On the move!
Q?Bus begins its journey around Panama
May 08, 2025
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.
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.
Have you ever wondered how city life affects animals like frogs? A new study reveals that urban Túngara frog tadpoles develop faster —but end up being smaller — than tadpoles from forests, probably resulting in smaller adults. This might be an adaptation to warmer urban puddles with fewer predators or to constantly changing environmental conditions in the city.
My lab’s research focuses on coastal marine ecology with an emphasis on host-parasite and consumer interactions, infectious diseases and biological invasions. I focus on how trophic interactions such as parasitism and predation alter populations, community structure and ecosystems. Parasites are...
Scientists first discovered the shiny sea critter in 2009. Genetic testing suggested it crossed the canal on more than one occasion.
Panama’s infamous canal grass rises from the ashes of fire much faster than trees, complicating reforestation efforts.
Smithsonian marine biologist Ross Robertson suspects that the regal demoiselle hitched a ride to the Gulf of Mexico on an oil rig. Its outstanding success in its new habitat raises questions about its impact in the Gulf.
Initial results from a massive study comparing marine organisms sampled along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Panama with samples from the Atlantic show that the success of invaders is lopsided.
Research projects in our lab combine approaches from behavioral ecology, functional morphology, ethology and evolution of behavior. Our work focuses mostly on the ultimate and proximate causes of behavior in an ecological and social context, with an emphasis on how ecological or social...