Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Oral History Interviews
Creator::
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Search this
Extent:
1 audiotape (Reference copy).
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Audiotapes
Transcripts
Place:
Panama
Panama -- Social life and customs
Barro Colorado Island (Panama)
Panama -- Description and travel
Date:
1990
Introduction:
The Smithsonian Institution Archives began its Oral History Program in 1973. The purpose of the program is to supplement the written documentation of the Archives'
record and manuscript collections with an Oral History Collection, focusing on the history of the Institution, research by its scholars, and contributions of its staff. Program
staff conduct interviews with current and retired Smithsonian staff and others who have made significant contributions to the Institution. There are also interviews conducted
by researchers or students on topics related to the history of the Smithsonian or the holdings of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
STRI staff who lived on Barro Colorado Island and raised their families in this unique environment were interviewed as a group to capture what life was like living and
and working in this remote tropical location.
Descriptive Entry:
This interview by Pamela M. Henson, historian, Smithsonian Institution Archives, was recorded at the Rands' home in Gamboa, Panama, and documented reminiscences of
former colleagues, students, visitors, and staff at STRI from the late 1950s to 1990, including experiences with ants (Paraponera), snakes, food, beer, long-term residence
on Barro Colorado Island, increasing institutional management of STRI in recent years, laundry, pets, and children.
This collection is comprised of one interview session, totaling approximately 1.0 hour of recording and 40 pages of transcript.
Historical Note:
Many Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) staff live on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), an island located in Gatun Lake, part of the Panama Canal watershed.
In 1923, the island was set aside as a nature reserve and site for research in tropical biology. The BCI Research Station was run by a consortium of universities and government
agencies in its early years. Called the Canal Zone Biological Area (CZBA), it was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in 1946 and was renamed the Smithsonian Tropical
Research Institute (STRI) in 1966.
This group interview documents life on the island from the perspective of five residents, Brian C. Bock, A. Stanley Rand, Patricia Rand, Nicholas D. Smythe, and Tanis Smythe.
A. Stanley Rand received his Ph.D. in biology from Harvard University in 1961. After working with Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology and the Secretary of Agriculture
in Brazil, he began working at STRI in 1964 as a herpetologist. From 1974 to 1979, Rand served as Assistant Director, and he was appointed Senior Biologist in 1979. His interest
in the behavior and ecology of reptiles and amphibians led to pioneering studies of frog communications. Patricia Rand came to live on the island with her husband in 1964
and raised their family there. She conducted research and prepared exhibits on the history of BCI.
Nicholas D. Smythe received his Ph.D. in biology from the University of Maryland in 1970. He began working at STRI the same year to develop baseline studies of the rainforest
for the Environmental Sciences Program. His research interests centered on frugivorous mammals, and during the 1980s Smythe began a domestication program for the paca, a species
of cavy, which is an excellent source of protein and can be raised on forest by-products. Smythe's goal was a large scale paca industry which would prevent further destruction
of the rainforest. Tanis Smythe took up residence on BCI with her husband in 1970 and also worked in the STRI library. Brian Bock, a herpetologist at the University of Tennessee,
was a visiting scientist in STRI's Biology Program and worked at STRI with the iguana biology and management project.
Rights:
Restricted. Contact SIHistory@si.edu to request permission.
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 9580, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Oral History Interviews
The Smithsonian Institution Archives began its Oral History Program in 1973. The purpose of the program is to supplement the written documentation of the Archives'
record and manuscript collections with an Oral History Collection, focusing on the history of the Institution, research by its scholars, and contributions of its staff. Program
staff conduct interviews with current and retired Smithsonian staff and others who have made significant contributions to the Institution. There are also interviews conducted
by researchers or students on topics related to the history of the Smithsonian or the holdings of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Ocana was interviewed for the Smithsonian Institution Archives Oral History Collection because of his research career in agronomy in Panama, as a professor at the University
of Panama and researcher and administrator at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.
Descriptive Entry:
This interview of Ocana by Pamela M. Henson of Smithsonian Institution Archives discusses his family, education, work as an agronomist and professor in Panama, and
career at STRI, especially his agriforestry project. The collection consists of 2.5 hours of audiotape recordings and 34 pages of transcript. For a videotaped interview of
Ocana at the site of the agriforestry project on Gigante Peninsula, see Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 9553, Conservation of Endangered Species Videohistory
Interviews.
Historical Note:
Gilberto Ocana (1931-2004), agronomist specializing in tropical flora, received the B.S. from the Ecole Nationale d'Agriculture in Alger, Algeria, in 1955. From 1955
to 1960, he served on the staff of the Servicio Interamericano de Cooperacion Agricola en Panama and taught at the Agricultural School of the University of Panama from 1961
to 1963. In 1967, he received the Ph.D. in plant pathology from the University of California at Riverside. He then returned to the University of Panama, serving as Dean as
well as Professor of Agronomy. In 1980, he joined the staff of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) as manager of the Barro Colorado Nature Monument, a nature
preserve consisting of Barro Colorado Island and its surrounding peninsulas. While at STRI, he developed an experimental farm at Las Pavas on the Gigante Peninsula that would
restore soils destroyed by cattle grazing and provide a comfortable income for small farmers. He retired from STRI in 1993.
