Last year we celebrated 100 years of tropical biology research, a testament to the teamwork and commitment of the STRI team to science across national boundaries. This year will bring new challenges, but our dedication to the study of tropical forests and reefs will not waver.
Virola trees in Panama are defying a well-known hypothesis from the 1970s regarding tropical biodiversity, revealing how genetics and the environment shape pathogen communities and seedling survival in tropical forests
From sonic tomographies to global biodiversity negotiations, this journey through research, resilience, and connection reveals how even the smallest organisms can shape entire ecosystems and inspire lasting change.
Through a course in dendrology, the study of the taxonomy of woody plants in the absence of flowers or fruits, two experts in forest diversity seek to leave a legacy of knowledge for future generations.
A grant from the Bezos Earth Fund to help save 25 frog species through conservation, rewilding, and disease prevention efforts.
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 air moving above the forest carries valuable information about how trees absorb carbon, and what may happen in the future as global temperatures rise.
In my lab we try to understand how climate change affects tropical forests by studying how environmental factors influence the physiology and ecology of tropical trees and lianas. We are interested in identifying threshold temperatures for various aspects of plant performance, including carbon...
The most intensively studied
tropical forest in the world
I specialize in forest ecosystem ecology, global change ecology, and climate protection through forest conservation. My approach combines data synthesis and analysis, quantitative ecology, and field research and focuses on understanding how climate — and climate change — shape ecosystems, and...
