Today in Smithsonian History: March 29, 1924

This first group of scientists and guests visit the nature preserve and biological laboratory established on Barro Colorado Island on March 29, 1924.

At the inauguration of the Barro Colorado Island Biological Laboratory, this first group of scientists and guests visit the nature preserve and biological laboratory established on Barro Colorado Island.

March 29, 1924 The Barro Colorado Island Biological Laboratory in Panama officially opens. BCI was created when the Chagras River was dammed to create Gatun Lake as a watershed for the Panama Canal. The mountaintop island was set aside as a preserve for visiting North American naturalists.More than 30 scientists from the United States work at the island laboratory during its first year of operation. It was funded by a consortium until 1946 when the Canal Zone Biological Area, later (1966) renamed Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, was transferred to the Smithsonian.

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