To do our part to help protect Puerto Rican Heritage, the Climate Science Alliance team created 3D renderings of some of the artifacts recovered by Dr. Isabel Rivera-Collazo on the DUNAS restoration. Find out how they did it here!
Within the context of climate change, sea level rise and extreme weather events threaten not only coastal communities’ infrastructure, but also the archaeological record of the community’s history, knowledge, and culture. Dunes and coastal areas often protect the artifacts and stories of the Puerto Rican people. Unfortunately, the speed at which changes and impacts to these areas are happening has made archaeologists concerned about how vulnerable these culturally significant items are and how fast they are disappearing.
To do our part to help protect Puerto Rican Heritage as part of the DUNAS project, our team created 3D renderings of some of the artifacts recovered by Dr. Isabel Rivera-Collazo on the DUNAS restoration. Using the low cost app Trnio, the Alliance team was able to carefully scan the artifacts with an iphone and make them 3D printable models using the free platform Meshmixer.
Special thanks to our partners at the San Diego Public Library Innovation Lab for allowing us to print these artifacts on their publicly available 3D printers. The 3D artifact files are available now on our DUNAS website for anyone who would like to print their own. Additionally, these 3D artifacts will be incorporated into our new Climate Kids Dune Explorers Program in Puerto Rico!
About DUNAS: In collaboration with Dr. Isabel Rivera-Collazo, Climate Science Alliance (CSA), Para la Naturaleza (PLN), Vida Marina, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and the Center for Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (CCCIA), the DUNAS project was convened to restore coastal dunes in northern Puerto Rico that were severely degraded by extreme storms. Although sand dunes are vulnerable to damage, they are critical for protecting ecological environments, cultural artifacts, and human communities. To learn more, please visit: www.climatesciencealliance.org/DUNAS
This project was made possible through a 2018 Climate Adaptation Fund grant from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) entitled, “Puerto Rico se Levanta: Learning from extreme events to build and sustain a resilient future". Support to establish the Climate Adaptation Fund was provided by a grant to the WCS from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.