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The Hub hosted the third tech talk on August 7th. Dr. Loderay Bracero Marrero presented the Geospatial Data Viewer, our new tool, to the 15 participants. Hub team members Guillermo Figoli, Paloma Rodríguez, Silmarie Crespo and Laura Marin assisted on the event logistics, promotion material and media posts. These technical talks aim to discuss web tools available for decision making.

On August 9, Nora Álvarez-Berríos (USDA Climate Fellow 2016-2020) presented at a panel discussion organized by the SW Climate Hub to connect current and past Climate Hub Fellows. The conversation revolved around how working with the Climate Hubs influenced their career choices and job prospects. A total of 29 people attended the presentation.

Dr. Luis Alexis Rodríguez-Cruz co-led a technical meeting with the direction team of Salud Integral de la Monataña about the NIFA-MCNHUB Project. Five surveys were completed as part of the project's second phase climate literacy survey.

The Climate Literacy Module for Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands was released virtually on August 22, 2024. The Module was prepared for the USDA workforce and Agricultural Extension staff working in the U.S. Caribbean. The objectives include: 1) increase knowledge about climate change and the implications for people working in agricultural and forestry in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, 2) share climate adaptation and mitigation best practices for agriculture and forestry, and the USDA programs, funds, and incentives supporting implementation in the U.S. Caribbean.

The clinical staff was briefed about the project and the climate literacy survey was administered. This is an aim for the second phase of the project.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Caribbean and International Climate Hubs hosted a 4-part webinar series on climate-smart agriculture for the Caribbean. Experts shared information about climate-smart practices, resources, and initiatives tailored to the region. The series objectives were to inform participants and support a continued network of information-sharing among Caribbean farmers, foresters, researchers, and officials who face common climate challenges. Highlights of the series include: an introduction to USDA’s Climate Hub network, presentations on the International and Caribbean Climate Hubs’ resources and activities, an in-depth look at the Caribbean Hub’s adaptation guides for tropical agriculture and forestry, a discussion of climate solutions for the region, and international opportunities for continued engagement. The series is a joint effort between USDA’s International and Caribbean Climate Hubs. The webinars took place biweekly on Tuesday mornings, beginning on August 20 and ending on September 24. Webinars included simultaneous Spanish, English, and ASL interpretation. The topics on the first webinar in the series were: A
An Introduction to the USDA’s Climate Hub Network | August 20
• Caribbean Climate Hub – resources, tools, events – presented by William A. Gould, Director of the Caribbean Climate Hub
• International Climate Hub – resources, tools, events – presented by Barbara Bennett, Director of the International Climate Hub

Dr. Luis Alexis Rodríguez-Cruzx participated at the panel, "A Conversation About Transdisciplinary Research", at the second annual Food Systems Research Summit, coordinated by the University of Vermont, USDA ARS, and the Food Systems Research Center. The conversation revolved around sharing experiences regarding transdisicplinary projects in food systems. Dr. Rodríguez-Cruz shared how he brings transdisicplinary comp[onents into the current NIFA-MCNHUB project.

Dr. Luis Alexis Rodríguez-Cruz participated in the panel, Harvesting potential: Developing leaders for a sustainable food system, at the Food Systems Research Summit, coordinated by the University of Vermont, the Food Systems Research Center, and the USDA ARS. There he talked about his expereinces in grad school and as an early career researcher at the USDA Caribbean Climate Hub.

Se tuvo mesa informativa con los recursos del Hub. AL rededor de 7 personas utilizaron la Herramienta de Planificación Agrícola. La encontraron útil e hicieron varias preguntas. También se crearon conexiones con otras agencias y organizaciones. EL evento fue liderado por Victus PR, una orgaznización con proyecto de Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities.

Presented to a class of 100 students about the resources that the Climate Hub has to support climate adaptation in Agricultual lands.

The infographic for Hurricane Fiona Effects on Plantain and Banan Plantations and Farmer's Adaptation and Recovery Strategies in Puerto Rico was released to the Hubs national web page in spanish and english version. Also the results from the project where shared with the 15 participants and obtained excellent feedback from them, indicating the importance of more stuides like this.

We provided a CoCoRaHS training workshop and Q/A for students of the Interamericana University, Guayama Campus. The students and their professor will become observers for the program as part of their course (Agriculture Tendencies). All of the students are aiming to graduate from the BSC. in Agronomy program. As an objective they will use the information gathered from this program as a tool to better monitor reining patterns specific to the region and to better prevent and implement climate smart practices pertaining to drought or extreme rainfall events.

Dr. Rodríguez-Cruz was invited to guest lecture for the Introduction to International Studies course of Trinity University at San Antonio, Texas. His lecture was titled, "Let's Talk About Food Systems, Disasters, and Food Security".

Dr. Luis Alexis Rodríguez Cruz presented at the panel, "Do you have questions about climate change?" (in Spanish). It was organized by Yale Climate Connections and Yale Program for Climate Change Communication. And the panel was parte of the Program's weekly vitual srminars. Dr. Rodríguez Cruzpresented with journalists Perla Marvell and Johani Ponce, and with Dr. Rafael Méndez Tejeda.

