Alice
Eve Kennington
Internship Endowment
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004
|
2006
In
October, 1998, a benefactor, acting on behalf
of Alice Eve Kennington who was deceased,
established an endowment fund, to be known
as the Alice Eve Kennington Internship Endowment,
to provide, in perpetuity, support for undergraduate
internships at the National Museum of Natural
History and in particular, to support one
or more annual participants in the Research
Training Program. This was the RTP's first
endowed position and was set to mark the celebration
of the Programs 20th anniversary in 2000.
Through the Kennington Endowment, internships
shall be awarded through a competitive process
determined by the Museum. Awards shall be
directed to research in ecology and/or evolutionary
biology of extant and/or fossil organisms.
Preference shall be given to awarding internships
for research related to fresh water invertebrates
or interdisciplinary work complimentary to
fresh water biology. Internships shall not
be awarded for research in planetary or mineral
sciences.
Alice
Eve Kennington was a Linguist, political scientist,
Hofmannsthal scholar, and classicist. German
was second nature; she was proficient in French,
Italian, and Latin and knew some Greek. She
was also a literary historian and critic.
Emily
Armgardt
Alice Eve Kennington Intern
2006
Emily
Armgardt.
2006.
Seattle University. Ontogenetic Changes in
Shell Microstructure of Freshwater Gastropods
from Lake Tanganyika (Cerithioidea, Paludomidae).
Dr. Ellen Strong, Invertebrate Zoology. Alice
Eve Kennington Intern.-
- RTP
Project Summary.
Dear
Alice Eve Kennington, Endowment,
I
would like to take this opportunity to express
my sincerest gratitude to you for sponsoring
my participation in the Research Training
Program (RTP) at the National Museum of Natural
History. This program is an invaluable experience
for undergraduate students like myself looking
not only for an internship, but a research
experience.
This
summer, I had the privilege of working with
Dr. Ellen Strong, Curator of Mollusks in the
Department of Invertebrate Zoology. My project
focused on a family of snails endemic to Lake
Tanganyika in Africa. I examined the changes
in the microstructure of the snails by embedding
the shells in resin and then using a scanning
electron microscope (SEM) to capture the changes
over the lifetime of the individual. Because
of my participation in this program, I am
going to present my research poster at the
annual SICB meeting in January, 2007.
However,
the research experience was not the sole focus
of my summer. The various lectures and tours
provided a rich introduction to the many different
fields in natural history that I would have
not otherwise had the opportunity to explore.
I feel privileged to have had access not only
to the vast number of specimens housed in
the museum, but also the expertise of the
curators throughout the museum. Seeing each
of the different collections throughout the
summer was an unforgettable experience.
In
addition to my time at the museum, I had the
opportunity to visit the Smithsonian Marine
Station located in Fort Pierce, Florida. This
experience allowed me to get my hands wet
while learning collecting and processing methods
for snails.
Thank
you again for providing your support to RTP.
As a senior this year, decisions about my
future are always on my mind and the RTP has
served as a good start to what my future might
hold.
Sincerely,
Emily
Armgardt
Research Training Program
RTP Class of '06
Neil
Aschliman
Alice Eve Kennington Intern
2004
Neil
Aschliman
Neil
Aschliman.
2004.
Texas A&M University. Morphological
Studies of Fish in the Zenarchopteridae.
- - Virtual
Poster. Bruce Collette, Vertebrate Zoology
- Fishes. Alice
Eve Kennington Intern.
- - RTP
Project Summary.
Dear
Esteemed Representatives of the Alice Eve
Kennington Endowment,
It
is said that even the most minor circumstances
and occurrences may dramatically sculpt
the course of one life and the cultivation
of his passions. Despite this mass contingency
of minutiae, the phenomenal impact of such
a defining event as participation in the
Research Training Program at the National
Museum of Natural History is simply incalculable.
The Smithsonian RTP is an insurmountable
pinnacle of undergraduate opportunity, and
one in which I could have not dreamed taking
part without your generous sponsorship.
I have conducted research in myriad eclectic
fields throughout my career, and upon entering
the RTP anticipated pursuing developmental
biology in graduate school and beyond. At
this year annual ichthyological conference,
I was introduced to an exciting problem
in the systematics of the needlefishes and
their allies that I later investigated as
my RTP project under Dr. Bruce Collette.
