Lab Team

Staff Scientist University of Florida 1999 Ph.D. Geology, Botany University of Missouri-Rolla 1995 M.S. Geology Universidad Nacional de Colombia 1992 Geology

Biologist, National University of Colombia, Bogotá. Staff of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), Center for Paleoecology and Tropical Archaeology (CTPA), Panama, since 1982 as Biological Science Technician. I develop research based on palynology for studies of pollination and ecology of native tropical bees, studies of climate changes during the……

Paleopalynologist, B.Sc. Geology (Universidad de Caldas, Manizales), M.Sc. Master Earth Sciences (Universidad de Caldas, Manizales). STRI-CTPA fellow; Member of the Pollen digitization project.

BSc. Universidad de Panama M.Sc. UNAM, México PhD Royal Holloway, University of London I am currently a professor at Departamento de botánica, Universidad de Panamá and a RA at STRI. My research focuses on identifying Cenozoic fossil woods to understand their systematics, comparative anatomy, and ecological aspects. However, I am very interested……

Marine vertebrate paleontologist, Professor of Zoology at the University of Panama. I hold a Ph.D. in Paleontology from the University of Vienna (2024), an M.Sc. in Geobiology from Charles University in Prague, and a B.Sc. in Biology from the University of Panama. My research focuses on the ecology and evolution……

I am a biologist from the University of Caldas, Colombia, with experience in birds and their ecological interactions. Currently, I am researching the plant-animal interactions between high-mountain hummingbirds in Colombia, using pollen as a tool to understand their role in mountain ecosystems.

Geologist (Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá). Palynologist mainly focused on Holocene pollen. STRI-CTPA fellow. Member of the pollen digitization project.

I am a geologist with a strong interest in understanding the impacts of climate change in deep time through the study of the invertebrate fossil record. I have a passion for fieldwork and fossil discovery. Currently, I contribute to the PollenGeo project as part of the cropping and quality control……

Geologist and Master of Science – Geology student at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, currently a fellow at STRI contributing to the PollenGeo Project, focused on the digitization of palynological material. His research interests include the evolution of alluvial fan systems in northern Colombia, with emphasis on sedimentological analysis, interpretation……

Biominerals in plants: I study silica accumulation in lycophyte leaves and its role against drought stress and insect herbivory. Xeric plant spores: I analyse the diversity of xeric spores to determine if their morphology reflects an ecological function or the retention of ancestral traits. This research is carried out in……

I’m a Geologist, passionate about paleontology and stratigraphy, I work with foraminifera and palaeocology. I’m currently working in the PollenGeo project cropping the pollen photographies assuring the quality of the final products.

B.Sc. in Biological Sciences and Smithsonian Fellow, currently working in the PollenGeo project. My interests are in palynology, systematics, evolution and biogeography of plants, mainly the Asteraceae. I’m particularly interested in applying novel AI methods to digital image sets to classify modern and fossil pollen and help resolve phylogenies.

Biologist and Master’s student in Science, currently affiliated with the Smithsonian Institute’s paleontology lab, working on the Pollen Geo project. Her interests include aeropalynology, pollinator interaction networks, and the influence of pollen grain ornamentation on plant reproductive processes.

Marine palynologist. B.Sc. Biology (Universidad Nacional de Trujillo). M. Sc. Student in Marine Sciences (Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia). Research in dinocysts and paleoceanography. STRI-CTPA fellow. Member of the Pollen Digitization project.

Biologist (Federico Villarreal National University) and Smithsonian Institution fellow, currently involved in the PollenGeo project. My interests are the evolution and biogeography of Neotropical flowering plants, with an emphasis on high Andean plants. I am currently conducting a digital analysis project on the classification of modern and fossil pollen from……

M.Sc. in Biological Sciences from UNAM, specializing in palynology with a background in botany. Currently a fellow at STRI, working on the PollenGeo project. My interests include paleoecology, systematics, and melissopalynology, as well as biological image digitization through confocal microscopy. I am also building skills in applying artificial intelligence to……

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal (Peru). His research interests focus on plant evolution, taxonomy, and palynology. He is particularly interested in understanding how Peruvian ecosystems have changed and developed over time, and how evolutionary traits in plants might have influenced these changes,……

I am a cybersecurity student (Universidad Tecnologica de Panama). I am currently a fellowship at STRI working on the PollenGeo project developing scripts and discovering the functionality of Omero.

