My name is Oscar Vazquez, the host of this Blog, and also an undergraduate student and researcher at the Anaerobic Microbiology Laboratory of the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez. I working on a double bachelors degree from the college of Arts and Sciences and have participated in several biological investigations, both in the field and at campus facilities. My current investigation consists of the characterization of Enterococcus at the Patillas Beach, on the southeastern coast of Puerto Rico. Patillas counts with approximately 28.62 square miles of water areas, from which the Patillas Beach has specially called in the attention of my mentor, Dr. Luis Rios Hernandez, and me due to its high population density of Enterococcus, as reported by the “Junta de Calidad Ambiental” during 2007. I am proposing to biochemically differentiate and identify species from the genus Enterococcus and further more to validate the identifications made via genetic analysis and comparison of isolated colonies from marine water samples. As controls, I will characterize other microbes in other beaches, in order to identify growth patterns, viability on different mediums, and genetic relationship between Enterococcus from different water habitats. The characterization of the species that inhabit these water ecosystems will be of great value for pollution indicating agencies like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Junta de Calidad Ambiental” and the “Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales”, during the process of determining the health risks associated with the exposure of humans to these waters. It will also become a key factor for the identification of the source of contamination; whether is human produced or human induced by poor practices in the handling of agricultural fecal waste.
