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.

This mummified steppe bison was donated to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in the 1970s. Right now, museum audiences can see it online during a virtual tour. (Michelle Pinsdorf, Smithsonian)

Bison Mummies Help Scientists Ruminate on Ancient Climate

November 2nd, 2020, 6:00AM

/ BY Abigail Eisenstadt

Southern elephant seals normally live in the South Atlantic, often as far south as Antarctica. These are young male Southern elephant seals from the South Shetland and Anvers islands, Antarctica. (Daniel Costa / University of California, Santa Cruz under the National Marine Fisheries Service permits (numbers 87-1593 and 87-1851-00) and ACA authorization)

What A 1000-Year-Old Seal Skull Can Say About Climate Change

September 2nd, 2020, 9:00AM

/ BY Abigail Eisenstadt

As the ocean continues to warm, scientists look to the past for answers on how to manage today’s environmental problems. (Sophie McCoy/NOAA)

Get to Know the Scientist Reconstructing Past Ocean Temperatures

June 8th, 2020, 6:00AM

/ BY Juliana Olsson

The Smithsonian’s new fossil hall includes myriad stories and details – big and small – about Earth’s 4.6-billion-year history. (Smithsonian Institution)

Five Things You Shouldn’t Miss in the New Fossil Hall

July 18th, 2019, 2:08PM

/ BY Erin I. Garcia de Jesus

Miniature dinosaurs are staged in a scene from 150 million years ago while guests peruse another display showing the same species at full-size. (Smithsonian Institution)

The Experts Behind the New Fossil Hall Wrap Their Minds Around ‘Deep Time’

July 5th, 2019, 6:00AM

/ BY Erin I. Garcia de Jesus

Smithsonian paleobiologist Scott Wing digs for plant fossils in Wyoming. (Tom Nash)

Old Fossils, New Meanings: Smithsonian Exhibit Explores the History of Life and What it Means for Our Future

April 22nd, 2019, 10:15AM

/ BY Scott L. Wing

The National Museum of Natural History’s “Earth Temperature History Symposium” convened leading paleoclimate scientists to draw a comprehensive temperature curve of Earth’s past climates. (Lucia RM Martino, Smithsonian)

Leading Scientists Convene to Chart 500M Years of Global Climate Change

April 24th, 2018, 1:23PM

/ BY Laura Soul

Foraminifera from Ernst Haeckel's Kunstformen der Natur. (Ernst Haeckel)

Here's How Scientists Reconstruct Earth's Past Climates

March 23rd, 2018, 12:33PM

/ BY Caitlin Keating-Bitonti & Lucy Chang

The 2016 Arctic sea ice summertime minimum, reached on Sept. 10, is 911,000 square miles below the 1981-2010 average minimum sea ice extent, shown here as a gold line (NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio/C. Starr).

Can Science Help Policymakers Create the Arctic Policies We Need Right Now?

August 3rd, 2017, 12:42PM

/ BY Alyson H. Fleming & Nicholas D. Pyenson

Ginkgo biloba leaves could be the key to reconstructing past changes in carbon dioxide and climate (Rich Barclay, Smithsonian).

Can You Help Us Clear The Fossil Air?

June 8th, 2017, 3:04PM

/ BY Laura Soul & Rich Barclay

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