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Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Toby Kiers

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

The youngest woman to receive the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, evolutionary biologist Toby Kiers was also the youngest student on Barro Colorado Island when she first burrowed underground into the fascinating and complex world of fungi

Making Bird Friendly cocoa

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

Dedication to protecting key bird habitats and biodiversity made possible the first Bird Friendly cocoa certification in Panama, marking a milestone for conservation

Bird Friendly

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

What does it take to grow coffee in a way that is good for birds and other wildlife? The birth of the Bird Friendly certification program brought to reality an effort to make the coffee supply chain more sustainable and protect migratory birds and their habitats at the same time

Frog defenders

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

A grant from the Bezos Earth Fund to help save 25 frog species through conservation, rewilding and disease prevention efforts

Cover

A Composting Fly Could Significantly Reduce Organic Waste at the Smithsonian Institution

An innovative and low-cost project aims to bio-convert food scraps into fertilizer, animal feed and extractable oil using the Black Soldier Fly

Imama

Between Pasture and Forest: The Crusade to Protect the Jaguar in Panama

Fundación Yaguará Panamá not only leads the protection of the largest feline in the Americas in cattle ranching areas of the country, but also promotes gender equality by actively involving women in key roles in the project, both at the scientific and community levels.

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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.

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Harnessing the Wisdom of Indigenous Communities for Marine Conservation

By engaging directly with community members and embracing indigenous knowledge in the Bocas del Toro archipelago, a NatGeo project led by a Smithsonian scientist highlights the necessity of inclusive approaches to safeguard critical marine ecosystems and culture for future generations.

Joshua Tewksbury

Why the World Needs a Standard Measure for Counting Carbon

To jumpstart the carbon economy, scientists around the globe need to be aligned in how they analyze the solutions to the climate crisis

Dr. Ruth Bennett holding Summer Tanager

Drink Coffee, Eat Chocolate, Save Birds!

A new initiative will make it easier for regional coffee and chocolate industries in Latin America to join the global movement to produce sustainable food.

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

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

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

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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.

Ricardo Moreno on the field

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

From tracking large felines across the continent to helping rural communities protect biodiversity, Panamanian biologist Ricardo Moreno turned his childhood dream into a mission

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

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.

Happy Earth Day 2021! Hillary Hughes, Panamanian actress, visits the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute's Agua Salud Project during the filming of videos in Spanish and English to share hope for the success of tropical forest reforestation informed by the largest experiment of its kind in the tropics. (video still)

Watch These Two Videos and You Will Feel More Hopeful About the Future of Tropical Forests

The Agua Salud Project's new bilingual videos share the results of tropical reforestation experiments at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.

The purple-flowered crown of Dipteryx oleifera, one of the biggest trees on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, towers above the forest. Big trees may be most exposed to the effects of climate change: more frequent and severe drought, and the high winds and lightning of monster storms. (Evan Gora)

How Will the Biggest Tropical Trees Respond to Climate Change?

The death of these giants would have a major impact on the forest, but because they are few and far between, almost nothing is known about what causes them to die

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