrieved 2019-11-02.
  4. ^ a b "CienciaPR is recognized by the White House". Ciencia Puerto Rico. 2015-09-15. Retrieved 2019-11-02.
  5. ^ "Bright Spots: White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics". www2.ed.gov. 2016-08-16. Retrieved 2019-11-02.
  6. ^ "Announcing the 2018 UCS Science Defenders". ucsusa.org. 2018-12-06. Retrieved 2021-02-25.
  7. ^ a b Feliú-Mójer, Mónica I. "Rebuilding Science Education in Puerto Rico". Scientific American Blog Network. Retrieved 2019-11-02.
  8. ^ a b "Post-Hurricane PBL Lessons (NSF)". Ciencia Puerto Rico. 2019-07-30. Retrieved 2019-11-02.
  9. ^ Milstein, Larry; Rogers, Stephanie. "Yale launches minority outreach program in STEM". yaledailynews.com. Retrieved 2019-11-02.
  10. ^ "Puerto Rican Scientists and the Communities They Serve: "Resistance is Resilience"". Union of Concerned Scientists. 2018-09-10. Retrieved 2019-11-02.