Vanessa Crooks

Vanessa Crooks is a bilingual journalist and writer located in Panama City, Panama, working to bring science to all audiences. She is also an illustrator, graphic designer and animator.

Stories from this author

At the Gamboa tunnel

Studying the Holistic Health Habits of Tropical Bats

Ancient epidemics

Archaeologists Analyze How Diseases Impacted Indigenous Populations in the Americas During Colonial Times

Toby Kiers

Fungi Expert Is on a Mission to Protect Global Natural Underground Networks

Making Bird Friendly cocoa

Cerro La Vieja: Cocoa that Protects Nature, Chocolate that Feeds the Soul

Clusia nanophylla

A New, Endemic Tree Species Discovered in an Indigenous Area is Already Threatened

Ants in the spotlight

Ants in the Spotlight: The Hidden Gaps in Neotropical Ant Behavior Research

Aguada Fénix cruciform pit

Digging Deeper Into Aguada Fénix, the Oldest and Largest Maya Monument in Mexico

Brígida de Gracia

A New Species of Fossil Fish From Panama Named After STRI Ngäbe Researcher

Bird Friendly

Smithsonian Bird Friendly Celebrates 25 Years, Setting the Gold Standard for Sustainable Coffee and Cocoa Production

The forest breathes

Above the Tropical Forest Canopy, Sensors Capture the Fluxes of Gases Between the Trees and the Atmosphere

Capuchin monkeys have been monkey-napping baby howler monkeys

Monkey-Nappers! A Group of Capuchin Monkeys Caught on Camera With Abducted Baby Howler Monkeys

Excavations at Cerro Juan Diaz in 1994

Archaeologists Study the Connections Between the Deceased Buried at Cerro Juan Díaz, Panama

Frog defenders

Bezos Earth Fund Gives $2 Million Grant to Launch Groundbreaking Amphibian Conservation Project Across Latin America

Dendrology course field trip

A New Course by ForestGEO Experts Teaches the Biodiversity of Panamanian Forests

Illustration from the cover of "The First 100 Years of Research on Barro Colorado: Plant and Ecosystem Science (Volumes 1 and 2)"

The First Volumes of the BCI 100 Celebration Series Are Now Available Online

Annette Aiello

A Lifelong Passion for Tropical Insects Leads to Generous Support

Colorless corals

Why Are There Suddenly So Many Bleached Corals Along the Caribbean Coast of Panama?

BCI Mangrove fossils

A 22 Million-Year-Old Mangrove Forest Was Discovered on Panama’s Barro Colorado Island

Tree Frog

Barro Colorado Island, One Hundred Years of Science and Discoveries

Four key actions

The Key to Ocean Conservation May Lie with the Tropical Majority

Bat lands on a speaker to collect a baitfish reward

Does This Ring a Bell? Wild Bats Can Remember Sounds for Years

Ricardo Moreno on the field

Can Humans and Jaguars Coexist? A Wildlife Biologist Uses Technology and Education to Reduce Conflict

Secretary Bunch atop the canopy crane

Secretary Lonnie Bunch Visits the 'Farthest Rock From the Sun of the Smithsonian'

Pearl Islands

Unique Agates on a Panamanian Island Reveal Submarine Volcanic Activity

Escudo de Veraguas Island

An Indigenous Language Book Presents the Unique Biodiversity of a Panamanian Island

Acanthoctenus manauara female.

A Young Biologist Shares Her Love for Eight-Legged Creatures

Clavelina puertosecensis, a species of tunicate, taken by Shih Wei, a student of the Tunicates course at the Bocas del Toro Research Station, in Panama. Experts teach courses and create instructional videos on how to collect, preserve and observe marine invertebrate groups. (Credit: STRI)

Like A Cooking Show With Worms: Smithsonian Videos Teach Tropical Taxonomy of Diverse Marine Creatures

Illustration from the graphic novel 'Martina and the Bridge of Time' by Aaron O'Dea and Ian Cooke Tapia. (Ian Cooke Tapia)

A Young Comic Book Heroine Travels Through Panama’s Deep History

Cranium of an individual recovered from beneath the Cathedral of Panama Viejo. (Javier Rivera Sandoval, ArtEmpire)

An 'oral' history: Archaeologists search for the origin of dental modification in Panama

Bryophytes in the tropics are threatened due to lack of information and research. (Jorge Alemán, STRI)

Tiny Plants in a Big Changing World