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San Antonio nature spot climbs onto list of best parks for allergy sufferers

One San Antonio park has a zero pollen count, according to a new study of the best and worst parks for hay fever.

San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department/Facebook

This is certainly not something to sneeze at; one of San Antonio's favorite nature destinations, Rancho Diana, has been named among the best parks for zero pollen.

YorkTest, a provider of at-home health tests, looked at the five-day average for grass pollen counts at the country’s 150 largest parks to come up with its list of the best (and worst) parks for hay fever. Rancho Diana landed No. 6 on the list, sharing the top 10 ranking with several cities in Hawaii, Alaska, and Oklahoma.

"Parks such as Chugach State park in Alaska, Bonita Lakes park in Mississippi, Rancho Diana in Texas, Ahupua’a O Kahana State Park in Hawaii and more all came equal to first place with 0 pollen count compared to Percy Warner Park reaching highs of 162.4 grains per cubic meter in Nashville, Tennessee," reads a blog post summary of the study on the YorkTest website.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Barton Creek Greenbelt in Austin landed in fourth place on the list of worst parks for hay fever, with an average grass pollen count of 106.8 grains per cubic meter.

Two parks in Nashville topped that list, followed by a park in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The only other Texas park among the 15 worst for hay fever was the 13th-ranked San Jacinto Battle Ground State Historic Site in LaPorte (average grass pollen count of 66 grains of cubic meter).

“Though symptoms often resemble those of a cold, hay fever isn’t caused by a virus but a reaction to pollen, typically from grass in the summer. Highlighting the parks across the U.S. that have the highest pollen counts will help those who want to either try and avoid these areas or take necessary precautions to ease the symptoms,” YorkTest’s Kerri Ferriaioli says.

The Mayo Clinic explains that hay fever, also called allergic rhinitis, causes symptoms such as a runny nose, itchy eyes, congestion, sneezing, and sinus pressure. Indoor and outdoor allergens are the culprits.

Zyrtec, a maker of allergy medication, says hay fever symptoms typically appear in the spring, summer or early fall during peak times for tree, weed, and grass pollen, as well as mold spores.

More than 19 million American adults experience hay fever, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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Awards Abroad

San Antonio campus recognized as leader in Fulbright cultural exchange

University of Texas at San Antonio/Facebook

UTSA was named among other Hispanic-Serving Institutions for having a "noteworthy engagement with the Fulbright Program."

San Antonians who know a Fulbright Scholar likely know how ambitious and curious they are, but they may not know much about the program. The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is a good place to learn; it was just named recognized by as a Fulbright leader among Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs).

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), part of the U.S. Department of State's, chose 50 Fulbright HSI Leaders for 2024, reflecting their "noteworthy engagement with the Fulbright Program during the 2023-2024 academic year." UTSA was one of 28 doctoral universities acknowledged.

HSI is a legal designation for an accredited, nonprofit school with at least 25 percent Hispanic or Latino undergraduate enrollment, or its equivalent. These institutions current serve two-thirds of all such students in the United States.

The Fulbright Program is a post-graduate foreign exchange program that sends American students to work on projects in other countries, where they are expected to immerse themselves in the general culture. Unlike some study abroad programs with a low barrier of entry and the school acting like a tour guide, the Fulbright Scholarship is more like a professional internship and requires that a recipient is proficient in the language of the host country.

Some recent Fulbright projects from various schools have included studying similarities of Native American and Irish peoples' resiliency under colonialism, developing remote sensoring techniques for landslides in Nepal, studying gut microbiomes of women in Kenya to find risk of pregnancy complications, and more.

It can be very challenging to receive a Fulbright scholarship. A commonly cited acceptance rate is 20 percent, and applications include a detailed project proposal including timelines and methodology, plus a review process with the host country that may include interviews.

It is important that these schools are HSIs, because these scholarships are meant to build diverse and lasting relationships between countries, and the Hispanic population is the nation's largest ethnic or racial minority, according to the 2023 census. There is further incentive from an agreement between the U.S. Department of State and the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) to increase Hispanic participation in the Fulbright Program and other exchange opportunities.

Here are some recent Fulbright recipients from UTSA, plus where they went:

Eliesha Perez — Thailand
Axa Soria — Mexico
Héctor R. Castrillón-Costa — St. Lucia
Tom Varner — India
Forough Askarirad — Bulgaria
Arlae Gamez Luna — Germany
Ana-Sofia Gonzalez — Mexico

In addition to the Fulbright requirements and desired qualities across the country, UTSA also prioritizes scholars who grew up in border towns "or in multicultural communities in South Texas," according to the localized program website.

More information about the Fulbright Program via UTSA is available at utsa.edu.

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