In
addition to internships, we encourage students
to consider serving as a volunteer.
Although
many internships are not paid, serving a volunteer
appointment is different
from an internship so make your selection carefully
to best fit your interests and needs. Often a
student can participate in the same project as
either an intern or volunteer. Most projects listed
here are also available to students seeking placement
as an intern. In addition, many projects
listed for interns are also available to volunteers.
While
we encourage you to directly contact the sponsoring
staff to discuss the details of the project as
well as your interests and availability, all behind-the-scenes
volunteer opportunities at the Smithsonian are
administered by the Smithsonian Visitor
Information and Associates' Reception Center
(VIARC) and most research and collections opportunities
at NMNH fall under the Behind-the-Scenes
Volunteer Program (BVP). As a BVP volunteer
individuals work on independent projects behind-the-scenes,
generally for an indefinate time period.
The Behind-the-Scenes Volunteer Program (BVP)
provides assistance to Smithsonian staff by recruiting
and placing individuals who wish to contribute
their time and expertise to specific areas of
need within the Institution. Volunteers work with
staff members on both short-term and long-term
tasks. Opportunities are generally available in:
archives; libraries; administrative offices; conservation
laboratories; and curatorial divisions and science
collections. Placements are determined by matching
volunteer qualifications, knowledge, interests
and availability with project requirements.
Upon
completion of a written application and a personal
interview, qualified applicants are referred to
staff members for consideration. Training, if
required, is provided by the project supervisor.
Generally a minimum time commitment of 2 months,
6 hours per week during regular business hours,
Monday through Friday, is required.
Following
is a sampling of volunteer projects available
at NMNH. We also have special volunteer opportunities
in our educational
outreach centers.
Applications
for a volunteer position may be submitted at any
time. For further information or an application,
contact:
Or
print the application
form and mail the completed form to the address
above. You may include a résumé
(maximum 2 pages e-mailed separately), if you
wish. Upon receiving your application, someone
from VIARC will contact you to schedule an interview.
If
you would like to apply for a behind-the-scenes
volunteer position .
NMNH
Volunteer Projects Note
that more projects for students seeking to volunteer
are available as part of the Internship
Project Listing
PROJECT
TITLE:
Photographic
Digitalization of the Green River Fossil Insect
Collection
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The NMNH Department of Paleobiology is home
to 35,000 fossiliferous rocks collected within
the Green River Formation in the states of Colorado
and Utah. The age of the Green River Formation
is within the Eocene period and these fossils
specifically date back to around 50 million
years before present. Each rock usually contains
an abundance of insects and floral material
as well as spiders, downy feathers, flowers,
reptiles. The Paleobiology Department is in
the process of creating digital
images of this collection in order to make
them more readily accessible to scientists around
the world. Interns are sought to contribute
toward this effort by assisting with the photography
of the more than 30,000 fossils in the Green
River collection.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Candidates should have an understanding of photography
and cameras beyond a "point-and-shoot"
level, knowing how to make manual setting adjustments,
such as exposure levels, white-balance, etc.
Images of the specimens are digitally captured
through a camera attached to a microsope so
a basic knowledge of microscope is helpful,
though not mandatory. Candidates should be competant
in using a Windows-based computer. Knowlege
of Adobe Photoshop is a plus.
TIMETABLE:
Fall, 2009. Candidates should be able to commit
a minimum of one day per week to this project
between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
on weekdays.
PROJECT
TITLE:
Creating educational content
for Google Earth
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Volunteers are needed to assist with a variety
of tasks related to the development of geology-related
educational content for inclusion as a Google
Earth layer. The proposed layer will feature
images, links and descriptions about specialized
mineral deposits from around the world. Volunteer
tasks will include data entry of geographic
information into Excel spreadsheets, scanning
scientific documents, building bibliographic
databases, creating locality descriptions and
editing photo files.
QUALIFICATIONS:
This opportunity is best suited for neat, organized
and independent persons with at least basic
computer skills and experience with Excel spreadsheets.
Familiarity with Google Earth or Adobe Photoshop
would also be useful. The volunteer must also
be willing to commit to an average of at least
one day per week for a minimum of six months
or equivalent.
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The Department of Entomology is seeking a volunteer
to sort, label, and database identified longhorned
woodboring beetles. Volunteer(s) are needed
on a somewhat regular basis, especially during
the summer. Volunteers will see what few visitors
see and will gain a new appreciation for insect
diversity!
QUALIFICATIONS:
Open to anyone with experience in biology, with
a special interest in entomology. Position will
require handling delicate, dried beetle specimens,
so manual dexterity is required. Attention to
detail while entering scientific names in a
database is critical. Volunteer must be able
to tolerate low levels of naphthalene used for
pest control.
PROJECT
TITLE:
Translations of Mollusk
Species Descriptions
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The intern will translate original species descriptions
from Spanish, French, German, and Latin to English
for mollusk species listed on http://invertebrates.si.edu/cerion/
The work can be done from any computer with
internet access, so off-site students can also
apply. A list of descriptions in a particular
language will be provided and the translations
sent in by e-mail. Staff will check them for
appropriate malacological jargon and post them
to the internet from here. A credit line “Translation
by ……” for will be included.
To see an example, go to the Cerion website,
scroll to Cerion aedilii in the “select
from list”, click the go box, then go to
original description, “Click to view”
to see a description in Spanish for which we
are seeking an English translation. There are
probably about a hundred descriptions in need
of translation on this website.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Fluent in language being translated.
