Based on clues ranging from microscopic pollen samples to massive petrified trees and larger-than-life-sized turtle and crocodile fossils, my lab pieces together millions of years of evidence to reconstruct the deep-time history of tropical ecosystems. I help to build international networks of...
As Director Emeritus of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, a unit of the Smithsonian Institution headquartered in Panama City, Panama, I retired in June, 2020 from the job of managing more than 400 employees, an annual budget of $35 million, and the institute’s research facilities ...
Exploring the tropical peoples
and ecosystems of the past
Lower atmospheric carbon and cooler temperatures may have contributed to the domestication of corn, a new study shows.
A coral die-off in Panama was likely due to oxygen depletion instead of the usual culprits of warming, pollution, overfishing and acidification.
The ecologist who leads ForestGEO’s ecosystems and climate initiative visits STRI and discusses her plans to tackle millions of tree measurements taken across the globe.
A new study raises questions about how a common beach creature will sustain its populations if temperature swings become greater in the future.
A visiting researcher uses a movie set studio to record how the larvae of sea urchins, starfish, shellfish and corals respond to conditions in a changing ocean.
A Smithsonian emeritus scientist takes a field trip to some of Panama’s most important known marine fossil deposits for a quick lesson the age of the Ithsmus of Panama.
How will tropical forests respond to a warmer climate with higher atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations? By growing plants in geodesic domes, Smithsonian scientist Klaus Winter is seeking answers.
