Smithsonian
Institution
National Museum of Natural History
Research
Training Program
Research
Environment
Since
it's founding in 1846 with a bequest bestowed
to the United States by James Smithson, a prominent
English scientist, and throughout its history,
the Smithsonian Institution has been dedicated
to the "increase and diffusion of knowledge."
The Museum of Natural History opened the doors
of its present facility on the National Mall in
1911 as part of the U.S. National Museum, established
in 1858. The Museum changed its name to the National
Museum of Natural History (NMNH) in 1969. NMNH
houses by far the largest natural history collections
in the world. The NMNH incorporates 1,709,015
square feet including 1,318,515 on the Mall and
390,500 off-site, at the Museum Support Center
(MSC).
As
one of twenty-three units making up the Smithsonian
complex of research/exhibit facilities, the National
Museum of Natural History is dedicated to
enhancing the understanding of the natural world
and humanity's place in it.
The
NMNH is "Where Natural History Lives"
and through new and innovative exhibits has become
the most visited natural history museum in the
world recording 9.5 million guests annually. The
NMNH is also home to the largest assemblage of
natural history professionals (600) and collections
(126 million). This includes more than 100 Ph.D.
in-residence scientists engaged in fundamental
research on natural and cultural diversity, covering
the biological, geological, and anthropological
sciences.
The
NMNH collections serve as the research foundation,
providing inspiration for new discovery and essential
evidence for much of what we already know about
the world around us, including documentation of
changes in the earth and climate, evolutionary
history of plants and animals, and human origins
and culture. Research encompasses collecting,
identifying and describing species that exist
in the natural world, establishing relationships
among them, and explaining the underlying processes
that generate, shape, and sustain all of Earth's
systems. However, we realize that if Smithsonian
research scientists are to affect the future of
scientific investigation, emphasis must not only
be placed on conducting research and communicating
findings through written publication and oral
presentation, but also on actively participating
in the education, hands-on training, and inspiration
of the next generation of researchers.
Since 1980 the NMNH Research Training Program
(RTP), with its diverse curriculum centered on
personal interaction between students and scientists,
has served as the mechanism through which Smithsonian
researchers act as mentors to the next generation
of scientists and through which participating
students explore their research interests and
options in the biological, geological, and anthropological
sciences. Unlimited access to the full range of
the NMNH facilities and collections makes the
experience unique even among other opportunities
at the Museum.
Over
the past twenty-three years, the Research Training
Program has hosted 509
students and evolved into a nationally recognized
research and training opportunity for undergraduate
students to develop contacts within the scientific
community, to achieve competence in the research
process, and to gain confidence in attaining a
career in the natural history sciences.
The
RTP is "How Natural History Grows."
The program successfully recruits and trains students,
including women and minorities who are traditionally
under-represented in science careers, and it serves
as a model for other institutions developing research
opportunities for undergraduates.
The
program's philosophy is that direct, hands-on
experience demonstrates the excitement of research
and encourages undergraduates to pursue advanced
degrees and careers in these fields. Through the
10-week summer program participants identify critical
research questions, design and conduct original
research, use the library, work with the museum
collections, gather and interpret data, and communicate
their results to the scientific community - the
very aspects that distinguish scientific careers
from all others.
The NMNH has the professional staff, facilities,
and collections that are needed to train undergraduates
in the full expanse of natural history disciplines,
with tools ranging from historical scientific
collections to state-of-the-art analytical laboratory
facilities. Participants are exposed to this diversity
through a course of lectures, discussions, field
trips, tours, and demonstrations. For the duration
of the Program, participants become members of
the NMNH research community and experience the
intellectual life of an active international research
institution. Through daily interaction with mentors
and other professionals, including numerous scientific
visitors to the museum, they build valuable contacts
for a future career in the sciences. In all aspects
the Program is designed to prepare participants
for major hurdles in young scientific careers
- selecting and entering graduate school, designing
and conducting research, and presenting and publishing
results.
Through partnerships with undergraduates and teachers,
the NMNH Research Training Program endeavors to
impart a broader view and appreciation of natural
history research to a wide and diverse audience,
to provide hands-on experience in the methods
and techniques that support studies in the sciences,
and to present the research process in sufficient
detail to encourage confidence and competence
in future initiatives.
Research
Training Program participants conduct their
scientific investigations utilizing the extensive
collections, libraries and laboratories of the
Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural
History. The research environment provided by
the Smithsonian scientific community is rich in
breadth and diversity. The research staff, facilities
and, in particular, collections, is unparalleled.
In addition to its permanent research staff, the
NMNH is home to over 100 doctoral-level scholars,
support staff, and affiliated research scientists.
The
NMNH, with over 126 million specimens of plants,
animals, fossils, minerals, and human artifacts,
is the world's largest and most comprehensive
natural history collection.
The
museum contains the largest collections of fossils
(34 million) especially Cambrian soft-bodied fossils,
foraminifera, brachiopods, bryozoans, echinoids,
and fossil plants, and the largest collection
of vertebrates with 4 million fish, 500,000 amphibians
and reptiles, 600,000 birds, and 550,000 mammals.
These
collections are a "permanent record"
of our planet's natural and cultural history and
the primary focus of most Research Training Program
projects.
The
collections are supplemented and supported by
the extensive libraries and literature collections
of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries (over
1 million volumes). Departmental branch libraries,
reprint collections, specialized divisions, and
private libraries provide students convenient
access to most literature required for their research
project, including rare and historical volumes.
Program participants have convenient access to
most literature required for their research project,
including rare and historical volumes.
RTP
students also receive unique access to the numerous
laboratories and facilities throughout the NMNH
including: Botany Research Greenhouse, Conservation
Analytical Laboratory, Electrophoresis Laboratory,
Human Studies Film Archives, Laboratories of Analytical
Biology, National Anthropological Archives, Sedimentology
Laboratory, and Sound Analysis Laboratory. Computer
facilities, a morphometrics facility, and ESEM,
SEM and TEM laboratories are housed at the NMNH.
Each
of the research departments maintains specialized
laboratories, specimen preparation areas, computer
facilities, photocopiers and photographic darkrooms.
Specialized equipment available for research investigation
includes: Electron microprobe, X-ray fluorescence
and diffraction equipment, scanning electron microscope,
gas-mixing and muffle furnaces, particle analyzer,
computer digitization equipment, and CAT scanner.
In addition, graphics technology and equipment,
especially to produce presentation posters, are
provided for student benefit.
The
chance to engage in original research in this
environment has a substantial influence on the
subsequent career decisions of our alumni. Seeing
first hand evolutionary changes across time while
touring the paleobiology collections, observing
close-up the fine and detailed work of cultural
artifacts in the anthropology collections, and
holding specimens of unique species from around
the world solidifies student's formal training
and often stimulates interest which only first-hand
experience can generate. The Museum and its staff
continue to serve as a resource as students' careers
progress and after teachers return to the classroom.
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