Secretary IE USA, Director Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project in Puerto Rico. President Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation, and co-founder of Puerto Rico Hardwoods. Fellow of the Linnean Society & World Academy of Art & Science. Born: Nairobi, Kenya, Resident of Puerto Rico, British & U.S. Citizen.
Biography
Thrity “3T” Vakil, FLS, is a Performance Scientist and Research Artist, an ecotechnician, and sustainable forestry practitioner whose work bridges rainforest restoration, botany, conservation horticulture, forestry innovation, ecological field research, trail-design and building, maintenance, cuisine, expeditionary culture, and the arts.
Since 2007, 3t has served as president of Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) at Las Casas de la Selva in southeastern Puerto Rico, a 1,000-acre sustainable forestry & rainforest enrichment project established in 1983 as a living demonstration of ecological restoration, sustainable management of secondary tropical forests, and environmentally grounded economic development. See www.eyeontherainforest.org
For more than two decades, 3t has worked directly in tropical forestry operations, including seed and seedling collection, tree propagation, tree identification, selective harvesting, sawmill operations, wood drying, forest monitoring, and endangered endemic species conservation. She has led more than sixty Earthwatch research expeditions into the rainforest, coordinating teams engaged in biodiversity monitoring, forest measurement, tree planting, and ecological observation.
3t directs endangered species conservation and recovery efforts within the Tropic Ventures forest and has collaborated with internationally recognized botanists and Botanical Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) in the survey and propagation of critically endangered endemic tree species in Puerto Rico.
An associate of the Institute of Ecotechnics since 1990 and, since 2007, a director of the organization, 3t has worked across diverse interdisciplinary fields including ecology, ocean expeditions, event management, theater, visual arts, environmental education, and performance culture. From 1995 to 1998, she served as Assistant to the Expedition Chief aboard the Institute of Ecotechnics research vessel RV Heraclitus during a major coral reef research diving expedition with the Planetary Coral Reef Foundation, spanning the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and Indian Ocean. The expedition conducted reef surveys, ecological mapping, marine biodiversity monitoring, and cultural exchange programs across Egypt, Oman, the Maldives, the Seychelles, India, Sri Lanka, and Kenya.
In 2015, 3t co-founded Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc., pioneering large-scale hardwood salvage and recovery efforts in Puerto Rico. Following the devastation of Hurricane Maria in 2017, she helped lead initiatives to recover hundreds of valuable tropical hardwood trees that otherwise would have been sent to landfill, transforming storm debris into long-term material resources while advocating for local, sustainable wood economies.
3t is a Fellow of the Linnean Society and a Fellow of the World Academy of Art & Science. In 2021, she received an Innovation Award from Yale University’s International Society of Tropical Foresters in recognition of her interdisciplinary work connecting forestry, ecology, conservation, and community engagement.
Alongside her scientific and forestry work, 3t maintains an active visual arts practice. Her paintings explore ecological systems, metaphysical botany, inner landscapes, and the relationships between consciousness, environment, and transformation. She has held solo exhibitions in Puerto Rico and continues to develop interdisciplinary projects integrating art, science, ecology, and environmental stewardship.
“Atlas of Inner Blooming Biomes: A Fictional Herbarium Catalogue of Inner and Outer Expeditions”
Latest Paintings by 3t Vakil | Collected Specimens 2025-2026
“Spandrel Spaces: The Art of In-Between”
Paintings by 3t Vakil, 2024-2025
See 3t’s website and blog: www.3tvakil.com