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80% of the planet’s biodiversity is in the tropics, and over 50% of the people of this planet will be living in the tropics before the end of this decade. The most consequential, least understood ecosystems in the world – for people, and biodiversity – are also in the tropics. The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute – anchored just above the equator in tropical Panama for 100 years – has the job of going to the center of the most complex habitats in the world, and doing science in these places that has never been done before.

But why, and how we do that science has changed. A lot. The ecosystems we have been exploring for a century are now being lost at rates 10x higher than similar ecosystems in the temperate zone. It is no longer enough to seek understanding – we must also find ways of more effectively bolting the engine of tropical research to the needs of the 97 tropical nations of the world.

In this lecture, Dr. Joshua Tewksbury will explore the diversity and future of the tropics, unpack the relationship between basic and solution-focused science, advocate for the importance of taking risks and changing science culture, and explore some of the challenges and critical need to anchoring science in the tropics, for the tropics, and for the world.

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Joshua Tewksbury is the Ira Rubinoff Director of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). He oversees more than 400 employees, with an annual budget of $35 million. Headquartered in Panama City, Panama, with field sites around the world, STRI furthers the understanding and public awareness of tropical biodiversity and its importance to human welfare. In addition to its resident scientists and support staff, STRI’s facilities are used annually by some 1,400 visiting scientists, pre- and postdoctoral fellows and interns from around the world.

Tewksbury is an ecologist with more than two decades of research in conservation and biodiversity, as well as nearly a decade of executive leadership experience at international research institutes. At Future Earth, a global research program dedicated to sustainability and global change, Tewksbury led a network of tens of thousands of scientists and manages a wide range of conservation research projects, staff, programs and partnerships.

In his role at Future Earth, Tewksbury oversaw dozens of interdisciplinary research projects, from assessing threats to biodiversity to understanding the relationship between human and environmental health. He has also founded initiatives like the Earth Leadership Program, which supports skills development for academic researchers working to address sustainability challenges. Previously, from 2012 to 2015, he was the founding director of the Luc Hoffman Institute, a global research center within World Wildlife Fund International focused on conservation science.

Tewksbury is also co-founder and executive editor of Anthropocene magazine, a publication that highlights sustainability solutions. He holds faculty positions at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado State and George Mason University’s Department of Environmental Science and Policy. He also has an appointment as senior scholar with Colorado State University’s School of Global Environmental Sustainability and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences’ Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology.

Over the course of his research career, Tewksbury has published more than 85 scientific papers on topics in conservation, climate change and natural history, including the relationships and diversity of tropical plants, animals and fungi. He holds a bachelor’s degree in field biology from Prescott College and a doctorate from the University of Montana in organismal biology and ecology.