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Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Closeup of a handful of river herring underwater swimming toward the viewer, with silver bodies, yellow faces and beady black eyes.

American Icons: Reviving the River Herring

A lionfish with elongated spines and red and white stripes swims through a reef.

Eight of the Worst Marine Invaders, According to Scientists

Yellow fish swim in front of coral reef

Too Many Coral Restorations Fail. Treating Them Like Experiments Could Help Them Succeed.

Over a dozen blue crabs with red pincers piled in a wooden basket

Cannibalism Takes Major Bite Out of Young Blue Crabs, but the Shallows Offer a Refuge

Left: Black and white image of a young man sitting at a desk, examining bird bones and holding a bird skull. Right: A young woman in an orange safety vest bends over a stream, collecting a water sample in a bottle.

Six Ways the Smithsonian Shaped Environmental Science in 60 Years

A brown river otter walks beside a white tree, with autumn leaves covering the ground.

River Otters Unfazed by Parasites, Poop While Eating

Head and shoulders photo of Denise Breitburg, a woman with glasses and shoulder-length gray hair, with forested mountains in the background.

Wait, the Ocean Is Losing Oxygen? Q&A With Denise Breitburg

A swarm of yellow fish and silver fish with yellow tailfins swim around a coral reef

Adult Fish Aren't Truly 'Protected' in Many Marine Protected Areas

Black monkey perches in a tree staring directly at camera

Eight Weird and Wondrous Discoveries From 2023

North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis) at Florida's Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge. (Credit: Keenan Adams, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)

River Otters Take Party Pooping To A New Level

Lontra canadensis, the North American river otter. (Credit: Matthew Fryer)

The Secret Lives of River Otters (And Their Parasites)

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