PROJECT
TITLE:
Establishing an EXCEL relational
database for plant-insect associations from
the Triassic of South Africa
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The volunteer will program in EXCEL simple operations
(mostly additive, multiplicative and division)
for summarizing data within and between datasets
(files, sheets). These data involve localities,
plant hosts, plant-insect associations, and
photographic documentation data that currently
are being finalized. Simple bivariate plots
will be established prior to a more comprenehsive
multivariate analysis of the entire or portions
of the data set by Labandeira.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Expertise in programing
using EXCEL data and producing output bivariate
charts and related synthesized data. A familarity
with biological data also will be useful.
TIMETABLE:
Begin: Anytime during Fall of 2007, and continuing
for one to two years thereafter.
PROJECT
TITLE:
Scanning and data entry
to help nemerteans be all they can be!
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Nemerteans are beautiful and interesting marine
worms that don’t get the respect they deserve.
Few people study them, because information is
hard to access and there are very few mentors
available – leading to a vicious circle.
We are trying to change that with the website
nemertes.si.edu. The goal is to gradually compile
almost everything that is known about nemerteans
and at least provide easy access to resources
that will make it practical for people find
the information they need. Our main need is
scanning literature, especially very rare and
delicate older literature, which still is absolutely
essential to studying the taxonomy of these
worms. We also need data entry – bibliographic
information, looking up and recording locality
coordinates, recording species information,
and more.
QUALIFICATIONS:
This opportunity is best suited for persons
with at least basic computer skills and willing
to commit to an average of at least one day
per week for a minimum of six months or equivalent.
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The intern will work on transferring plant DNA
samples into bar coded tubes, for long term storage.
An Excel spreadsheet matching bar codes to voucher
and other information would be produced. Supervision
would be provided by Botany Department staff members
Zimmer. Interns working for longer periods of
time would have the opportunity to perform DNA
extractions and gel electrophoresis.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Experience with Excel spreadsheets preferred;
experience in using automatic pipettors a plus.
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Researchers rely on easy electronic access to
data about specimens. However, data entry for
all previously cataloged coral specimens is not
currently included in our master database. Volunteers
are needed to assist with this data entry as well
as print labels and associate labels with specimens.
We also need volunteers to catalog and complete
data entry for new specimens.
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Open to anyone with experience in biology, especially
entomology or botany. The Department of Paleobiology
is seeking a volunteer to enter data on plant-insect
associations into a relational data-base. Most
of the work will involve maintenance and improvement
of this data-base. Alternative tasks could include
(1) general taxonomic sorting, including numbering,
of fossil insect material, or (2) general curation
of the Green River Insect collection, which numbers
approximately 95,000 specimens. REQUIRES a committment
of one or more days per week.
PROJECT TITLE:
Cretaceous and
Cenozoic Plant Fossil Inventory
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The Smithsonian has the largest collection of
Cretaceous and Tertiary plant fossils in the world.
These fossils record the evolution of the world's
vegetation over the last 150 million years - from
the latter part of the age of dinosaurs to the
Ice Ages. There are many spectacular specimens
- giant palm leaves, petrified fruits and seeds,
and delicate flowers. These collections have been
made since the 1860's, and so they also have a
human historical dimension as well as revealing
the history of changing floras and global climate.
We have several projects to improve the organization
and accessibility of these collections. Collections
Inventory. We are currently engaged in an inventory
of all of the Cretaceous and Cenozoic plant fossils
in the Smithsonian. This involves tallying the
number of fossils in each drawer of the collection,
and noting their size, locality and other information.
This electronic database will make the collections
much more accessible to future researchers, and
will be used in planning changes in the physical
layout of the collection. This is a good chance
to look at plant fossils from all over the world,
and collections made as long ago as the 1860's.
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The Smithsonian has the largest collection of
Cretaceous and Tertiary plant fossils in the world.
These fossils record the evolution of the world's
vegetation over the last 150 million years - from
the latter part of the age of dinosaurs to the
Ice Ages. There are many spectacular specimens
- giant palm leaves, petrified fruits and seeds,
and delicate flowers. These collections have been
made since the 1860's, and so they also have a
human historical dimension as well as revealing
the history of changing floras and global climate.
We have several projects to improve the organization
and accessibility of these collections. Fossil
Labelling. Recent paleobotanical field collections
require labelling with Smithsonian locality numbers.
You will see lots of fossils from recent field
expeditions to Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico, and
other places.
PROJECT TITLE:
Fossil Preparation
- Unwrapping Field Collections
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Unwrapping. Recent paleobotanical field collections
need to be unwrapped from field packing, placed
in chipboard trays, and in drawers, labelled with
Smithsonian locality information, and entered
into the collections inventory database. You get
to see the latest finds from ongoing projects
in the western U.S. and elsewhere.
PROJECT TITLE:
Plant Fossil
Specimen Preparation and Curation
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Fossil Preparation. Experienced volunteers can
assist with preparation of plant fossils - e.g.
uncovering portions of fossils that are covered
by matrix, trimming blocks, and repairing broken
specimens. Plenty of fossil handling. Requires
knowledge of how to use an air-scribe. We can
provide training.
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The Smithsonian holds the largest collection of
cleared and stained leaves in the world - more
than 20,000 slides are in the collection. These
leaves have been chemically cleared, then their
veins have been stained red to make them easier
to study . Each leaf is mounted on a glass slide
for protection and to facilitate study under a
microscope. The slides are beautiful. Several
projects are underway to conserve and better organize
the cleared leaf collection. Scanning Images of
Cleared Leaves. The goal here is to create an
easily accessible database of leaf vein patterns
that can be studied by scientists anywhere in
the world over the internet. You will learn how
to use a camera and Adobe Photoshop.
PROJECT
TITLE:
Leaf Cleared
and Stained Slide Repair
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Slide Repair. Many of the slides in the Cleared
Leaf Collection have developed bubbles or areas
of crystallization in the mounting medium. They
need to be repaired by replacing the mounting
medium. