Exploring Impossibilities, Giant Tree Death: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

In mid-July, during my week as a junior counselor at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies Ecology Camp, we brought in a guest speaker named Evan M. Gora. Dr. Gora is a Staff Scientist at the Cary Institute and a Fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. His work focuses on forest ecology, lightning, plant death, and decomposition, and has taken him across the world on research trips. In his time in the field, Dr. Gora has experienced the relationship between forests, life, and death, and how our surroundings can influence our moods.

Dr. Gora grew up in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where he spent much of his time hiking and camping. But it wasn’t until he was in his twenties that he realized he could pursue a career that aligned with his love of the outdoors. With this realization, he soon began to pursue a career as a forest ecologist, in which he explores the relationships between organisms coexisting in forest environments. Through the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Dr. Gora has the opportunity to collaborate with groups of scientists across the entire globe. And as our guest speaker, he told us all about his life and work.

Listening to Dr. Gora speak about his career, the campers were noticeably excited. His discussion about his research on giant tree death was especially fascinating. Personally, I found it impossible to listen to Dr. Gora speak on the subject without being reminded, once again, of just how small humans are relative to other living species on the planet. 

As Dr. Gora spoke about giant tree death, he displayed images of trees three hundred feet tall that were felled by a single strike of lightning and months of subsequent decay. He also shared his research from Barro Colorado Island, Panama—an island teeming with biodiversity and a haven for biologists—which highlights just how much more about the planet is left to be uncovered and understood. On Barro Colorado, Dr. Gora studied the effects of lightning on tropical forests. As lightning targets the largest trees, killing them when struck, the forest’s carbon stores are being influenced as well, a fact that is increasingly relevant today as lightning is on the rise due to climate change. Dr. Gora’s work on Barro Colorado Island is a prime example of the power of psychogeography—by planting himself on this island, he was granted a new world of knowledge to be uncovered. For Dr. Gora, as it has for many biologists, the island’s biodiverse environment generated intense feelings of curiosity. (No wonder it is often referred to as a “mecca for tropical biologists.”)

It was exciting to watch as Dr. Gora shared with the campers his passions and interests and the direction he chose to take his career in. While the campers were young and none had any idea which way their lives would head, I watched as their faces lit up with understanding. As Dr. Gora spoke about all that he does to research the forest’s mysteries and the strides he takes in conservation, his biophilia transferred to the campers. They began asking questions and remained curious throughout his talk; I could see the wheels turning in their little minds. When Dr. Gora was finished with his lesson, we all moved outside where he showed the campers one of the drones he uses with his team in his research. A flying camera really drove it home for many of the campers, and I have no doubt that many of them will take Dr. Gora’s lessons and pursue the answers to their own questions about the natural world.