The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute is evolving: Our passion for discovery is as strong as it was 100 years ago, but we must combine that passion with a focus on addressing environmental change throughout the tropics and around the world.
This work requires us to become more collaborative, more responsive and nimbler. We must apply our research to understand the past, support healthy ecosystems and sustainable economies in the present, and bring the best data to bear on models for the future.
To address these challenges, the institute will leverage support from the Smithsonian Campaign for Our Shared Future to create five interlocking centers of expertise: oceans, forests, people and ecosystems through time, animal behavior, and resilience and sustainability. Each of these centers will have a director; draw upon a reliable sources of funding; devise a strategy to maximize reach, relevance and impact; and engage a core set of partner institutions. Individual scientists will belong to multiple centers, enabling connectivity and cross-fertilization among groups.
Each group and its research will be underpinned by diversity, equity and inclusion, and a commitment to train the next generation of tropical science leaders from around the world. They will also build relationships with communities in Panama and worldwide through state-of-the-art public and educational programming.
Consolidating researchers into the five thematic centers will foster deeper collaboration and marshal our science and resources for greater impact. These cross-cutting efforts will enable the institute to reach more people; protect the future of tropical research and biodiversity across oceans and forests; and help ensure a thriving environment for people and nature alike.