ABOUT DRP
 » CCNY
 » History of the Cibao Valley
 » Research in the Cibao Valley
 » Carlotta Joaquin Maury
 » Multidisciplinary Research
 » Participants in DRP Research
 » Bibliography of DRP Research
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The Dominican Republic Project is a large scale multidisciplinary scientific research effort that has involved more than 30 scientists from around the world.

Welcome to the Dominican Republic Project!

The DRP research group is comprised of evolutionary biologists, systematists, stratigraphers, geochronologists, and geologists. Since the 1980's, the DRP has been investigating marine biodiversity change in the Caribbean region from the Miocene epoch (25 million years ago) to the present. The data for the project come from a sequence of sedimentary rocks rich in mollusks (clams and snails), corals, and coral reefs in the Cibao Valley of the northern Dominican Republic . This sedimentary sequence is particularly useful for scientists because the rock layers contain a relatively continuous record of the ocean bottom and the animals that lived on it for about 5 million years. It is therefore possible to use the mollusks and corals from the rock layers of the Dominican Republic to study long-term biological and environmental causes and patterns of evolution, extinction, and biodiversity change. These patterns help scientists understand how environmental and ecological changes cause the extinction of some species or facilitate the origination of new species. These data are also central to understanding how current patterns of Caribbean marine biodiversity developed. In addition, the DRP is an important research system for helping scientists understand how global climate change, human development, and over fishing impact marine ecosystems in the Caribbean region today. The data for the DRP are now accessible to scientists, teachers, and students in an online scientific database (known as NMITA: Neogene Marine Invertebrates of Tropical America) developed by Dr. Ann Budd. You can find out more specific information about the data that have been collected and studied by the DRP by exploring the NMITA database at the following web address: http://porites.geology.uiowa.edu.