The activity, organized by the Ministry of Education and the National Disability Service, took place on July 31 at the Central House of the Catholic University of Chile.

“Entry alternatives and support in higher education for students with disabilities” was the topic discussed during the II information day organized by the Ministry of Education, the National Disability Service, the Catholic University of Chile, the University of Santiago, the University Santo Tomás and the DEMRE, and in which the academic of the Department of Education and Coordinator of the ULS1799 project, Dr. Georgina García, participated on behalf of the University of La Serena.

In the first instance, a presentation was held on scholarships and benefits for students with disabilities in Higher Education, to later give way to a talk on Support Programs for students with disabilities in Higher Education.

Work blocks were also carried out where attendees developed topics focused on admission and support systems for students with disabilities in Higher Education institutions, an instance where the academic from the University of La Serena presented the work plan carried out by the house of studies today.

At the end of the day, attendees were able to participate in stands that each of the universities had with informative material on disability support programs and in favor of inclusive education that makes effective the right to education of people with disabilities.

Written by Tomás Rodríguez, DirCom

This ecological research has been going on for three decades, the spatial and temporal extension of which is one of the largest and most important in the world.

In June 1989, Dr. Julio Gutiérrez and Dr. Luis Contreras, from the University of La Serena, in collaboration with Dr. Fabián Jaksic, from the Catholic University, and Dr. Peter Meserve, from the Northern Illinois University (USA), began what was, at the time, the largest-scale terrestrial ecological experiment in Chile and South America: long-term research in the Fray Jorge Forest National Park, which turns 30 this year.

Initially, the scientific questions sought to determine the role that ecological interactions played on the populations of small mammals and vegetation of the semi-arid scrubland. With this objective in mind, an ecological experiment was designed that consisted of selectively excluding predators and rodents from the ecosystem.

Thus, 16 experimental plots of half a hectare each were established in the semi-arid scrubland of the Bosque Fray Jorge National Park. In total, the intervened area covered practically 2km2. With a lot of effort, the experimental site was ready after months of hard work and, after a three-month test period, the LTER Fray Jorge officially started. Starting in June 1989, visits to the experimental plots began on a monthly basis, and in each of them, small mammals were captured, marked and released, and the cover of shrub and herbaceous vegetation was measured.

After 5 years of continuous monitoring of the system, the results indicated that, although predation and competition had a significant effect on some mammal species and vegetation, these effects were not general for all species and were practically minimal in comparison. to the effect of high environmental variability, in particular the effect that rain had on the scrub ecosystem.

In fact, periods of high precipitation (usually during El Niño events) increased the growth of herbaceous plants. This was also corroborated through an experiment carried out between 1997-2000, in which the importance of rain for the availability of resources (food) in the ecosystem could be verified.

In 1996, Dr. Douglas Kelt, from the University of California Davis (USA), joined the LTSER research team, and together they have expanded long-term monitoring efforts to other important community components, including birds and arthropods in order to understand the effects of climate on them. In addition, additional experimental plots have been installed to determine the impact of invasive species, such as hares and rabbits, on the scrub, whose impact is expected to be greater thanks to changes in annual precipitation since 2000.

In general, climate models under the global climate change scenario predict an increase in the frequency of El Niño events. For the Fray Jorge scrub ecosystem, the influence of climatic factors - particularly El Niño - were of greater importance than biological factors. From 1989 to 2001, the LTSER has documented significant changes in precipitation patterns. Before 2001, El Niño events accompanied by high rainfall occurred every 3 or 5 years, but from 2001 onwards El Niño years have been less common and have generally had less rain. During this time, Norte Chico has been impacted by a very severe drought, and during this time we have had less rain in the park combined with less climate variation from year to year. In fact, considering the findings of this long-term research, it is expected that this change in the frequency of El Niño will also lead to important changes on the dynamics within the ecosystem, in particular on ecosystem services.

“The Fray Jorge Forest National Park is home to a significant amount of the flora and fauna of the Coquimbo Region. There are several species that are only in the Park and that disappeared from adjacent sites. It is a true museum where we have seen and measured the effect of El Niño, of varying intensity and frequency. It has also been possible to measure climate change on the abundance of plants and the rodents that consume those plants. When it rains a lot, productivity increases and so do rodents and terrestrial predators such as foxes and birds of prey such as owls. In years of drought the abundance of grasses decreases and so do the rodents and foxes that consume those rodents,” explains Dr. Julio Gutiérrez, ULS academic and researcher and director of the Ecological Research in Arid Zones project PIEZA - LTSER Fray Jorge .

