By James M. Earhart, PH.D.

The Rio Grande International Study Center (RGISC, pronounced risk) is a 501C3 nonprofit organization incorporated on January 25, 1994. RGISC operates on a modest budget provided by membership fees, donations, and corporate grants. The board of directors and the executive director serve without pay and, in fact, contribute materially to the financial stability of the organization. The only paid employees include a class coordinator for the Lamar Bruni Vergara Environmental Science Center (Center) and an office manager for the RGISC Office.
RGISC is able to promote useful community projects because hundreds of volunteers provide various kinds of goods, services, and labor without charge. Volunteers form the heart of the RGISC mission by:

o Working with school groups as they come to LCC for an environmental adventure at the Center and on the Paso del Indio Nature Trail.
o Feeding and caring for the Rio Grande plants and animals that inhabit the Center.
o Working with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and the City of Laredo in planning and developing the El Portal Nature Park in the bend of the river below LCC.
o Working with the City of Laredo in assessing and preserving green spaces throughout the community.
o Spending many hours each month in the RGISC River Monitoring Program that began in 1994.
o Processing and interpreting river data collected by RGISC and other organizations for use by the interested public.
o Helping the office manager take care of RGISC business.
o Contributing thousands of hours in developing and maintaining the Paso del Indio and Las Palmas Nature Trails.
o Maintaining the RGISC website at www.rgisc.org.

RGISC has formed partnerships with other groups to improve the environmental health of the community. Alliances have been formed with
o Laredo Community College.
o City of Laredo.
o Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission.
o International Boundary and Water Commission.
o South Texas Environmental Education Research (STEER).
o Jobs Training Partnership Act (JPTA).
o Los Caminos del Rio.
o Rio Grande Rio Bravo Coalition.
o Webb County Heritage Foundation.
o Proyecto de Investigacion Ambiental del Rio Bravo.
o The Laredo Housing Authority.
o The Webb County Soil Conservation District.
o The Asplundh Corporation.

Working with these agencies, RGISC acts as a catalyst in promoting changes in community attitudes and behavior. The strongest of these alliances is with Laredo Community College (LCC). The LCC administration, believing in the community mission espoused by RGISC, provides strong support for the organization. The tangible nature of this support is evidenced by the office space and equipment that LCC makes available to RGISC. RGISC, in turn, renders valuable services to the college.

RGISC attracted one-half million dollars from the Lamar Bruni Vergara Foundation for the construction of the Lamar Bruni Vergara Environmental Science Center on the LCC Campus. RGISC was the driving force in constructing the Paso del Indio Nature Trail along the riverbank at LCC. The Center and the nature trail were RGISC goals from the beginning. RGISC founders saw the need for an environmental science center to educate the community about the Rio Grande and its importance to the millions of people who live along its banks.

Although, forward thinking LCC leaders have incorporated the concept of an environmental science center as a part of the institution's science program, interest in the Center is much broader than science. It has been used to stimulate creativity in writing, music and art. Others have found the Center to be an excellent and enjoyable place to satisfy their community service requirements. Many students use the Center as a living laboratory, finding the study of living specimens to be much more enjoyable than studying foul smelling, pickled ones in their science classrooms. Some folks like to come to the Center because it is entertaining. They are intrigued by the activities of their non-human neighbors that inhabit the Rio Grande. At the Center visitors gain new understanding and appreciation of the Rio Grande.
Through the work of the RGISC organization thousands of citizens are learning about the vital importance of the Rio Grande to their lives.
(For further information about the Río Grande International Study Center, call (956) 721-5392.)