Rights:
Restricted. Contact SIHistory@si.edu to request permission.
Rand, A. Stanley (Austin Stanley), 1932-2005, interviewee Search this
Extent:
4 audiotapes (Reference copy).
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Audiotapes
Transcripts
Place:
Barro Colorado Island (Panama)
Panama
Brazil
Date:
1986, 1989-1990
Introduction:
The Smithsonian Institution Archives began its Oral History Program in 1973. The purpose of the program is to supplement the written documentation of the Archives'
record and manuscript collections with an Oral History Collection, focusing on the history of the Institution, research by its scholars, and contributions of its staff. Program
staff conduct interviews with current and retired Smithsonian staff and others who have made significant contributions to the Institution. There are also interviews conducted
by researchers or students on topics related to the history of the Smithsonian or the holdings of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Austin Stanley Rand was interviewed for the Oral History Collection because of his distinguished scientific career, and long tenure at the Smithsonian Tropical Research
Institute as both researcher and administrator. Additional interviews of Rand can be found in Record Unit 9580, Barro Colorado Island Group Oral History Interview, and Record
Unit 9553, Conservation of Endangered Species Videohistory Interviews. Additional information about Rand can be found in the Records of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
and the A. Stanley Rand Papers which are also housed in Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Descriptive Entry:
The Austin Stanley Rand Interviews were conducted during three sessions from December 1986 through June 1990. The first interview was in December 1986 by Daryl Jones,
a student at the University of Maryland; the second, in April 1989 by Smithsonian Institution Archives historian, Pamela M. Henson, and Joel Bartholemew Hagen, a Smithsonian
postdoctoral fellow; and the third, in June 1990 by Pamela Henson. They consist of 3.5 hours of audiotape and audio cassette recordings and 81 pages of transcript
The Austin Stanley Rand Interviews discuss his background, education and early interest in zoology; career at STRI; recollections of colleagues and life on Barro Colorado
Island (BCI), including Martin Humphrey Moynihan, Neal Griffith Smith, and Dagmar I. Werner; discussions of his and his colleagues' major research interests; STRI's regional
role; and changes at STRI over the years.
Historical Note:
Austin Stanley Rand (1932-2005), was a herpetologist and Senior Biologist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). He was born on September 29, 1932,
in Seneca Falls, New York. He received his B.A. in zoology from DePauw University in 1955, served in the U.S. Army from 1955-1957, and received his Ph.D. in Biology from Harvard
University in 1961. In 1961 he married Patricia Rand, and they had three children, Hugh, Margaret and Katherine.
Rand began his scientific career in 1950, when he worked three summers as an Assistant in the Division of Amphibians and Reptiles at the Field Museum of Natural History
in Chicago, Illinois. In 1957, he worked as an Assistant in the Division of Mammals at the Field Museum. Upon completing his Ph.D., Rand served as a Research Assistant in
Herpetology at the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) at Harvard University from 1961-1962, and as a Zoologist for the Secretary of Agriculture in Sa Paulo, Brazil from 1962-1964.
Rand first arrived at STRI in 1964 as a herpetologist. From 1973-1979, Rand also served as Coordinator of the Tropical Program of the Smithsonian's Environmental Sciences
Program, coordinating research projects on marine and terrestrial monitoring. In 1974, Rand was appointed STRI's Assistant Director, with special responsibilities for the
operation of the Barro Colorado Island field station, as well as budget and planning for STRI. In 1979, he was appointed Senior Biologist, a position which he held until his
death. In 1988, he also became responsible for coordinating scientific activities at STRI's facilities in Gamboa, Panama. At STRI, Rand supervised graduate student and postdoctoral
research, and consulted for the Panamanian government as requested.
Rand's research interests were primarily in studies of the behavior and ecology of tropical reptiles and amphibians, particularly social behavior and vocal communication
in lizards (Iguana iguana and Anolis limifrons) and Tungara frogs (Physalaemus pustulosus). His major field work included a month or more in Brazil, Costa
Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Jamaica, Haiti, Panama, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts, Santo Domingo, and Venezuela, as well as shorter visits elsewhere. He was a prolific
producer of articles, both alone and as co-author, and both organized and participated in various symposia.
Rand was a member of various professional societies, including the American Society of Naturalists, the Society for the Study of Evolution, the American Society of Ichthyologists
and Herpetologists, the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Association for Tropical Biology, Herpetologist's League, and Animal Behavior Society.