B.Sc in Biological Sciences. Currently a fellowship at STRI-CTPA, working on the pollengeo mega digitization project. My interests are in botany, specifically palynology, morphology, anatomy, taxonomy and ecology.

I’m a Biomedical Scientist graduated from the Federal University of Goiás in Brazil, with a Master’s degree in Health Sciences and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences. During my Master’s, I focused on computational chemistry, and in my PhD, I specialized in developing in vitro methods for toxicological analysis of environmental……

Geologist (Universidad Nacional de Colombia), M.Sc. in Oceanography (Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain). Research fields: paleoceanography, paleoclimatology and marine geology. Currently supporting the curation of pollen collections for the PollenGeo Project.

B.Sc. Biologist (Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia) with an interest in phenology and ecology of flowering plants, experience in Andean flora. Currently a STRI intern in the pollen project.

Biology student (Universidad EAFIT) with expertise in botany and ornithology. I am particularly interested in plant-animal ecological interactions and herbivory in modern and fossil plants. Currently, I am an intern at STRI, on the PollenGeo project, working on the digitization of pollen.

Biology student at Universidad EAFIT, currently working with fossil woods from the Miocene found in the Central Andean Plateau in Bolivia. My interests include understanding the impact of the uplift of the Andes on vegetation and how this has shaped the development of present-day ecosystems, with a particular focus on……

Universidad de las Américas Puebla, México. I’m intern as an undergraduate at CTPA in the PollenGeo project. As I begin to build my career, right now my research interests are related to the field of astrobiology. I have developed a strong interest in understanding the origins of life, how life……

Biology student at the Industrial University of Santander, currently working as an intern at STRI-CTPA on the Pollengeo mega-digitization project. My interests are plant and phytoplankton morphology and taxonomy.

B.Sc. Student in Biology at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. My main research interests focus on the taxonomy and evolutionary relationships within the Daisy family (Asteraceae). I am particularly drawn to understanding species diversity, systematics, and palynology in this highly diverse plant group. Currently working on the revision of the……

I’m a biologist from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and currently an intern at the Smithsonian Institution. I am also pursuing a Ph.D. in Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Michigan. My work focuses on paleobotany, with a particular interest in plant evolution and biogeographic patterns through time.……

Recently completed my Msci in Zoology at University College London – my Master’s project included looking at the palynology of the UK Jurassic sediments and determining any palaeoenvironmental causes and links to Toarcian Pinna (Mollusca: Bivalvia) death assemblages. I will be interning at the STRI as part of the PollenGeo……

Behavioral Biologist, B.Sc. in Marine & Freshwater Biology (University of Texas at Austin), M.Sc. in Biological Sciences (University of Konstanz). Currently an intern in the PollenGeo project. Interested in exploring new biological systems and sharing this knowledge with the public to enhance our collective understanding of the world we live……

I’m a geoscientist from Ikiam University in Ecuador, with hands-on experience monitoring atmospheric aerosols like microplastics and modeling their spatial distribution in Amazonian rivers. I’ve also worked collecting and analyzing Terra Preta soils across the upper Amazon Basin. My research blends fieldwork, lab analysis, and environmental modeling to better understand……

Geology student (Universidad Nacional de Colombia) with a strong interest in paleontology, biostratigraphy, and sedimentology, particularly in the study of microfossils and Paleozoic records. I am motivated by understanding how microscopic evidence and sedimentary processes reveal Earth’s deep history.

I am a Panamanian, student at the International Maritime University of Panama and future Marine Biologist, working as a volunteer in the PollenGeo project and reviewing fossils from the Gatun Formation. My interests are marine vertebrates, specifically odontocetes, although later on I would also like to work with mysticetes.

I am a student at the School of Biology at the University of Panama. I help with the PollenGeo project as a volunteer. I like plants. I am going to be a future botanist

I’m a high school senior at IVLA and I have been volunteering at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute for over a year. I’m hoping to study bioengineering once I start my undergraduate studies. In the lab, I do on a variety of task depending on the labs needs, like coordenates,……

I am undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology at Universidad Latina de Panama. Currently, I am volunteering with the Pollen Geo Project, where I assist with inventory management and support basic research tasks. My academic interests center on applied plant biotechnology and biochemistry, with a growing enthusiasm for……

I am a student of Environmental Biology at the University of Panama, focusing on paleontology and analysis of marine fossils, especially chondrichthyans. I am currently working on my thesis on fossil teeth from the Tonosí Formation, investigating their value for paleoenvironmental reconstruction under the supervision of Carlos de Gracia and……