CAYO SANTIAGO BIOLOGICAL FIELD STATION

  • This facility serves as a natural laboratory for the in-depth study of a free-ranging rhesus macaque population, providing unparalleled opportunities for long-term behavioral and ecological research. Here, scientists can study primate behavior, social structures, and genetic evolution in a controlled yet wild setting, thereby contributing vital insights into the natural behaviors that underpin primate and human biology. Supported by a comprehensive demographic database starting from 1956 and systematic genetic records from 1990 and older animals, the station's resources significantly boost the research capacity. 

  • Caribbean
  • PO Box 906
  • Puerto Rico
  • PUNTA SANTIAGO
  • PR
  • 00741-0906
  • 18
  • 65
  • cprc.rcm@upr.edu
  • https://cprc.rcm.upr.edu/
  • 1938
  • 2017
  • Francelia Marte
  • francelina.marte@upr.edu
  • Colony Manager
  • PO BOX 906, PUNTA SANTIAGO, PR 00741
  • Angelina Ruiz-Lambides, PhD
  • angelina.ruiz@upr.edu
  • Marcos Lopez Casillas
  • marcos.lopez11@upr.edu
  • ROBERTO OQUENDO
  • ROBERTO.OQUENDO@UPR.EDU
  • 1-100
  • No
  • 6-10
  • 3-5
  • 1-10
  • 1-25
  • Solar or Off Grid
  • 0-20 minutes
  • Graduate
  • Terrestrial
  • Intertidal - sandy
  • Tropical Savanna
  • 0-100 meters
  • 0-100 meters
  • A (tropical)
  • Rural
  • Yes
  • Yes
  • 75
  • 10
  • 15
Year Founded
1938
Year Joined OBFS
2017
Size of Field Station (hectares)
1-100
FSML Web Address
https://cprc.rcm.upr.edu/

Private nonprofit organization?
No
Universities affiliated / Parent Organization
No
Federal, state, or local governmental partners?
No
Member of the Virtual Field
No

Additional Information

Private nonprofit organization?
Names of Universities affilated
0
Federal, state, or local governmental partners?
No
Name of partner
Tribal partners/users
No
MSI/HBCU users
Yes
Community College users
Member of the Virtual Field
No

Visiting a FS/ML

Open to the Public
No
Year round staff
6-10
Seasonal staff
3-5
Overnight housing facilities/# of beds
1-10
Distance to emergency services
0-20 minutes
Library
Yes
Hiking trails
Internship employment
Yes

Environmental Information

Biomes
Intertidal - rocky and Intertidal - sandy
Minimum Elevation
0-100 meters
Maximum Elevation
0-100 meters
Köppen climate classification
A (tropical)
Freshwater habitats
No
Urban or rural
Agricultural fields
No

Research

REU host station
No
Dry lab space
Yes
Wet Lab space
Research vessels available
Yes
GIS capacity on site
Long term data sets
Yes
On site herbarium or voucher species
Formal Data Management Plan
Mesocosms, plots, stream diversions, or other sets ups for outdoor manipulative experiments
Yes
Date Joined OBFS
July 22, 2025