Rincon Chapter Updates

Hello Rincon!
I'd like to share all of the chapter updates from Thursday's meeting. Remember, Surfrider meets at the marina over by Joe's Bar in Club Nautico on the first Thursday of every month. Anyone can come, bring your pets if you'd like, and yes...there's beer!

Down to business:
1. The Fundacion Surfrider Rincon would like to send out a huge "Thank You" to Andrew, our intern that was helping out the chapter last month. His organization skills and help at the clean up were greatly appreciated

2. Our summer time beach clean up was a success! Check out the photos on our Facebook Page
We had a lot of new faces helping the Surfrider team collect trash and debris not only on the beach, but out on the reef.

3. We're planning a big fundraiser...could it be a block party? Keep checking for updates.

4. International Coastal Clean Day is September 17th, 2011. We'll pick a beach to set up our station and spend the rest of the morning collecting trash from our beaches and documenting what we've found. The usual suspects: straws, cups, cigerette butts...
Please join us on this big day where thousands of people around the world will also try to make a difference for the places they love, the ocean and beaches.

5. The World Tour of Body Boarding is coming to Middles in Isabela this season, from the 1st-13th of November. We're planning on participating with inspiration from the work we did at the Rip Curl Pro Search last year. An excellent opportunity to spread awareness to a vast group of people

6. Wess, the previous chapter chair, just received the grant for Marine Debris Removal from NOAA! This is big news for change on the reefs that surround Puerto Rico. Him and a team of volunteers including local businesses are planning to remove parts of a shipwreck on coral on the coast of Cabo Rojo. As part of this grant, we'll be working on a program to re-establish trash and recycling programs on land, so more garbage does not end up in the sea.

This is very big news for Rincon, seeing as I've been spying just a bit too much garbage around. We all have the power to change our surroundings, please join us in the mission to keep things clean, pristine, and better than when we found it.

That's it! Lots of great things to come and more positive work for the environment. Thank you to all of the volunteers and people out there who try to make a difference each day.

NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program

NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program places a Coral Management Fellow in Rincon, PR

Fellowship Overview

The NOAA Coral Reef Management Fellowship Program was established to respond to the need for additional coral reef management capacity in the U.S. Flag Pacific and Caribbean islands. The program has been expanded to include Florida in the 2010-2012 cycle. The program provides the state and territorial coral reef management agencies with highly qualified candidates whose education and work experience meet each island's specific needs, while providing the individual fellows with professional experience in coastal and coral reef resources management.

Each jurisdiction develops a separate Statement of Work which contains project descriptions, goals and objectives, minimum and desired qualifications, and salary, among other information. The Statements of Work uniquely reflect each jurisdiction's particular needs, complementing other ongoing local projects and management activities. Successful candidates will meet these needs.

The fellow placed in Rincon, Puerto Rico, is Rina Hauptfeld. She graduated from the University of Washington with a masters degree in marine affairs. She has recently relocated to Rincon to begin working with regional and local agencies including the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER)(the hosting agency), Centro Interdisciplinario de Estudios del Litoral, Sea Grant, and the chapter of The Surfrider Foundation in Rincon. We are all very pleased to welcome her into the community and look forward to collaborating with her and these other agencies in developing her work plan. Come meet the new fellow this Thursday night, February 4th, 2010 at Surfrider Foundation Rincon's monthly meeting. She will give a brief introduction of herself, her interest in NOAA's coral reef conservation program, and conduct a scoping activity with the participants to help her begin to develop her work plan. The work plan is due no later than three months from when she begins her appointment. So, come help voice your opinion about the outreach and education needed, the focus groups to be involved, and the ideas on your mind this Thursday!