University of the Virgin Islands

On Tuesday I met a very nice high school student named Devin who told me that his Mom (Leslie Green) works at the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) and that she could probably help us get access to a better microscope. On Thursday morning Leslie Green called me and left me a voice mail message providing me with contact information for Marcia Taylor in the Marine Division of UVI. After rebooting the DSL modem and router at the Refuge Headquarters to re-establish internet access we went to UVI to meet Marcia Taylor. The campus of UVI is very expansive with just a handful of building located on the center of the property. We walked into one building and obviously looked lost and a nice gentleman asked us if he could help. This has been typical of my interactions with the local people - they are extremely friendly and helpful. Well, he introduced us to Brian Daley, a Research Specialist in Agroforestry who also works with GIS. And it turns out that he is good friends and occasional business associated of Russell Slattonn, a GIS specialist that I have corresponded with via email. This world is actually quite small and serendipity is a major force.

After some very productive conversations with Brian and Marcia, I realized that we need to develop some kind of official collaborative relationship between WSC and UVI. Students at both institutions would certainly benefit from this relationship. The people I met at UVI are focused on applied sciences (marine, tropical forestry, and tropical agriculture) whereas WSC is a liberal arts institution.

One last note. I had no reasonable response to the question of why it took so many years for me to contact scientists at UVI. I have been trapping mongoose on St. Croix since the 1970s and have driven past UVI hundreds of times. Yesterday was my first campus visit. Oh well, at least I took the first step along a path I expect to be mutually beneficial.