Efrén Pérez Rivera (March 10, 1929 – May 15, 2011) was a Puerto Rican

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

leader and

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

. He got married at the age of 28 with Pezinka Berenguer, till the day he died. He had three children with her, Efrén Pérez Berenguer, Manuel Pérez Berenguer, and José Luis Pérez Berenguer

Biography

Efrén Pérez Rivera was born on March 10, 1929, at

Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Mayagüez (, ) is the ninth-largest Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in Puerto Rico. It was founded as Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Mayagüez (Township of Virgin of Candelaria, Our Lady of Candelaria), and is also ...

, where he lived during his first years. At the age of four, he moved with his family to

Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico Cabo Rojo (), ) is a Cabo Rojo barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality situated on the southwest coast of Puerto Rico and forms part of the San Germán – Cabo Rojo metropolitan area, San Germán–Cabo Rojo metropol ...

. He attended the College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts (known today as the

University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez The University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus (UPRM) or Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez (RUM) in Spanish (also referred to as Colegio and CAAM in allusion to its former name), is a Public university, public land-grant university in Mayagüez ...

), obtaining a bachelor's degree in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

in 1952. Pérez later became a professor of biology and

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

at the Peñuelas High School. Pérez did his obligatory military service in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, during which he was stationed in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. In 1953, he worked at the Agricultural Experimental Station at both Isabela and Lajas. He later obtained a master's degree in

environmental Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

from the Tropical School of Medicine at

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

Community involvement

During the 1960s, Pérez became a member of Cabo Rojo's Credit and Savings Cooperative( Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito de Cabo Rojo) and joined its Education Committee. As a member of this committee, he visited the communities of Cabo Rojo and worked to make the public aware of the philosophy and advantages of the

cooperative movement The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives across the world. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement bega ...

. Also, he was the president of the Supervision Committee. During the first half of the 1970s, he worked in the Cooperative Development Administration. In December 1977 he obtained a master's degree in Horticulture from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. He then went on to become a professor in the College of Agricultural Science from that institution. During this time, he also took an active role in the organization of Cabo Rojo's Cooperative Pharmacy (Farmacia Cooperativa de Cabo Rojo) and became the president of its board of directors. In 1983 he became the president of the

Puerto Rican Independence Party The Puerto Rican Independence Party (, PIP) is a social-democratic political party in Puerto Rico that campaigns for the independence of Puerto Rico from the United States. Those who follow the PIP ideology are usually called ''independentist ...

's (PIP) Cabo Rojo committee. In 1988, under his presidency, the party obtained the largest percentage of local votes for the governor's seat in the history of Cabo Rojo (11.2%). He also obtained the largest percentage of votes for a district representative seat, compared with the rest of his fellow candidates. His knowledge and convictions led him to join the environmental crusades against the

Adjuntas Adjuntas () is a small mountainside Adjuntas barrio-pueblo, town and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in Puerto Rico located in the central midwestern portion of the island on the Cordillera Central, Puerto Rico, Cordillera Central, no ...

copper mine Copper extraction is the multi-stage process of obtaining copper from its ores. The conversion of copper ores consists of a series of physical, chemical, and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ...

s, the construction of

Club Med Club Med SAS, commonly known as Club Med and previously known as Club Méditerranée SA, is a French travel and tourism operator headquartered in Paris, specializing in all-inclusive holidays. Founded in 1950, the company has been primarily ow ...

in Guánica, the installation of a

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

transmitter in Cabo Rojo, the construction of the Cogentrix

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...

-based electrical plant in Mayagüez, amongst others. In 1990 Pérez organized Caborrojeños Pro Salud y Ambiente This organization was designed to encourage and promote the well-being, the conservation of natural resources and the sustainable economic development of the Cabo Rojo region. ''Caborrojeños pro Salud y Ambiente'' along with

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is a List of federal agencies in the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior which oversees the management of fish, wildlife, ...

were the primary promoters of a research and visitors center located at the Cabo Rojo

salt mine Salt mining extracts natural salt deposits from underground. The mined salt is usually in the form of halite (commonly known as rock salt), and extracted from evaporite formations. History Before the advent of the modern internal combustio ...

s. The center is named ''Centro Intepretativo Las Salinas De Cabo Rojo don Efrén Pérez Rivera'' in his honor. In a joint venture with the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, the committee had a major role in the restoration project of Isla de Ratones, a small key by the coast of Cabo Rojo that is rapidly losing its surface area due to

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

. Pérez has occupied the presidency of ''Caborrojeños pro Salud y Ambiente'' several times from its inception through 2005 when he was succeeded by fellow professor Pedro Valle Carlo. Pérez died on May 15, 2011.

Awards and recognitions

Pérez has been recognized by several institutions and organization for his civic work and pro-environment values. Some of the institutions and organizations that have recognized his work are: * The

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...

* The Ana G. Mendez University System * Jornada de Betances * ''Cooperativa de Ahorro y Credito de Cabo Rojo'' * ''Farmacia Cooperativa de Cabo Rojo'' * The municipal government of Cabo Rojo * The

Puerto Rico Tourism Company The Puerto Rico Tourism Company (, or simply ''Turismo'') is the government-owned corporation in charge of tourism matters and regulations in Puerto Rico. The company was created during Governor Luis A. Ferré's administration (1969-1973) to coo ...

* The

Pérez has also received several awards, including: *1999 - ''Public Awareness Award, Conferencia de Bosque de Puerto Rico'' *2000 - ''Environmental Award, Universidad Interamericana of San Germán'' *2003 - ''Environmental Quality Award,

Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency may refer to the following government organizations: * Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland), Australia * Environmental Protection Agency (Ghana) * Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland) * Environmenta ...

(E.P.A.)'' *2005 - ''Named part of the E.P.A.'s Environmental Justice Advisory Council''

References

External links

Bio Page at Pro Ambiente Puerto Rico
''(In Spanish)'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Perez Rivera, Efren 1929 births 2011 deaths 20th-century Puerto Rican scientists People from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico United States Army soldiers

Biography

Community involvement

Awards and recognitions

See also

References

External links