Research projects

The following staff scientists do research at Tupper Center:

• Annette Aiello
• Richard Condit
• Mireya Correa
• Allen Herre
• Olga Linares
• David Roubik
• Fernando Santos Granero
• Noris Salazar
• William Wcislo
• Donald Windsor
• Klaus Winter
• Joseph Wright

The above-mentioned research has led to the establishment of biological collections such as:

Herbaria

STRI holds a reference herbaria for the flora of Panama. It is a dry collection of 13,000 specimens, representing approximately 4,000 species of higher plants.

Insects collections

The STRI Insect Collection includes the following: Synoptic Collection of Ephemeroptera, Isoptera, Siphonaptera, Odonata, Orthoptera (sensu strictu), Mantodea, Blattodea, Dermatptera, Hemyptera, Homoptera, Micoptera, Tricoptera, Neuroptera, Diptera, Coleoptera and Lepidoptera.

Wet reference collections

At the Herpetological Collection Room (Tupper 220). There are approximately 4700 species in ethanol at 70%. Approximately 4300 of them are from the "Círculo Herpetológico de Panama's" reference collection. Their collection is the biggest and most complete in the country and it represents the mayority of the reptile and amphibian families in the Republic of Panama.

Individual collections

• Annette Aiello
  A collection that consists mainly of reared Panamanian insects, with overwhelming emphasis on Lepideoptera and a total of approximately 2,300 specimens.
• Hector Barrios
  This is a collection of weevils (Curculionidae) from light trap samples collected over many years at BCI by Henk Wolda, some of which are being mounted as short series. The number of species represented is estimated at 1,090.
• Milton Garcia
  This is a small-sized collection of beetles.
• David Roubik
  About 40,000 specimens of Neotropical and Paleotropical bees, primarily Meliponinae; also all major bee families, with approximately 500 species from Panama and Costa Rica, 400 species from South America, and 80 species from Malaysia and Thailand. The collection contains approximately 50 species of Meliponinae and Halictidae, with a total of approximately 1,000 types of specimens. The collection, currently under revision, serves as a reference collection and repository for genera .
• William Wcislo
  A collection of bees
• H.P Stockwell
  This is a collection of beetles with approximately 14,000 specimens, including 100 paratypes of 15 species.
• Donald Windsor
  This is a collection of Panamanina Cassidinae (Coleoptera, Chrysomlediae), phasmids and Panamanian wasps and their nests.
• Henk Wolda
  This collection of Panama insects was assembled from light traps set at various stations in Panama, especially BCI, and has been the basis for the numerous publications on insect seasonality by Henk Wolda and collaborators. It is estimated that the collection includes about 2,500 specimens of Homoptera, 1,000 Cerambycidae, 300 Blattodes and unspecified, but smaller, numbers of Scarabaeidae, Elateridae, Chrysomelidae, and various other coleopteran families.