Community involvement

Gamboa Discovery School joins the field excursion to document differences in colony aggression

Gamboa Discovery School explores the transplanted greenhouse colonies

After an interactive performance depicting the key componensts of the mutualism, the organisms are displayed and explained. Photo by Andrew Quitmeyer.

 

Found on Cecropia with inaturalist

iNaturalist
View more observations from Found on Cecropia on iNaturalist »


iNaturalist is a site where anyone can post observations of any organism they find in nature and get help identifying them. I’ve curated a project that collects observations from anyone in the world that has found organisms in or on Cecropia trees to help us better understand the complex web of interactions involved with this mutualism. Sign up and add yours!

 

Public Lectures

December 2014 public lecture at St. Louis University High School

 

Art Projects

Musical representations of colony structure

Musical representations of colony structure

Interactive glowing tree sculptures

Interactive glowing tree sculptures

Cecropia seeds lay dormant on the rainforest floor, sometimes for decades, awaiting a break in the canopy to spurt a ray of light. The seed senses the changing environment and germinates with explosive growth. Soon after, a new Azteca queen will colonize the plant, found a colony, and help protect it from other gap-growing competitors.