Centennial celebration
Barro Colorado Island, 100 years of science and discoveries
August 15, 2023
Five Panamanian scientists share a glance at the experience of working in the tropical biologist’s dream, Barro Colorado Island.
Five Panamanian scientists share a glance at the experience of working in the tropical biologist’s dream, Barro Colorado Island.
Irene Kopelman’s most recent exhibit, which includes a new collaboration with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, can be seen at Panama’s Museum of Contemporary Art.
Over the last two years, staff at the Ukrainian Bat Rehabilitation Center have worked to save bats from the dangers of the Russian full-scale invasion. Now, they join researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute to study bat behavior in Panama.
An innovative and low-cost project to bio-convert food scraps into fertilizer, animal feed and extractable oil using the Black Soldier Fly.
Spix’s disc-winged bats shrieked when they were first shown mealworms, a new food for them. Were they alarmed, or were they communicating their excitement to their fellow bats?
A baby hummingbird hatches. But it has fluffy feathers on its back, looking just like a dangerous caterpillar. Could this be something unusual among hummingbirds?
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.
A cutting-edge molecular lab
and launching point to the
Eastern Tropical Pacific
I am broadly interested in the genetics of adaptation and speciation. How do new species form? How does adaptive variation arise and spread? How is morphological variation created through development and modified by natural selection? Is evolution predictable?
The focus of my lab’s...