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National Museum of Natural History

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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

6) Eroding Late Holocene Native American oyster midden at low tide in Fishing Bay, Maryland.JPG

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

A pink and yellow worm is covered in several tangled strands of string-like gills.

Meet the Scientist Who Studies How Polychaete Worms Wriggle Through the Ocean

The lessons invertebrate zoologist Karen Osborn learns from the tiny worms may have robotic implications

A variety of dark gray to black magnetofossils shaped like ovals, cubes and needles cluster around each other.

Meet the Scientist Who Uses Magnetic Fossils to Navigate Changing Oceans

Geobiologist Courtney Wagner uses giant magnets and microscopic fossils to make sense of ancient climate change

An orange-colored fly, as seen from above and below

Get to Know the Scientist Studying How Parasitic Flies Stomach Bat Blood

Microbiologist Kelly Speer uses museum specimens to study blood-feeding insects and their mammalian hosts

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Say Hello to the Scientist Using DNA to Track Plankton Diversity

Ecologist Paula Pappalardo hones strategies for identifying these critical ocean organisms

Zoologist Melissa Hawkins holds a squirrel with gloved hands and observes it while in the woods during daylight.

Meet the Scientist Extracting Ancient DNA From Squirrels and Lemurs

Zoologist Melissa Hawkins uses museum specimens and field expeditions to study rodents and primates

Geolgist Cari Corrigan poses for a picture in the snow next to an American flag and a sign that reads "Geographic South Pole."

Get to Know the Geologist Collecting Antarctic Meteorites

Cari Corrigan gathers meteorites from the South Pole to help researchers understand the mineral makeup of asteroids and planets

Headshot of paleoanthropologist Briana Pobiner in a red sweater holding an early human skull up text to her face on white background.

Meet the Scientist Studying How Humans Started Eating Meat

Paleoanthropologist Briana Pobiner studies bones from animals eaten by early humans millions of years ago

A pile of gourds spilling out of a tipped over container onto a brick floor with a bale of straw in the background.

Say Hello to the Scientist Harvesting Clues About Ancient Gourds and Maize

Archaeologist Logan Kistler explains how he studies the roots of plant domestication

Headshot of a person under a canopy wearing a headlamp and holding a bat in gloved hands near their face

Get to Know the Biologist Who Identifies Bats by the Color of Their Poop

Melissa Ingala studies how the bacteria living in bat guts help them stay healthy

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Meet the Expert Studying Fishes That Spit Water to Hunt

Smithsonian Ichthyologist Matt Girard talks about how and why he studies archerfishes.

The vast diversity of anole lizards found throughout the Americas helps scientists understand what factors drive the evolution of life. (goatling, CC BY 2.0)

Say Hello to the Scientist Using Lizard Limbs to Unlock Evolution's Secrets

For this month's Meet a SI-entist, we caught up with Kevin de Queiroz to talk about the evolution of lizard legs and the joys of unplanned discoveries

Chris Meyer, a marine invertebrate zoologist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, dives around French Polynesia with equipment used to track coral reef health. (Jenny Adler)

Meet the Reef Expert Collecting Environmental Time Capsules

Collecting DNA in waters worldwide can help scientists figure out which places are the most important for conservation.

Entomologist and Collections Manager Dr. Floyd Shockley cares for the 35 million specimens in the Entomology Collection at the National Museum of Natural History. He also studies the diversity, natural history and evolution of fungus feeding beetles. (Donald E. Hurlbert, Smithsonian)

Say Hello to the Scientist Caring for Smithsonian's 35 Million Entomology Specimens

In this Meet a SI-entist, Smithsonian Entomologist and Collections Manager Floyd Shockley reveals how insects impact our daily lives.

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