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Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Smithsonian Voices

Coral illustrations

Drawing Out the Secrets of Coral Reef Resilience to High Ocean Temperatures

Researchers compared DNA from corals and their symbiotic organisms from two sites along the Pacific coast of Panama to better understand how the different members of the coral holobiont influence their ability to tolerate temperature extremes

Elisabeth King | June 6, 2025

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Centering Relationships Between People and Place: A Critical Step Towards Improving Science's Contributions to Society

Marine conservation scientists advocate for a cultural shift in academia that fosters deeper connections with places of study and encourages collaboration with local communities to make science more relevant, equitable and meaningful.

Leila Nilipour | June 3, 2024

2 A7S08978_Rodnyel Arosemena (1).jpg

Indigenous Marine Scientist Studies Fish Feeding Evolution in Panama

Through advanced isotopic analyses, Rodnyel Arosemena seeks to understand how fish in the Caribbean and the Pacific that had a common ancestor take advantage of the resources of their different environments today.

Leila Nilipour | April 19, 2024

A7S02947_Ana Endara_STRI.JPG

Rare Shark Spotted for the First Time in Panama’s Eastern Pacific

The elusive prickly shark was observed during a submarine expedition to the depths of the Cordillera de Coiba seamounts, a biodiversity hotspot and marine protected area

Leila Nilipour | March 9, 2024
Colorless corals

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

A massive coral bleaching event in Panama’s Guna Yala islands along the eastern Caribbean coast signals a major problem with rising ocean temperatures and their long-term effects

Vanessa Crooks | March 7, 2024
2_1 fossil genes.jpg

A Turtle Time Capsule: DNA Found in Ancient Shell

Paleontologists discover possible DNA remains in fossil turtle that lived 6 million years ago in Panama, where continents collide

Leila Nilipour | September 28, 2023
boat in Panama's Montijo Bay

First global assessment of the sustainability of coral reef fisheries

An innovative mathematical analysis of global coral reef fisheries offers hope for sustainable management of multispecies and artisanal fishing, especially in the global South

Elisabeth King | September 26, 2023
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Marine Fossils Unearth Story About Panama’s Deep Past

New fossil mammals found in Caribbean Panama suggest ongoing marine interchange during the final stages of formation of the isthmus connecting North and South America

Leila Nilipour | July 12, 2023
Four key actions

The Key to Ocean Conservation May Lie with the Tropical Majority

Researchers from the global tropics offer a different perspective on marine conservation, by shifting the focus to the people in the tropical regions

Vanessa Crooks | July 7, 2023
Map of Panama MPAs

Bigger Is Better: Panama Expands MPA to Protect More Than 54 Percent of Its Oceans

This initiative, backed by data from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, aims to mitigate climate change, protect the country’s deep-sea marine-mountain environments, and safeguard wildlife from human intervention

Leila Nilipour | March 2, 2023
VoL_II_No51_06_Junio-12-1964-001-Pamelita II.jpg

Have Antillean Manatees Crossed the Panama Canal into the Pacific?

Over half a century ago, a group of manatees from Panama's Caribbean region of Bocas del Toro was flown into the Panama Canal to control the abundance of aquatic plants in its water reservoir and prevent the proliferation of disease-transmitting mosquitoes. Where are they now?

Leila Nilipour | July 13, 2022
A7S02969_Ana Endara_STRI.JPG

A Yellow Submarine Explores the Depths of the Panamanian Pacific

Six scientists from Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia and Ecuador spent two weeks exploring the recently expanded Cordillera de Coiba marine protected area, an unknown region to science. This is what they saw.

Leila Nilipour | June 7, 2022
Baby biodiversity in the ocean

'Python of the Sea' Study Highlights How Marine Biodiversity Can Be Dramatically Underestimated

Most ocean life remains to be discovered. Because fish and many other animals that live in the ocean often have larvae or other, microscopic life stages that drift freely in ocean water, counting species by genetic barcoding of plankton samples adds to counts of species recorded as adults and is a highly efficient way to understand what lives in the ocean and how biodiversity changes as we modify the ocean environment

Elisabeth King | May 12, 2022
El Coral beach fish trap in Saboga Island, Panama

See a New Interactive Map of Indigenous Fishing Practices Around the Pacific Rim

Dedicated to “the Ancestors who stewarded the ocean” an interactive story map created by the Pacific Sea Garden Collective reawakens traditional ways of harvesting food from the sea from Panama to Australia to the Pacific Northwest.

Elisabeth King | May 10, 2022
Escudo de Veraguas Island

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

Botanist Alicia Ibañez hopes the book, which presents new data on the tiny island’s endemic flora and fauna in both Spanish and Ngäbere, will increase awareness of the importance of preserving its biodiversity

Vanessa Crooks | April 8, 2022
From the surface, the havoc caused on a coral reef by a layer of low-oxygen water was barely evident.

Watch What Happens When A Coral Reef Can't Get Enough Oxygen

In September, 2017, divers observed a massive 'dead zone' rising to envelop Caribbean coral reefs in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Smithsonian post-docs formed a team to understand why reef animals were fleeing, and the role of humans in the history of hypoxia.

Elisabeth King | July 29, 2021
Heather Stewart, former PhD fellow at STRI, is very involved in local and global initiatives related to the conservation of coastal ecosystems in the Caribbean, such as mangrove forests.

Caribbean Mangrove Forests May Serve as Coral Shelters

In the Bocas del Toro mangrove forests, in Panama’s Caribbean coast, an unexpected phenomenon may be helping stressed out corals cope with climate change. Credit: Jorge Alemán

Leila Nilipour | July 26, 2021
From Refuge Cove in Alaska to San Francisco Bay to Baja California and at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal, a team from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Temple University deployed panels to find out what limits marine invertebrate invasions. Here, Laura Jurgens and Carmen Schloeder, celebrate a successful deployment in Mexico (Laura Jurgens)

Invasion Dynamics

Smithsonian marine biologists and colleagues at Temple University tested predictions about biological invasions, first in Panama and then in an experiment of unprecedented geographic scale.

Elisabeth King | June 28, 2021
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

A program at the Smithsonian’s Bocas del Toro Research Station, in Panama, allows marine invertebrate experts to pass down their very specific knowledge to aspiring taxonomists.

Vanessa Crooks | April 9, 2021
Categories
  • Connections in Nature (22)
  • Life in Deep Time (10)
  • Origins of Species and Societies (10)
  • Social Sciences (6)
  • Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet (32)
  • Tropical Research (38)
Archive
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  • 2022 (12)
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