You could happen upon...

an enormous variety of wildlife here on BCI.  Some have referred to Panama as being "hyperdiverse" because flora (plants) and fauna (animals) from both North America and South America meet here on the isthmus.  There are more species of birds here in Panama than in the US and Canada combined, and more species of plants just in the Canal Zone than all of Europe.  For the first few days, it just looks green, and then as your eye becomes more trained and less overloaded by the newness of it all you begin to notice the incredible differences at every turn in the forest.

While working here on BCI we have planned a few paths to accomplish our goals.  We started an interview project to get to know the scientists who are working and studying here.  Our line of questioning has to do with what got them interested in science to begin with, what their research is about and how it fits into the big ecology picture, and how they conduct their research.  Another project we are working on is to walk a particular trail that has a guide book written for it, re-photograph each of the points of interest and then work to caption each photo with a summary from the guide that is more easily digestible for teachers and students.  We are hoping that will help give people an idea of the diversity here and and a little taste for what it is like to walk through the tropical rainforest here in Panama.  A third vein we are exploring is along the lines of the historical, political, and cultural aspects of the country, which impacts the environment and the people's appreciation for their natural resources.  The fourth aspect we are keeping busy with is visiting some other STRI sites (other than BCI) to get a handle  on how they do public outreach and education.  (see entry on Culebra).  Dana and I hope that our work here will facilitate teaching our students back at Fratney, offering professional development to our immediate colleagues, and opens the doors to some continuing work...

So with that, living on the island offers opportunities to 'come across' some interesting things like iguanas outside of your room, rhinoceros beetles on patio outside of the lab, basilisk lizards (JC lizards) running away from us as we scramble for the camera, frogs calling to each other from the moats built around the greenhouses to keep out the ants, golden orb weaver spiders hoping to capture something tasty in their amazingly strong (and beautiful when they are not stuck to your face and arms) webs, and enormous trees that remind you of perspective.  Check out more in the album below...

some big, some small