The Tribune

MEMBERS of the College of the Bahamas college council visited the Gerace Research Centre in San Salvador to hold their monthly meeting.

The centre is the second largest employer in San Salvador and is a centre for research in the areas of archaeology, biology, geology, and marine science.

College Council Chairman Alfred Sears recognised the centre’s legacy of research and collaborations with international universities.

He said: “Going forward we ought to integrate the facility into the mainstream of COB. That is, it can offer COB the opportunity to have more clinical learning experiences in science classes and other classes. It can also provide more collaboration with COB’s faculty and the faculty of the participating universities. In fact, both at the faculty and student level there can be shared research,” he said.

The centre, formerly the Bahamian Field Station, is located on the shore of Graham’s Harbour on the north coast of San Salvador. It comprises 15 buildings on an 8-acre parcel of land and has been in operation since 1971.

It offers facilities for students, professors, and researchers from around the world to study in a tropical environment.

Dave Trydahl, Physical Plant Manager at Gerace, led the council and senior College of The Bahamas administrators on a tour of the facility.

He was eager to show not only the field-station’s physical plant but also its newest boarders – four iguanas being rescued from the brink of extinction under a collaborative initiative involving Loma Linda University, CIBC and other partners.

The San Salvador rock iguana is listed as critically endangered and the programme at Gerace is designed to help stabilise the iguana population and stimulate its growth. While in San Salvador, the council also met with Donald Gerace and his wife who shared additional details about the centre’s history, research operations and available scholarships.

The college council is visiting all of the college’s campuses and centres around the country to inspect their operations and connect with the surrounding communities.