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Congratulations to the 2008 graduates from the TCU-BRIT collaboration!

Rebecca Repasky, Jorge Lingan, and Andy Waltke all graduated in the spring semester of 2008 from the TCU Biology and Environmental Science Graduate Program. Rebecca defended her thesis on her research of the Orchid Diversity within Wayqechas. Jorge defended his thesis on his research of the Araceae found within the Peruvian Departments of Madre de Dios, Cusco, and Ucayali. Andy Waltke defended his thesis on his research of the Sapotaceae family in the Los Amigos Concession. We are very proud of each of the graduate students and wish them luck in their future endeavors. 

Funding Update- December 2007

Throughout the year, the team sought funding from donors, foundations, and organizations. The AABP team received over $800,000 in total funding from the Beneficia Foundation, Conservation International- Melanesia Program, Texas Christian University, National Science Foundation, Clayton Fund, Interamerican Development Bank, and BRIT donor's for the continued enhancement of Atrium and biodiversity research in Peru.

Project Interns Update- Summer 2007

During the summer, BRIT was fortunate to collaborate with the Pinhead Institute of Telluride, Colorado, to offer internships to one high school student and one university undergraduate student. Dawson White, a sophomore at the University of Colorado, worked closely with Janovec and the BRIT field team to install and inventory forest diversity transects in forests of Madre de Dios and Cusco, Peru. Kyle Rasmussen, a junior at Norwood High School in Norwood Colorado, interned at the BRIT offices in Texas for one month where he gained experience in computer technology and botany. He then traveled to Peru to work with Janovec, Mathias Tobler, and the BRIT field team in studies of the flora and fauna of the Amazonian lowlands of southeastern Peru.

Thanks to the generous support of the Stanley Smith Horticulture Trust, we were able to offer a four-month horticultural internship to a Texas Tech University undergraduate student, Andrew Lutz. Andrew lived at the Puerto Maldonado field site and worked closely with Jason Wells, the manager of the AABP nursery and horticulture project, and Janovec.

Congratulations to the first graduates from the TCU-BRIT collaboration!

Romina Gazis, Ethan Householder, and Tiana Franklin all graduated in the spring and summer semesters of 2007 from the TCU Environmental Science Graduate Program. Romina defended her thesis on her research of the Macrofungi of the Los Amigos Concession. Ethan defended his thesis on his research of the Vanilla Orchid found within the wetlands of the Los Amigos Concession. Tiana Franklin defended her thesis on her research of the Myristicaceae family in two different habits of the Los Amigos Concession. There are three more students currently enrolled and completing their research. All of them will graduate by the spring of 2008.

Discovery Channel- Spring 2007

The Discovery Channel conducted an in-depth report on the study of tapirs in the Amazon.The film crew traveled to Peru during February to visit the tapir project.The BRIT scientists and field teams working in the Amazon will actually appear on the Discovery Channel, with a documentary that includes information about the tapir project, with live filming in the field

AABP and BRIT are highlighted in a series of three articles in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram by staff writer Liz Stevens.

Read The Secret Life of BRIT

Read Boots on the Ground

Read more about AABP and BRIT in a front page article published in the Fort Worth Weekly written by Peter Gorman.

Read From The Amazon To Pecan Street

BRIT-Peru:The International Branch of BRIT in Peru

On October 25, 2005, BRIT finalized the process of establishing an international branch in Peru, called BRIT-Peru. This international branch enables BRIT to carry out all business associated with the project, such as paying salaries to Peruvian field researchers, owning field equipment, engaging in contracted services, and more. John Janovec, Project Director, and Keri McNew, Project Manager in Texas, worked closely with Renan Valega, Project Manager in Peru, to finalize this process that took almost one full year. The Peruvian environmental law team of the SPDA (Sociedad Peruana de Derechos Ambientales) provided essential consulting and direction in the process, as they carried out the hands-on work with Renan Valega in Lima, Peru. Janeth Randall, former AABP Project Manager, provided important contributions to the process in the beginning of 2005. Although now completely official in Peru, the AABP team will take one additional step, which is to establish BRIT-Peru as an International Cooperative Agency in Peru. This will open doors for BRIT in Peru by providing a strategic basis for expanding and improving relationships and partnerships with other organizations and institutions in Peru. With strategic plans in place and the work ongoing through BRIT-Peru, BRIT aims to become a leader in science, education, and conservation in Peru, with focus on plants, animals, and their interactions with the environment.

Wetland Expeditions 2004-2005 Madre de Dios, Peru

During 2004-2005 the Andes to Amazon Biodiversity Program team conducted expeditions into remote regions of the Amazonian lowlands of Madre de Dios, Peru, to explore the plant and habitat diversity of these vast wetlands. Exporation of this unique habitat has yielded interesting collections that are distinct from the flora of the terra firma forest, including new species region. Read More!

The team discovered more than 300 plant species growing in the wetlands, forming a rich mosaic of communities and habitats, from open carnivorous plant bogs and large fern-dominated grasslands, to dense flooded forests dominated by the Aguaje palm (Mauritia flexuosa – Arecaceae).

Using computer mapping technnology, we have calculated that there are at least 300 individual wetlands in this region, forming a total area of 100,000 acres (30,000 hectares). During October-November 2004 the team walked more than 200 km through the palm swamp and bog wetlands of the Madre de Dios River basin to inventory plant diversity, vegetation ecology, and habitat types. Read More!

Botany and Horticulture

John Janovec and Amanda Neill (BRIT), with John Langevin (Fort Worth Botanical Garden) have been awarded a grant from the Stanley Smith Horticulture Trust of San Francisco. Established to promote research and teaching in any branch of horticulture, the Trust's mission includes the creation, development, and maintenance of botanical gardens; the promotion of the cultivation and wide dissemination of plants with value to mankind; and assistance in the publication of books or other works relating to the science of horticulture. The AABP team will use the support provided by the Stanley Smith Horticulture Trust to document potential ornamental plant species of the Andes-Amazon region of southeastern Peru. The work will be carried out in conjunction with ongoing botanical exploration in the Departments of Cusco and Madre de Dios. Read More!