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National Museum of Natural History

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Meet the Researcher Studying How Ancient Human Migrations Shaped a Hotbed of Avocado Diversity in Central America

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‘Snarge,’ Seashells and Much More This April at the National Museum of Natural History

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Meet the Scientist Digitizing Millions of Fossilized Pollen Grains to Reveal Earth’s Climate History

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How Much Wood Could a Museum Collect? Much More Than a Woodchuck Could

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

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National Museum of Natural History Scientists Discover That Ancient Insects Perfected Their Plant Palates 165 Million Years Ago

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Pawpaw-Palooza: The Inside Scoop on North America’s Taste of the Tropics

A brown and white quail stands in a grassy field in front of taller grasses behind it.

Across the Smithsonian, Researchers are Working Together to Save Virginia’s Birds

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Through the Fossil Grapevine: Museum Scientist Helps Untangle How the Fruit Thrived in the Aftermath of Extinction

A woman in a blue checkered shirt kneels on the ground with tall, green plans surrounding her on both sides.

Late Smithsonian Botanist's Legacy Continues to Blossom

A black monkey sits on a tree branch, looking at the camera and eating flowers

Embark on a Journey to the Smithsonian’s Tropical Research Station

A man wearing a ripped white shirt stands among thick greenery, holding a plastic sample bag

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

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The Smithsonian’s Only Botanical Illustrator Transforms Science Into Stunning Works of Art

Multiple pages of paper adorned with brown and yellow pressed plant specimens sit, one after the other, on a dark gray table-like surface. In the background are two people with purple gloves on.

2022 in Review: The National Herbarium Goes Digital

A black-and-orange orchard oriole perches on a bright red flower and uses its beak to peck at the petals.

A Bird in the Hand: How a Smithsonian Zoologist Spent the Pandemic Tracking Nectar-Robbing Orioles

Under the waves swirls a bed of sea grass. Above the water is a coastal home attached to a dock.

New Study Puts Smithsonian Conservation Efforts to the Test

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

A flower with bright pink petals and a yellow interior blooms on the surface of a water near several green and brown lily pads.

New Smithsonian Exhibition Explores the Intersection of People and Nature

A grey, orange, and brown expanse of layered rock formations under a gray sky.

Ancient Pollen Offers Clues to How Plants Adapted to Climate Change in the Past — and Potentially the Future

A green ridged cactus towers vertically over the camera with a deep blue sky in the background

How a Smithsonian Botanist Cracked the Cactus Code a Century Ago

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