Jim Dalling

Jim is a Professor in the Department of Plant Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After completing his B.A. at Oxford University, he did his PhD research at Cambridge University with field work in montane forest in Jamaica. In 1992 he moved to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute  (STRI) in Panama and worked at the Barro Colorado Island research station until he arrived in Urbana in 2000.

Jim continues to spend 3-4 months each year in Panama and has an appointment as a Research Associate at STRI. In addition to working on Barro Colorado Island he has also worked on Coiba Island, Darien National Park, and increasingly in montane forests at Fortuna and Volcan Baru in western Panama where he maintains a network of permanent forest plots. He’s excited to share with you tales of the ecology and natural history of Panama’s forests that he has accumulated over the last 30 years!

Email: dalling@illinois.edu   Twitter: @DallingJim

Astrid Ferrer

Astrid is a Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Plant Biology. Originally from Colombia, she completed a PhD from the State University of New York (SUNY-ESF). She is a mycologist who specializes on the study of wood decay fungi. Astrid also has extensive research experience in Panama (Jim and Astrid met in Panama in 1994!) and works principally with aquatic fungi. She recently completed a major project on the assembly and functional role of aquatic fungi in wood decay in estuarine ecosystems on Coiba Island, Panama.

Email: aferrer@illinois.edu