History

STRI's continuing commitment to the study of tropical environments has led to the establishment of a new and technologically sophisticated laboratory located on Colon Island in the Bocas del Toro province on the Caribbean coast of Panama. This facility includes a state-of-the-art laboratory, including a photo-voltaic roof capable of generating up to 35 KW of electricity, a science library, and student residences. In addition, a recent donation will permit the construction of residences for staff and long-term researchers. A comprehensive program including education, public outreach and research, focused on both marine and terrestrial environments is in place and operational for the new laboratory.

 

Scientific Importance of Bocas del Toro

Bocas del Toro is a complex region of islands, mainland bays, rivers and forested mountain slopes on the Caribbean side of the Panamanian Isthmus. The extraordinary diversity of marine and terrestrial ecosystems makes Bocas an ideal area to study natural environments. However, Bocas is also a complex socio-political setting, where fisheries, agriculture, a growing tourism industry, and populations of endangered sea turtles and manatees each have an important place. Thus, Bocas is an outstanding site for developing general models regarding sustainable multiple uses of marine environments and adjacent coastlines.

Additionally, Bocas del Toro offers an ideal setting for conducting paleoecological research directed toward important questions about the history of the Isthmus of Panama. The rocks and fossils around Bocas hold the key to understanding when and where the Isthmus began its rise, and when and where it closed to separate the tropical Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Elucidating the chronology of separation of the two oceans, which triggered the formation of the Gulf Stream, continues to play a profound role in earth's climate, and has important ramifications across fields of scientific inquiry as diverse as evolutionary biology and climatology.