The AKKA SEEDS Ecology Chapter was founded in January 2007 by Dr. Elvia Meléndez-Ackerman and Colibrí Sanfiorenzo-Barnhard.  The Chapter is part of the SEEDS Program, an education program of the Ecological Society of America. "Its mission is to diversify and advance the profession of ecology through opportunities that stimulate and nurture the interest of underrepresented students". 

AKKA SEEDS main mission is to promote scientific research through ecology and its applications.  AKKA emphasizes the importance of science and the scientific method in everyday life.   They also emphasize the importance of trans-disciplinary fields of study, which include the natural science, the humanities, education and the social sciences.  In addition, AKKA promotes the personal and academic growth of its members by creating different spaces where they can learn, teach and question life through the integration of their ideas and thoughts about ecology, conservation and the natural world.  For active members this space is by far one of the most attractive aspects of AKKA.

The Chapter has done a variety of activities ranging from establishing long term research sites, community work with local organizations, introducing students to ecology through conferences and field trips.   They have created a web page (www.akkaseeds.org) that  shows their commitment to enhancing the students experiences here at the University.  AKKA has approximately 15 active members and collaborates with the Center for Applied Tropical Ecology and Conservation (CATEC), the Institute for Tropical Ecosystem Studies (ITES), the College of Natural Science (CN-UPRRP), and UMBRAL an electronic magazine of the General Studies Department of the University of Puerto Rico- Río Piedras.

AKKA has received $5,500 for the 2007-2008 academic year from the SEEDS Program.  With this funding they have been able to create a Program called Ecosystems of Puerto Rico.  This Program introduces students to ecology through conferences and field trips that vary monthly.   For example, February the theme was food webs and distribution of bats in caves.  The conferences was given by Julissa Rojas-Sandoval, UPR doctoral candidate, and the field trip was to Tres Niveles Cave in the town of Aguas Buenas.  The 2007-2008 funding was also used to establish a long term research in Mona Island.  AKKA was able to take 20 students for a week to Mona Island with Dr. Elvia Meléndez-Ackerman.  This trip included students from the LIFE SEEDS Chapter of the UPR-Bayamón campus and mentor Dr. Concepción Rodríguez-Fourquet. 

AKKA SEEDS has also received funding ($5,500) from the SEEDS Program for the 2008-2009 academic year.  AKKA hopes to use this funding to maintain their web page and their Ecosystems of Puerto Rico Program.  In addition, they will be acquiring High Definition filming equipment to create a short 10-15 minute documentary about cave ecology in Puerto Rico.  This filming equipment that they will acquire will also be used to start an Educational Documentary Program at the University.

Anybody interested in participating with the AKKA SEEDS Chapter should fill out a membership, which can be found in AKKA's web site, and send it to akka.seeds@gmail.com