It is with great pleasure that I share what little I know about the Barro Colorado Island and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. I arrived just yesterday by boat.
You can see in the picture above that my colleague and I pack quite differently. By the way, I love my new Hyperlite Mountain Gear stuff sack!
I am currently on this island as part of the Wipro Science Education Fellowship. Prior to my participating in Wipro SEF and consequently the Rainforest Connection program, I had never heard of the Barro Colorado Island. In a geological sense it is a very young island. As a matter of fact it wasn’t an island until a great feat of engineering made it one. This island was created by the development of the Panama Canal. When the canal was created via installation of the locks and controlled flooding, the mountain I am sitting atop stayed above water, thus creating an island.
Due to the fact that we know exactly when this island formed it has become an incredible place to study and because it is the top of a mountain the trail system is exquisitely challenging. Today, when exploring minimally, I walked about 6 miles and the equivalent of 98 flights of stairs!
At this time I have spoken to researchers working on at least 7 different projects. Each time I speak to one of these researchers their passion shines through in such an inspiring way. I earnestly and eagerly listened to a conversation about bees for hours.
The more time I spend hearing people speak about the topics that drive them, the more determine I am to follow my own passion!