Using morphological characters from the
gill arches to evaluate a recent molecular
hypothesis of evolutionary relationships,
I arrived at conclusions with potentially
substantial ramifications concerning the
higher-level organization of this interesting
group of fishes. The electric feelings of
excitement, confidence, and accomplishment
that studying at the NMNH evoked have inspired
me to seriously consider a museum career
in systematic ichthyology. Working closely
with several affable, eminent systematists
has engendered in me a renewed interest
in this area of research, which is suffering
from a dearth of new minds even as it grows
increasingly important.
Being a part of the NMNH community has been
a lifelong, intense ambition for this diligent
student of natural history. I wish that
you could experience my sublime joy and
awe upon first witnessing the collections,
and how my skin prickled and my heart forgot
its rhythm. Every day is equally a challenge
and a delight, establishing the milieu in
which I live and work as an inseparable
facet of my future. Building fast friendships
with senior staff and my fellow interns,
each radiant with a love of science, and
observing the curiosity and delight on the
faces of the young and the wise in the exhibit
halls have become as rewarding and self-defining
as my research itself. I thank you again
so deeply for granting me this wonderfully
elucidating, reaffirming experience with
such a remarkable program.
Sincerely,
Neil
C. Aschliman
Research Training Program
Class of '04
Miguel
Fernandez
Alice Eve Kennington Intern
2003
Miguel
Fernandez
Miguel
Fernandez.
2003.
University Mayor de San Andres. Testing
a predictive model of amphibian distributions
in Bolivia using Leptodactylidae. - - Virtual
Poster. Don Wilson, Vertebrate Zoology
- Mammals. Alice
Eve Kennington Intern.
- - RTP
Project Summary.
"It
has been nine weeks since I heard Dr. Christian
Samper, Director of the Natural History
Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. In
his welcome address to the new Research
Training Program interns, he spoke about
the opportunities that change people's lives
forever, using his own experience of beginning
of his career in Colombia. Today, for me,
this wonderful opportunity is almost over
but those words remain within my head.
The
chance an American university student has
to come to Washington D.C. and participate
in the competitive Research Training Program
is low, but the chances for acceptance for
a Bolivian university student are much smaller.
I am the first Bolivian student to have
participated in the Research Training Program
and I feel my life has been changed forever.
It has broadened my horizons from a little
country to a whole world, from a book to
a group of authors, from a single culture
to megadiversity in one country. Living
and working for ten weeks under the supervision
of three bright minds and most of all friends:
Dr. Don Wilson, Dr. Ron Heyer and Dr. Roy
McDiarmid, does not have comparison. They
all gave me the great opportunity to work
independently, developing my research project
under their guidance and advice.
Now
at the end of the program my heart is sad,
however I also feel infinitely happy to
go back home. In the future I will share
everything I have learned from my tutors
at the program, the people at the museum,
my new friends, and this country from which
I knew nothing until now."
Miguel
Fernandez
Universidad
Mayor de San Andres
La Paz, BOLIVIA
Murilo
Carvalho
Alice Eve Kennington
Intern
2002
Murilo
Carvalho.
2002.
University of Sao Paulo. Revision of Hypostomus
species of the streams in the upper Rio Parana
basin on the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil (Siluriformes:
Loricariidae). - - Virtual
Poster. Richard Vari, Vertebrate Zoology
- Fishes. Alice
Eve Kennington Intern.
- - RTP
Project Summary.
"
I would like to express my great thanks for
the unique opportunity that the Kennington
Endowment has provided to be able to participate
on the Research Training Program of the National
Museum of Natural History.
Although
I had the opportunity to conduct some research
at my home university, the Universidade de
São Paulo, coming to an institution,
such as the Smithsonian, where many of the
staff are committed to progress in diverse
fields of science was a unique experience.
During
my time at the National Museum of Natural
History, I had the opportunity to work with
Dr. Richard Vari, and Dr. Stanley Weitzman,
two of the most respected ichthyologists dealing
with problems involving South American freshwater
fishes. The internship provided me with the
chance to discuss with them many of the problems
concerning the systematics of catfishes of
the family Loricariidae and to ask advice
about many other topics in Ichthyology. They
made a number of suggestions, based on their
vast knowledge, that will undoubtedly be useful
as my career develops.
