Join Brian as he gives us an update on the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project, its progress over the last 10 years, and its efforts to sustain this collection of living frogs and identify clear solutions to the amphibian crisis.
The first time Dumas Gálvez saw the ant species Ectatomma ruidum under a microscope, he was just a little boy. He was immediately fascinated. A few decades later, as a postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), a professor in the entomology department at the University of Panama and a mentor to young scientists, he does research on that same ant species. Listen to him narrate every step of his academic journey: his experiences, mentors, mistakes and lessons learned.
Join Jose Loaiza, STRI Research Associate and Senior Scientist at Panama’s INDICASAT-AIP, for the latest information about the role of disease transmission by mosquitos in Panama.
Just as contemporary human societies depend on large-scale agriculture, leaf-cutter ants depend on a long, co-evolved relationship with a fungus. As humans, we may share some of the same rules that govern their relationship.
Annette Aiello has a natural history radar system that most of us lack. An observation of an insect exoskeleton on a potted plant may lead to the identification of a new insect species.
“Her unification of developmental plasticity and genetics is a huge advance in our understanding of evolution. Her decades-long work with tropical social wasps focusing on careful field observation is testimony to what a careful observer of natural history can contribute to evolutionary biology.”-the Linnean Society
Sweat bees navigate through dark tropical forests guided by canopy patterns.
Bees and their pollen reveal the environment of the first Cathedral on the American mainland, as do photos by preeminent landscape photographer, Eadweard Muybridge.
For the last several decades, amphibians have experienced population declines and extinctions due to their own pandemic caused by a chytrid fungus. Creating amphibian arks is critical for the survival of the most-affected species. Jorge Guerrel, project manager of the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation project, will give us a closer look at Panama’s pioneering efforts to conserve native frogs.
Over the last 50 years, since 1972, Panama has lost almost 50% of its mangroves primarily due to urban expansion and the conversion of mangroves into agricultural land.
