Getting the team back to Panama

Now, I was starting to see the direct evidence of the die off as it came through, provided by my colleagues on the ground as the disease wave passed. Scott sent photos of dying frogs around to the group. Alex had videos of dying frogs. The frogs look duller skinned and are lethargic. Their skin is sloughing off of their bodies. The frogs that are not quite dead are not able to right themselves when turned on their backs.

During the die off, the Scott and the other researchers that were there collected as many dead frogs as they could find. He sent a picture of gallon pickle jars full of preserved dead frogs. The frogs in the jars will be identified, but not all species are collected before they decompose.

The species apparently contract the disease when they contact other sick frogs or come in contact with the stream. Some of the species in the trees might avoid contact for some time, but eventually, they will become infected. Thus, the die off is fairly concentrated, but some obscure species might hold on for a few weeks or months after the main epidemic sweeps through the jungle. Some of the species of frogs will probably never be known to science and will be lost in nature before they are described. Watching these videos and seeing these pictures made me even more apprehensive about returning to El Valle.

This group was to be slightly different from the last. Matt, Bob, Alex, Piet, and Cathy all were coming. In addition Karen Lips was going to be able to participate (if her luggage made it this time). Emma Rosi-Marshall from Loyola University is a professor who had been working with Bob on the effects of flooding and other influences of the dams in Grand Canyon. She had also been involved with the nitrogen tracer work our groups were doing in the U.S. She was interested in advanced techniques to separate the nitrogen label from the sediments.
Emma’s recent project with Matt on the effects of genetically engineered corn on stream invertebrates had generated considerable interest in the press. The paper she wrote for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences with her colleagues documented how the toxin engineered in corn to kill the corn borer can enter agricultural streams where it could harm caddis fly larvae. Caddis larvae are important members of the stream community. The agribusiness community was extremely unhappy with her results, and she was attacked for them.

The tactic is familiar. Rachael Carson wrote the famous book, Silent Spring, that brought to light the problems with pesticide use. She was attached personally after critics could not rebut her scientific reporting. Tommy Edmondson, a professor at University of Washington, documented the decline of Lake Washington from sewage pollution generated by cities in the Seattle area. He carefully presented the scientific facts and left the politics out of his public statements. His critics could not assail the science, so resorted to attacks on his character. Emma had experienced a similar backlash.

Emma had strong expertise on stream food webs, and was a welcome addition to the project. Emma is a very boisterous and enthusiastic woman who loves to talk and argue science. She is an original thinker, and driven to do the best research that can be done. She is a tireless worker who is difficult to keep up with. I can see how she complements Bob, because he is the typical absent minded academic, and Emma is organized and gets down to business. Now we had the benefit of this dynamic duo.

Matt’s new graduate student Amanda, was also participating; she and Piet were already down in Panama working and she would stay and do the long term work after the rest of us returned to the US. As I would find out, Amanda was quite the character and had fantastic experience doing field work in streams.