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National Museum of Natural History

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Meet the Museum Director Who’s Wild About Walruses

In celebration of World Walrus Day, National Museum of Natural History director Kirk Johnson talks about his new documentary on the saber-toothed seals

A white, fluffy dog stands in front of a brown mural with other dogs

NMNH in Review: Top Discoveries by Museum Scientists in 2023

Indigenous woolly dogs, ground sloth pendants and more headline-grabbing findings by scientists at the National Museum of Natural History

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1.1 Billion Objects and Counting: Inside the Effort to Tally Natural History Specimens Around the Globe

This year, NMNH director Kirk Johnson helped spearhead an effort to add up the collections of the world’s largest museums

A man wearing a white hard hat, neon vest, dark gray pants and yellow gloves sits in a pit of dark rock. Just below his knees is a boulder with a piece of lighter gray fossil sticking out of the top.

Meet the Smithsonian Director Bringing a Deep Time Perspective to the International Climate Discussion

Kirk Johnson highlights the vital climate context museum collections provide at international COP conferences

Postcard of the Smithsonian Institution Castle sent in 1939 from my mom in Washington, D.C. to my uncles in Casper, Wyoming—nearly 80 years before I started working at the Smithsonian. (Kirk Johnson)

Museum Director Discovers His Mother’s Childhood Visit to the Smithsonian

By raising her son to be curious about the natural world, Kirk Johnson's mother helped shape the trajectory of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.

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