Prof. Acosta alonside his two graduates Irnalis Cruz Melecio and Sydnie Vazquez Mendez, of the Industrial Chemical Processes Baccalaureate program, presented four scientific research projects at the International Speleology Congress in Brazil. The presentation by graduate students of the UPR at Arecibo has made history by being the first to ever perform this feat.
Professor and mentor in this process, Ángel Acosta Colón, expressed in an interview with NotiCel that it was an arduous investigative path that extended for a year between field trips to the caves, as well as obtaining investigative collaborations with Jorge Vélez Juarbe, paleontologist of the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles, California.
Las cuatro investigaciones que dieron lugar en el Congreso fueron:
«Examining the internal structure and geochemical properties of the lower disk of a palette speleothem», investigación realizada por Angel García, de James Madison University, la estudiante Bianca Maldonado, estudiante de Procesos Químicos Industriales y su mentor, Acosta Colón.
«D LIDAR mapping and visualization of Las Cabachuelas cave systems in Morovis, Puerto Rico», por el profesor Acosta Colón.
«Detection of microplastics in Cueva Tallonal at Arecibo, Puerto Rico», investigación por Irnalis Cruz y Acosta Colón.
«Expanding the paleontological record in the Cabachuelas Nature Reserve, Morovis, Puerto Rico», investigación por Sydnie Vázquez Méndez, el paleontólogo Vélez y Acosta Colón.
“Therefore, to continue increasing participation, we must keep opening doors for talented students and guiding them so they can achieve their goals and present their accomplishments at forums like the International Speleology Congress,” he concluded.
“It is an honor to have mentored these students and to see them complete the scientific research process, which is the dissemination of their results; and I am especially happy that it happened at an international congress, where their effort, work, knowledge, and above all, their commitment to starting and finishing a high-quality project are recognized,” Acosta Colón emphasized.