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.

The Asian Giant Hornet, Vespa mandarinia, can grow up to two inches long and is a species not native to North America. The National Insect Collection, co-curated by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), houses one of the first specimens collected in North America (Michael Gates, USDA).

Notorious Asian Giant Hornet Finds Home in Smithsonian

May 21st, 2020, 10:20AM

/ BY Abigail Eisenstadt

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

These bumblebees were part of a mass digitization project at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Pinned underneath each bee is important information about where the bees were collected, when and by whom. (Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Institution)

Digitization Allows Public Access to Smithsonian’s Hidden Collections

February 26th, 2020, 11:57AM

/ BY Margaret Osborne

Scientists at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History discovered all sorts of cool things in 2019 including the first North American medicinal leech (Macrobdella mimicus) in more than 40 years. (Anna Phillips, Smithsonian)

10 Popular Scientific Discoveries from 2019

December 31st, 2019, 6:00AM

/ BY Miguel Montalvo

Collections at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History are filled with all sorts of eerie specimens. (Clockwise from top left: Gilles San Martin via Wikimedia, Smithsonian Institution, NoahElhardt via Wikimedia, Karie Darrow)

Six Bewitching Smithsonian Specimens to Get You Ready for Halloween

October 29th, 2019, 1:09PM

/ BY Erin I. Garcia de Jesus

Past and present female scientists at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History have advanced humankind’s understanding of the natural world and its place in it. L to R: Adrienne Kaeppler, Hannah Wood, Marian Pettibone, Sorena Sorenson and Kay Behrensmeyer. (Smithsonian Institution).

Get to Know the Leading Ladies of Science at the Smithsonian

March 8th, 2019, 6:00AM

/ BY Anna Torres

Researchers at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History traveled the world and made many new discoveries this year—including 18 new species of pelican spiders. (Nikolai Scharff)

Check Out Some of Our Most Popular Discoveries From 2018

December 23rd, 2018, 6:00AM

/ BY Eric Liu

The newly opened Steinhardt Museum of Natural History at Tel Aviv University preserves and displays Israel’s natural heritage. (David Furth, Smithsonian Institution)

Here’s How the Smithsonian Helped Develop the Middle East’s First Natural History Museum

October 26th, 2018, 7:28AM

/ BY David Furth

A drawer of pinned adult mosquitoes from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History’s National Mosquito Collection. The specimens shown here were digitized recently. Meaning, their bionomic information is databased and individual specimens are cataloged. (David Pecor, WBRU)

Can Scientists Stop One of the World's Deadliest Mosquitoes?

May 23rd, 2018, 12:58PM

/ BY David Pecor

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