STRI hosted the 43rd Mid-Continent Paleobotanical Colloquium (MPC), bringing together researchers and students to share new findings on ancient plant life and its role in shaping past ecosystems. Founded in the early 1980s, the MPC is a rotating annual meeting that has become a respected forum for research on fossil plants, palynology, and plant evolution. The 2026 program featured oral presentations, poster sessions, workshops, and field excursions across Panama, giving participants the opportunity to study the region’s geological and botanical diversity and explore its rich paleobotanical record. Among the attendees was Scott L. Wing, paleoecologist and Research Geologist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, known for his work on fossil plants and ancient climate change, particularly during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum.

Oral presentation

Poster presentation