National Museum of Natural History

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History has hundreds of scientists, researchers, curators and collection managers who connect people everywhere to life’s unfolding story. Here is a sampling of the unique voices that make up the chorus of ideas at the museum.

Through research on living and preserved plants, botanists are learning more about how flora has responded to climate change over the past centuries. (USDA photo by Preston Keres)

Why Plants are Seeding Climate Studies

May 6th, 2021, 6:00AM

/ BY Abigail Eisenstadt

The National Museum of Natural History’s 146 million objects and specimens are studied by researchers worldwide who are looking to understand all aspects of the natural world. (Chip Clark, Smithsonian)

How Museum Collections Advance Knowledge of Human Health

April 7th, 2021, 6:00AM

/ BY Emily Leclerc

Sylvester Musembi Musyoka, a Kenyan colleague and field crew leader, recording a large mammal fossil bone during a virtual field project to collect fossils in Kenyan excavation sites that were in danger of being damaged by severe weather. (Nzioki Mativo/Smithsonian)

How the Pandemic Changed Scientific Exploration

March 11th, 2021, 6:00AM

/ BY Emily Leclerc

The broad-tailed hummingbird uses its fiery throat feathers, called a gorget, to attract a mate. (Kati Fleming, CC BY-SA 3.0)

Eight of Nature’s Wildest Mating Rituals

February 11th, 2021, 6:00AM

/ BY Emily Leclerc

Leconte’s flatsedge (Cyperus lecontei) has distinctive spikelet scales and fruit which are used by scientists to identify it. (Carol Kelloff)

Get to Know the Scientist Behind the Smithsonian’s 140,000 Grass-Like Sedges

February 2nd, 2021, 6:00AM

/ BY Emily Leclerc

Plants and animals around the globe use a wide variety of evolutionary strategies to survive harsh winters.

How Seven of Nature’s Coolest Species Weather the Cold

December 10th, 2020, 6:00AM

/ BY Erin Malsbury

Smithsonian anthropologists hold up the world’s longest beard after it was donated to the National Museum of Natural History in 1967. (Smithsonian)

Five of Nature’s Best Beards for World Beard Day

September 3rd, 2020, 6:00AM

/ BY Erin Malsbury

Six Avatar-Themed Items in the Smithsonian Collections

August 25th, 2020, 6:00AM

/ BY Margaret Osborne

Pressed flowers can be used in journals, plant identification booklets and other projects. (Erika Gardner, Smithsonian Institution)

How to Press Plants from Your Backyard

May 22nd, 2020, 10:42AM

/ BY Margaret Osborne

Invasive species like lionfish can harm natural, human, and economic health. (Barry Brown)

Five Species to Wrap Up Invasive Species Week

February 28th, 2020, 1:01PM

/ BY Margaret Osborne

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