The
specific research problem that I undertook
involved the question of the diversity and
phylogeny (evolutionary relationships) of
Hypostomus, a group of loricarid catfishes
from the State of São Paulo, Brazil.
The results of this study together with information
on the historical geology of their region
provide the first insight into the evolution
and biogeography of these fishes.
The
summer internship was a very valuable experience.
Not only did I acquire a lot of information
concerning an area of research that I intend
to pursue as a career, but I had the unique
opportunity to meet different researchers,
learn about different fields with the natural
sciences, and be exposed to a diversity of
opinions on a number of controversial topics
of science.
Murilo
de Carvalho
Universidade de São Paulo
Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
Alexandre
Ribeiro
Alice Eve Kennington
Intern
2001
Alexandre
Cunha Ribeiro.
2001.
Universidade de Sao
Paulo, Brazil (Zoology). Phylogeny of the
fish genus Oligosarcus Gunther. Dr.
Richard Vari, Vertebrate Zoology - Fishes.
Alice
Eve Kennington Endowment Intern
- - RTP
Project Summary.
"
I would like to express my greatest thankfulness
for participation in the Research Training
Program of the National Museum of Natural
History. Coming to an institution where everyone
is concerned with the development of science
was a very good experience.
I
had the opportunity to work with Dr. Richard
Vari, one of the most respected ichthyologists.
It has been very good to talk about all the
problems concerning the systematics of Characidae,
to ask for advice and talk about Ichthyology
as a whole. He has taught me a lot, and certainly
I learned a lot from his vast experience.
This
particular problem I did concerned the phylogeny
(evolutionary relationships) of a group of
characid fish from Brazil and neighboring
countries. The phylogeny, together with a
study of the historical geology of the region,
provided an interesting hypothesis concerning
the evolution of these fishes. This internship
meant a lot to me. Besides the knowledge I
acquired about my research subject and my
major area of interest. It was a chance to
meet different researchers, learn about different
fields on the natural sciences, and listen
to different opinions on controversial topics
of science.
Once
again I would like to express my gratitude
to the Kennington Endowment for providing
me the financial support that made possible
this wonderful experience."
Alexandre Cunha Ribeiro
Universidade de sao Paulo
Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Andrew
Farke
Alice Eve Kennington
Intern
2000
Andrew
Farke.
2000.
South Dakota School
of Mines and Technology (Geology, 2003). Estimating
clade richness in extinct and extant groups.
Dr. Jonathan Coddington. Entomology.
Alice
Eve Kennington Endowment Intern.
- - RTP
Project Summary.
"
I
am pleased and honored to be selected for
this position as the first Kennington Intern
in the Smithsonian's Research Training Program.
I
am originally from Armour, South Dakota, a
small town of 850 people. I have been quite
active in my field of paleontology, presenting
my research at several conferences. My current
research project is to describe a new skull
of Torosaurus, a horned dinosaur closely related
to Triceratops.
Participation
in the
National Museum of Natural History Research
Training Program has broadened both my scientific
and personal horizons.
Dr.
Jonathan Coddington, an arachnidologist interested
in estimating species diversity, served as
my RTP mentor. In my project, I explored
aspects of statistics and ecology that I had
not considered before such
as
estimating clade richness for a variety of
taxa, ranging from spiders to cephalopods.
My work consisted of entering data (species,
locality, etc.) into a spreadsheet. After
this, I convert the information into a form
usable by a program which estimates species
(or genera) richness to determine
the feasibility of estimating clade richness
from sample data. We found that it is indeed
possible, offering a powerful tool for evaluating
scientists' knowledge of a taxonomic group.
In addition, it may offer new approaches for
estimating how many species exist on earth.
Working
at the Smithsonian Institution also expanded
my awareness of other scientific disciplines.
In the course of my research and through lectures
and tours, I was able to interact with scientists
from the fields of entomology, anthropology,
paleontology and many others.
On
a more personal level, I value the chance
to meet and befriend other science-minded
students from around the world. I trust that
our dialogues on science and life will stay
with me for the rest of my career.
I look forward to sharing my experiences with
other people. I am preparing for a career
as a vertebrate paleontologist, a life-long
dream. My time in the Research Training Program
has indelibly changed my outlook on science,
research and the surrounding world-all for
the better. Thank you for this incredible
opportunity!"
Andrew A. Farke
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Rapid City, South Dakota
