Informed tourists make whale watching safer for whales
How does whale watching affect whale behavior? Who watches whales in Panama’s Las Perlas Archipelago? Researchers from STRI and ASU hope to recommend innovative data-based conservation strategies.
A conversation about changing the future through better land management in the tropics
How can science help to restore deforested land, reduce the risk of flooding and combat climate change? Find out in a virtual chat with Jefferson Hall, director of STRI’s Agua Salud Project, Katherine Sinacore, post-doctoral fellow and Edwin Garcia, master’s degree student, moderated by STRI Interim Director, Oris Sanjur and Associate Director for Communications Linette Dutari.
New bilingual videos feature tropical landscape management for a sustainable future
The Agua Salud project’s new videos, narrated in Spanish and English by Panamanian actress Hilary Hughes, share the results of tropical reforestation and landscape restoration research pioneered in Panama.
Like a cooking show with worms: Smithsonian videos teach Taxonomy of diverse Marine creatures
At the Smithsonian’s Bocas del Toro Research Station, in Panama, marine biologist Rachel Collin runs an educational program that recruits international experts to teach and create videos about how to collect, preserve and observe marine invertebrates, passing down their very specific knowledge to aspiring taxonomists.
Joshua Tewksbury named Director of Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
We are pleased to announce that Joshua Tewksbury has been named STRI’s new director by Smithsonian Institution Secretary, Lonnie Bunch III, effective July 6.
How the Chicxulub Impactor gave rise to modern rainforests
About 66 million years ago, a huge asteroid crashed into what is now the Yucatan, plunging the Earth into darkness. The impact transformed tropical rainforests, giving rise to the reign of flowers.
A young comic book heroine travels through Panama’s deep history
The new graphic novel tells the story of the Isthmus’ formation and evolution through the adventures of a young Panamanian girl.
How will the biggest tropical trees respond to climate change?
Scientists think that climate change may have greater impact the largest trees in tropical forests, and the death of these giants has a major impact on the forest, but because these monumental trees are few and far between, almost nothing is known about what causes them to die.
Archaeologists search for the origin of dental modification in Panama
A new study asks when and how the Ngäbe indigenous group began to practice dental modification
The ecological effects of lightning in a tropical forest
Lightning is common in the tropics, but its ecological effects in tropical forests are poorly understood. Steve Yanoviak, STRI research associate and professor at the University of Louisville, will summarize the basic physics of lightning, how we study lightning in Panama and the importance of lightning as an agent of tropical tree mortality.
