Friday
Friday 17th July 2020
July 17, 2020
Back today after my day off yesterday. Due to the change in Lock Down in Panama. Until there is another change we will have to drop the Thursday program, very disappointing but cannot be helped.
In the light of there being 100 deaths now reported in Panama the President decreed that today would be a day of reflection. Therefore we have kept the program suitable subdued.
My guest though in the eight o’clock hour is Dra Oris Sanjur, the Acting Director of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, a unit of the Smithsonian Institution headquartered in Panama City, Panama. The Institute furthers the understanding of tropical nature and its importance to human welfare, trains students to conduct research in the tropics and promotes understanding of present and past biological diversity by increasing public awareness of the beauty and importance of tropical ecosystems.
Dr. Sanjur’s relationship with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute spans three decades. In 1989, she was a research assistant for two years working on her undergraduate thesis project. After earning a B.S. in Biology from the University of Panama, she completed a PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.
She returned to STRI as a postdoctoral fellow in 1998, studying the relationships between wild and domesticated crops such as squash and pumpkin. 
She then spent ten years as manager and researcher of the Molecular Evolution laboratory, after which she took on her most recent role as Associate Director for Science Administration at STRI. In this position, she became responsible for maintaining high standards of scientific operational support for the Institute’s research programs throughout a decade. She has also represented STRI in national and international events, highlighting the value of science and the importance of the research being conducted at STRI to increase our understanding of tropical ecosystems.
Due to the program change in the last hour today we chat with Dr Computer (Alex Neuman). Hacking Twitter accounts, were they hacked? The Russians trying to hack research on Covid-19. A new Samsung phone, and more.