Logistics
Questions
How
do you apply for the Winter Break Program?
Students
interested in participating in the Winter
Break Program should contact (e-mail)
the person listed as the "Contact"
for the project they are most interested
in. Include in your e-mail the name of
the project you're interested in, the
dates of your winter break / dates you're
available, and your academic background
including any experience relevant to the
project selected.
How will students
be selected?
Students
selected for participation will receive
a confirmation e-mail from the project
Staff Sponsor.
How many students
will be selected?
We
will make every effort to host as many
students as staff can affectively work
with.
Where will students
report on the first day of the internship?
Do you have advice or directions for how
to get there?
Students
selected for participation should report
to the National Museum of Natural History
(10th Street and Constitution Avenue,
NW) Constitution Avenue Lobby. Have a
security officer call Mary Sangrey (202-633-4548)
who will meet the group in the lobby.
What time should
students arrive on the first day? And
what are the regular working hours?
Monday
at 9:00 a.m. is preferred arrival so as
to join the weekly group registration
session. Regular work hours are 8:45 a.m.
to 5:15 p.m. Monday - Friday.
After selected and
reporting in on the first day, whom should
students ask for?
Mary
Sangrey, phone: phone 202-633-4548. Students
will be directed to their Staff Sponsor
after registration is completed. Registration
generally takes about one hour and inculdes
issue of a Smithsonian identification
credential.
What sort of attire
should students wear throughout the week?
Work
dress is casual attire. Clothing easy
to work in is best.
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Gain experience in proper botanical collection
techniques, botanical taxonomic identification,
herbarium organization and conservation practices,
and appropriate record keeping by joining the
team to inventory and collect seed from all
the threatened and endangered plants within
the United States. NMNH has been designated
by congress to be the national depository for
all collections made in federal parks and on
federally managed lands. As a result, all botanical
collections made within these areas must be
housed in the United States National Herbarium
at NMNH. Beginning with the new millennium a
consortium of botanical gardens, museums, universities,
and the United States Bureau of Land Management
started a project to inventory and collect seed
from all the threatened and endangered plants
within the United States. This seed will then
be housed in a seed bank, propagated, and made
available to federal agencies and private landowners
for restoration and remediation projects throughout
the country. 
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC)
calls for a preliminary assessment list of the
conservation status of all known plant species.
The student will use specimen data from the
U.S. National Herbarium to investigate and analyze
preliminary conservation assessments on select
plant families.