YEAR 5 RIVER EXPERIENCE
Utuado, Puerto Rico

The 2025 team-building river-related experience was based out of Utuado, Puerto Rico and preceded the SFS Annual Meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Emerge fellows traveled several hours west of San Juan to the top of a mountain in Utuado where they spent three days and two nights, May 15 - 17, 2025. After the first night of team bonding, fellows spent the following day hiking and swimming at Cañón Blanco. In the evening, they engaged in meaningful group reflection. The trip was originally scheduled to take place at a campsite near El Yunque, but had to be relocated and reorganized at the last minute due to flood warnings following several days of a high precipitation.

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Emerge funded 5 undergraduate students, 22 graduate students, and 5 early career professional (total: 32) to participate.

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All logistics and instruction were orchestrated by collaborators at the Virginia Commonwealth University Outdoor Adventure Program (VCU-OAP).