Magnificent ocean giants
Tracking blue whales through oceanic corridors.
March 27, 2025
Blue whales, the largest animals on Earth, travel hidden ocean highways.
Blue whales, the largest animals on Earth, travel hidden ocean highways.
Research teams studying bats and birds gather in Panama’s Soberanía National Park to celebrate the launch of a long-term census of bats designed to complement the bird census which will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year.
A NASA plane came to Panama to acquire aerial images to inform scientists about the diversity of tropical ecosystems. At the same time, researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama collected similar data from the ground. The goal: to create an algorithm to better understand tropical ecosystems using satellite remote sensing in the future.
The brightly colored, science-packed van is bringing the Smithsonian experience to students around the country. First stop: the province of Herrera in western Panama.
Researchers compared DNA from corals and their symbiotic organisms from two sites along the Pacific coast of Panama to better understand how the different members of the coral holobiont influence their ability to tolerate temperature extremes.
The air moving above the forest carries valuable information about how trees absorb carbon, and what may happen in the future as global temperatures rise.
Estimating shark populations on degraded Caribbean reefs is complicated, especially when there few around. A pioneering member of the O’Dea lab has developed a technique to estimate shark populations — both past and present — using their microscopic skin scales
Studying the forest
from the top down
My research interests span a broad range of subjects from conservation biology and restoration ecology to collaborations with social scientist and economists on subjects related to human behavior and land management. The common theme is the applied nature of my work and the effort to provide...
My primary research focus is on Panamanian frogs that are likely extinct in the wild due to a fungal infection but are kept alive in captive breeding programs in Panama and the United States. Our lab has collected founding individuals for these amphibian colonies, devised methods to sustainably...