In the scientific field, the project has contributed to more than 100 scientific publications at the national and international level, and currently maintains a wide collaboration network with national and international research institutions and institutes. And it has also generated jobs, infrastructure, equipment and has contributed to the formation of advanced human capital with numerous bachelor's, master's and doctoral theses.

The continuity of this project has been possible thanks to the effort and dedication of the core of researchers, the fundamental support provided by the University of La Serena (ULS), the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF), the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB), and the Center for Advanced Studies in Arid Zones (CEAZA). Since its inception, the LTSER has been awarded 10 research funds from the National Science Foundation (NSF) (about 1.8 million dollars) and 5 research funds from the FONDECYT REGULAR program (about 1.100 billion Chilean pesos) since 2000. .

In this sense, the Rector of the University of La Serena, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, highlights that this important scientific work has its starting point at the end of the 80s, with the work started by a group of professionals, including Dr. Julio Gutiérrez, and where various institutions and organizations "unite their potential by developing a study that includes ecological research, whose spatial and temporal extension is one of the largest and most important in the world."

For the ULS Vice-Rector for Research and Postgraduate Studies, Dr. Eduardo Notte, meanwhile, it is one of the few projects in Chile that has lasted for so many years. “It is a source of pride for the University of La Serena and proof of how the institution is committed to long-term research. Studying the evolution of ecosystems is not done by just any entity, and that has required the commitment of the study house.”

Interesting data

To date, in the case of small mammals alone, more than 600.000 records have been made of more than 90.000 individuals of small mammals of at least 10 different species. Adding all observations of fauna in general (birds, mammals, and arthropods), more than 2 million fauna records are accumulated, making the project database one of the most extensive in the country and Latin America. If we add only the hours of work in the field, the time invested in ecological monitoring in these 30 years adds up to more than 87.000 hours, which is equivalent to practically 10 years of uninterrupted work dedicated to collecting information.

Celebrating three decades

To mark 30 years of ecological research, a celebration will be held on August 20 at 11:00 a.m. at the Environmental Interpretation Center of the Fray Jorge Forest National Park. This activity will be attended by authorities and representatives of the ULS, Regional Government, Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity and Center for Advanced Studies in Arid Zones, among other institutions.

With a large gathering, university authorities, researchers and academics met in the Alejandro Covarrubias Room to listen to the options that exist to enhance these applications.

With the aim of publicizing the options provided by CORFO to present applied research projects, the Research and Development Directorate together with the Project Management Office, belonging to the ULS Vice-Rector's Office for Research and Postgraduate Studies, organized an open information meeting to the university community, in which general and specific information was provided on the instruments and processes that must be taken into consideration at the time of an application.

The professional in charge of the ULS Project Management Office, Mg. Orlando Robles was the one who presented the talk about different points and instruments that opened at the beginning of August and that close at the end of the same period.

The Director of Research and Development, Dr. Sergio Torres, stressed that “the main objective is to disseminate instruments that allow for the promotion of development and innovation, mainly in applied research, for the benefit of the University, which is the main focus of this. Also instruments that are generally available, but there is a lack of internal dissemination, and that is where we make the contribution and have our purpose as direct units to the task.”

Furthermore, he emphasized that “currently we have projects that respond to regional needs and that correspond to the FIC, which are supported by our institution, and today we are presenting options to expand our horizons; It is known that FONDECYT are increasingly competitive and there are certain areas that are very complex to obtain, so it is good to have more options.”

Around 35 people participated in the expository talk, which made evident the expectation that researchers have to continue contributing to the development and transfer of knowledge.

Written by Patricia Castro, DirCom

The gold medalist in weightlifting at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games gave the children a pleasant moment, encouraging them to play sports.

Directly from the Lima 2019 Pan American Games, the outstanding Olympic athlete, María Fernanda Valdés, arrived at the Kindergarten of the University of La Serena, where she shared with the boys and girls of the establishment.

“This is a wonderful experience, one grows and is filled with energy to move forward. It is nice to be able to support children and encourage them to fulfill their dreams, especially at this age where they have more dreams,” said María Fernanda regarding her visit to the kindergarten children.

