The Peregrine Fund has committed nearly $250,000 to Boise State University in a growing international partnership to research the ecology and threats to the iconic harpy eagle in Panama, beginning this Spring 2025.
New Boise State Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Ph.D. student, Fabio Díaz-Santos, who hails from Nicaragua, will lead this research project while working in the lab of Raptor Research Center and Department of Biological Sciences Professor Jen Cruz. Boise State News shares, “He joins the program with over a decade of experience in ecological fieldwork throughout Central and South America. He has experience with indigenous community partnerships, remote fieldwork in tropical forests, ecological data analysis, remote sensing equipment, and research projects covering a diverse range of plants and animals.
“Díaz-Santos will partner with The Peregrine Fund to conduct field work in their conservation site in the Darien Gap, a stretch of rain forest in Panama near the border with Colombia. The Peregrine Fund is assisting the indigenous Emberá and Wounaan peoples to maintain control over their lands, and conserve harpy eagles and the ecosystem they depend on.”