Island family member Alex Pasquini is in Panama for a while with his friend Whitney, working on a marine biology internship with the Smithsonian Institution.  He will be working with sea urchins.  Whitney will be working with a different project; stay tuned for more information.  They are keeping a blog at http://panamaniastri.wordpress.com/  about their adventures and research in Panama and beyond.  It should be a great fit for Alex, who was an island volunteer (almost an intern) for a summer with our summer camp program on Dewees.  What a neat opportunity!  According to his proposal, Alex will be working

 in Bocas del Toro helping in raising the larvae.  This work involves free-diving to collect the adults, spawning them to obtain gametes, performing the crosses, then caring for the larvae daily until they metamorphose.  It is an art, requiring a good feeling for the organism and an understanding of all things that can go wrong when larvae are grown in culture bottles. Till Deus, who will be the main supervisor for the work, is an expert in it, and Alex stands to gain a great deal of hands-on knowledge from him.

 

We are looking forward to hearing more about Alex and Whitney’s adventures!