Dr. Marysel Pagán-Santana presented at Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association. The presentation was titled, “Understanding Climate Change Perceptions and Literacy Among Clinicians in Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands., were Dr. Luis Alexis Rodríguez-Cruz is a co-author. The presentation highlighted preliminary results from a survey study that is part of the NIFA-MCNHUB project.

Description of the Video: Agricultura, bosques y conservación: integración de prácticas y recursos disponibles, investigación, cacao.
Conozca cómo los investigadores de la Estación de Investigación de Agricultura Tropical (TARS) de Corozal (Puerto Rico) se preparan para el futuro del cultivo del cacao. En este vídeo, verá cómo están probando clones de cacao resistentes a los retos climáticos y a posibles enfermedades, garantizando el éxito de la industria del cacao de la isla. Desde portainjertos tolerantes a la sequía hasta innovadoras estrategias de plantación, descubra cómo TARS trabaja para salvaguardar este valioso cultivo para Puerto Rico y más allá.
https://youtu.be/E8qlVAWIeXE

Our last and final OneUSDA from the Climate Smart Caribbean was completed on october 24th, in collaboration with the Conservation District of South West of Puerto Rico. The event was held in a hybrid manner with over 25 participants and diverse information tables from partner organizations and agency.

Dr. Rodríguez-Cruz was invited to co-host the second edition of "La comida como cultura: Dálogos de sobremesa". He moderated the panel, "Más allá de los supermercados, ¿qué?", with Naia Seda (Coop. Orgánica Madre Tierra), Miliany Berríos (Al Sol de HOY), and Marisel Robles (Comedores Sociales PR). The panel revolved around community-based efforts to create spaces that facilitate food access and supprt smalholder farmers.

Sixth Climate Hub Tech Talk!
On October 11, 2024, the Hub hosted the sixth virtual tech talk with the collaboration of the San Juan National Weather Service. The meteorologists Cecille Villanueva and Emmanuel Rodríguez presented the StormReady Dashboard. This dashboard is an interactive tool that provides real-time weather information and detailed forecasts for the coming days. This resource includes data on estimated rainfall, susceptibility to landslides, coastal flooding caused by sea level rise or storm surge, drought, and hydrological conditions, among others. Hub team members Silmarie Crespo and Laura Marin assisted on the event logistics and social media posts.
Tool link: SJU NWS StormReady Dashboard
Invited Organization: San Juan, National Weather Service, NOAA

On November 20th, the Hub hosted the seventh tech talk in collaboration with the National Weather Service, San Juan Office. With a total of 12 participants, the colleagues Rosalina Vázquez and Xiomara E. Cruz presented how to join the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS). The presentation showed how the NWS uses CoCoRaHS data to corroborate radar estimates, for local weather reports as well as in support of the NWS COOP program, among others. In addition, they presented how the US Drought Monitor includes CoCoRaHS data for the weekly creation of maps showing drought areas across our island.
Web page: CoCoRaHS - Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network
For more information about CoCoRaHS and how to join, you contact the speakers at: cocorahspr@gmail.com
These tech talks have been moderate and organized by Dr. Loderay Bracero Marrero, Geospatial Information Manager. Hub team members Guillermo Figoli, Viviana Medina, Paloma Rodríguez and Laura Marin assisted on the event logistics, promotion material and media posts.

The climatic have been published in the Forest Service Data Archive: Bracero Marrero, Loderay I.M.; Bowden, Jared; Gould, William A. 2024. Rainfall, maximum and minimum temperature climatic scenario (2041-2060) maps for Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands using downscaled model data. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2024-0068

The activity with the SEA (Agricultural Extension Services) we visited the Toro Negro Forest to know about mature forests with experts from DRNA. We had an attendance of 59 persons and 9 information table. Our Hub director Dr. William Gould presented about climate change and how it affects forests.

Invited presentation to students and faculty at the University of Puerto Rico Utuado and Mayaguez campuses as part of the Climate Action Week in celebration of Earth Week 2025.

Agriculture, forests and conservation: integration of practices and available resources.
Farmer and owner of La Microfinca, Tadilka Rivera, talks about how the effects of climate change have impacted her project located in the town of Camuy in Puerto Rico. She also shows what climate-smart practices have been implemented to cope with the impacts of climate change such as: contour planting, crop diversity, rain water harvesting, among others. Tadilka also mentions how the NRCS Agency (Natural Resources Conservation Services) supported the acquisition of a high tunnel to have greater control of her production and aid in the rainwater collection, a vital resource in times of prolonged drought. The USDA provides farmers and farm owners with resources, information and technical training for climate change adaptation and mitigation. USDA's Caribbean Climate Center developed the Climate-Smart Caribbean project to provide the agricultural community with information on sustainable management practices that help reduce the risks and vulnerabilities of climate change in agricultural production.