The educator of the Kindergarten of the University of La Serena, Claudia Munizaga, referred to the importance for the garden of having this outstanding visit. "It is super important that she has come to share with the children, here they play sports and it is the best thing that an outstanding athlete can come and encourage them with the idea that we can all practice sports."

Written by Tomás Rodríguez, DirCom

Professionals from the APRENDE and PACE ULS programs taught a workshop focused on citing a source in a written work.

Male and female students from the Civil Environmental Engineering and Civil Engineering in Mining programs at the University of La Serena participated in the APA Standard workshop, carried out by professionals from the APRENDE and PACE ULS programs.

The objective of this instance was for students to be able to apply references and citations in APA or “American Psychological Association” format, in their academic works.

Paula Vargas, psychologist of the AES Component of the PACE ULS Accompaniment Program, explained that these norms “can be defined as a set of standards created by the American Psychological Association with the objective of grouping the way in which written works are presented at a global level. , designed particularly for degree projects or any type of research document.”

Along these lines, Mauricio Juica, psychologist of the APRENDE ULS Program, detailed the objectives of holding this workshop. “Basically, it sought to enable students to know and apply references and citations in APA format in the preparation of works, research, reports and other writings in a university context; fundamental knowledge for them.” And he added that “we hope that the students who participated in this instance know the structure of citations and references in APA format, as well as apply the format in the production of texts and differentiate the use of the APA standard according to the sources to be used. at the time of citing.”

When inquiring about holding the workshop, the professionals indicated that both the APRENDE and PACE programs are open to receiving requests to teach workshops for the four faculties of the house of higher education.

Written by Daniel Aguayo, PACE ULS Program

With the presence of the Academic Vice-Rector of the ULS, Dr. Alejandra Torrejón, the Executive Director of CUECH, Marcela Letelier, the Regional Director of SENADIS, Jorge Juárez, and authorities from different institutions, the work day around to disability and its problems.

With the active participation of representatives from more than 13 universities in the country, the meeting of the Inclusion Network of State Universities of Chile began, with a clear objective: to unite the criteria to work on the issue at the national level and show the work carried out by the University of La Serena, in a sustained project, called ULS1799 “Comprehensive support for ULS students within the framework of inclusion and universal accessibility.”

The Academic Vice-Rector, Dr. Alejandra Torrejón, was present at the event, representing the Rector of the ULS, who assured that “these instances of collaboration support the sense of responsibility that the State universities have, and aware of this, our maxim is continue the democratization of knowledge for everyone. This democratization best summarizes our objectives; However, how to do it is the complex part, and for this there are instances like these, which come to reaffirm the work we are already doing, share experiences and with them build better university guidelines.”

In addition to the 13 institutions that participated in the technical work tables, the Regional Director of SENADIS, Jorge Juárez, was present, who made a presentation regarding the advances, challenges and guarantees that the State provides to people with disabilities and to the accessibility in different university courses. “We want to end welfare because it hinders processes that are important for progress and what real inclusion means,” he mentioned.

In the development of the activity, the technical table worked on the supports and adjustments that must be made within the higher education institution, specifically in the field of teaching. “The Network meets 3 times a year, and on the occasion that we did at the University of Chile, we developed the special entry route, a proposal that will be delivered to the Ministry of Education and that at this table will be sanctioned to go to other topics,” said the coordinator of the inclusion project at the University of La Serena, Dr. Georgina García.

Likewise, the representative of the rectors of the 7 state CFTs that exist at the national level, the Rector of the CFT of the Coquimbo Region, Manuel Farías, was emphatic in pointing out that one of the principles they have as centers is to have an inclusive and “Being so does not only have to do with physical spaces, but rather eliminating other types of barriers and having curricular openness. We work in a model called training by competencies, where learning objectives are rigorously sought and these can be achieved in different ways. In our case, we do it before each semester of work, where our professionals and academics learn about these components. of inclusion.”

The collaborative work included the participation of the Executive Director of CUECH, Marcela Letelier, who said that “for us as a Consortium, which sees many areas, we must see the specificities established by Law 21.094, where it recognizes the mission and duty of the state universities on this topic. "We have to have much greater knowledge, evaluate the work of the Network and project it into the future."

Finally, the organizers of the meeting thanked everyone who was able to participate and called for continued collaboration online.

Written by Patricia Castro, Dircom