Being based in Washington, DC, it's great to be able to go out to where Smithsonian research is happening in the field. This month I had the great opportunity to visit the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. My first two days were in Panama City where I visted our library at the Tupper Center. But on 17 January, I boarded a bus with colleagues from the Encyclopedia of Life and invited guests from around the world to Gamboa. There, we boarded one of the large contingent of Smithsonian boats, The Morpho, for the hour long ride across Lake Gatun to Barro Colorado Island (BCI).
On the Lake (which is a part of the Panama Canal) our smaller boat glided past the large freighters from around the world. Coming on the BCI field station, the buildings perched on the side of the island with the docks below), was a bit like something from a Joseph Conrad novel (had he written about Central America).
On the island, we had a very good and productive meeting and some great wildlife watching.
Showing posts with label Barro Colorado Island. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barro Colorado Island. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Aboard the Morpho, from Gamboa to Barro Colorado Island
Being based in Washington, DC, it's great to be able to go out to where Smithsonian research is happening in the field. This month I had the great opportunity to visit the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. My first two days were in Panama City where I visted our library at the Tupper Center. But on 17 January, I boarded a bus with colleagues from the Encyclopedia of Life and invited guests from around the world to Gamboa. There, we boarded one of the large contingent of Smithsonian boats, The Morpho, for the hour long ride across Lake Gatun to Barro Colorado Island (BCI).
On the Lake (which is a part of the Panama Canal) our smaller boat glided past the large freighters from around the world. Coming on the BCI field station, the buildings perched on the side of the island with the docks below), was a bit like something from a Joseph Conrad novel (had he written about Central America).
On the island, we had a very good and productive meeting and some great wildlife watching.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Creatures of the Night, a hike up the Fausto trail, Barro Colorado Island
After a long day in a meeting room (albeit a wonderfully air conditioned meeting room), a great dinner in the dinning hall, and some libations and conviviality with the rest of the group, a bunch of us decided to take a night hike up one of the trails. Flashlights and cameras in hand, we headed up one of the trails in search of creatures of the night.
Didn't take long to score a nice find, a pair of tarantulas. One calmly sitting beside the trail and the other nearby just poking out of her burrow.
Other highlights of the walk include a small leaf frog, a metalic shield bug (my find), a small mantis, a wonderfully camouflauged spider, a millipede that seemed happy to pose for photos, and another large spider busy working on its web.
I turned back after about 90 minutes, but the rest of the group carried on for another hour. More photos from Katja are here.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Academic housing/Field station comparisons
So, a while back, I did a little comparison of some of the different academic housing facilities that I'd been too. The Academia Sinaca in Taipei, Trelease House at the Missouri Botanical Garden, and Swope Center at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole.Well, now, I have to add another to that list, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute field station on Barro Colorado Island (BCI) on Lake Gatun in Panama.
The BCI facility was pretty fun; much more rustic than any of the others. I was in a unit in one of the older buildings. I shared a room with William Ulate (and a pretty good sized Huntsman spider). Rooms didn't have any A/C (but did have fans). The best part of the room though, was location. Great to be out in the jungle, Howler monkeys to wake you in the morning; the friendly Huntsman sitting on the bathroom light switch (and not in bed). The food was also fabulous. We had set breakfast, lunch and dinner times. Some really great rice and beans; various meats, tortillas, and a really picante Panamanian hot sause. Oh, and different juices all the time (tamarind, mango, papaya, even orange).
No beer in the vending machines (like at the Academia), well, come to think of it, there were no vending machines at all. How does it compare to the others? I think I'd have to bump this up to the top of my list. Only thing lacking was wifi in the room, but that gave us all a chance to hang out in the dinning hall and mingle while being online.
The comforting glow of our electronic devices
In the olden days, when researchers were out in the field, they would gather around the campfire. At our meeting for the Global EOL Content Summit at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Barro Colorado Island, Panama, we didn't have a campfire. So, when the sun set and we gathered on a balcony overlooking the docks for an after dinner drink, all we had, besides our own company, was the comforting glow of a wide array of electronic devices.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
My presentation for the Global EOL Content Summit
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| Photo by William Ulate |
Here's my presentation at the meeting. Thanks to William for taking the photos.
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