National Museum of Natural History

A man in a grey short sits in a lab setting, in front of a microscope and a computer screen.

Meet the National Museum of Natural History Volunteer Preserving Prehistory One Microfossil at a Time

Carlos Savignano is part of a dedicated group of FossiLab volunteers preparing Smithsonian fossils for display and future research

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Meet the Scientist Using Micro-CT Scans to Explore Big Questions About Evolution

Corinthia Black studies the anatomical features of fishes and spiders to understand how life on Earth takes shape

A circular rock is cut in half against a black background, revealing the plant material fossilized inside.

Meet the Scientist Studying 'Fossil Snapshots' of Ancient Insect Life

Paleobiologist Scott Lakeram analyzes 300-million-year-old coal ball fossils to reveal prehistoric plant-insect interactions frozen in time

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Fearsome Flies: Meet the Scientist Studying the Top Predators in the Insect World

Entomologist Torsten Dikow, a leading expert on assassin flies, is working to connect a global community of researchers through the democratization of insect science

A slab of multicolored, sedimentary rock is pictured with vibrant trees and water surrounding it.

Meet the Scientist Venturing to Remote Canada in Search of the Earth’s Oldest Rocks

Smithsonian researcher Wriju Chowdhury is part of an expedition searching for 4-billion-year-old crystals that could uncover the secrets behind Earth’s early history

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Meet the Museum Scientist Who Sails the Ocean and Sifts Through Seafood Markets to Identify Fishes

From field sites in Vietnam and the coast of West Africa to her laboratory in Washington, D.C., Kate Bemis applies her knowledge of fish diversity to support sustainable fisheries

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A Glowing Review: Meet the Museum Scientist Who Studies the Evolution of Bioluminescence in Corals

Deepwater coral specialist Andrea Quattrini’s new paper pins the origin of bioluminescence in corals to more than 500 million years ago

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Mars Madness: Meet the Scientist Studying the Rocky Surface of Mars

Planetary geologist Amanda Ostwald studies Martian meteorites to understand what makes Mars different from — and similar to — planet Earth

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Meet the Smithsonian Scientist Who Has Spent Decades Exploring Ocean Depths

Marine biologist Dr. Dave Pawson has embarked on over 100 dives to the ocean floor to unravel the mysteries of elusive invertebrates like sea cucumbers and brittle stars

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Meet the Scientist Studying the Scary Speed of Spider Jaws

This Halloween, learn how arachnologist Hannah Wood uses the fossil record to track the evolution of these misunderstood critters

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Meet the Smithsonian Scientist Untangling the Branches of Hawaii’s Evolutionary Tree

From fragile ferns to towering trees, NMNH botanist Warren Wagner has spent over 30 years researching plants from the dense forests of the Pacific Islands.

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For the Love of Lizards: Meet One of the Smithsonian’s Lizard Experts

For more than fifty years, museum herpetologist George Zug has studied all manner of reptiles and amphibians

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Meet the Smithsonian Scientist Studying the Mysterious Mongolian Deer Stones

Archaeologist William Fitzhugh has spent the past two decades documenting carved stone monoliths in the Mongolian countryside to uncover the secrets of an elusive ancient culture

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Meet the Smithsonian Scientist Venturing to Volcanoes to Understand the Origins of Earth’s Surface

Elizabeth Cottrell collects rocks and analyzes samples in the lab to help reveal what makes Earth so unique

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

A big-eared, large-nosed, frown-mouthed furry grey and white medium-sized animal sits in the "v" of a small tree, holding one of the branches. In front of the animal is a woman with black hair wearing business clothes and smiling as she snaps a selfie.

Meet the Smithsonian Scientist Unlocking Crucial Conservation Clues in the Genetic Code of Koalas

For Save the Koala Day, learn how conservation geneticist Rebecca Johnson’s work helps protect these iconic marsupials

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When Was the World Our Oyster? We Asked the Anthropologist Investigating Sustainable Oyster Practices Through History

Smithsonian anthropologist Torben Rick studies how different communities sustained oyster populations for centuries, and how that changed in the wake of colonization

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Meet the Scientist Who Knows the Buzz About the Northern Giant Hornet

Research entomologist Matt Buffington monitors new insect arrivals in North America to see if they cause trouble for native species

Jun Wen sits at a wooden table in front of a bookshelf examining a herbarium booklet of pressed plant specimens.

Meet the Scientist Who Maps the World’s Past and Present Plants

Plant biologist Jun Wen investigates the sprawling diversity of plant life on Earth and the lessons it offers in conservation

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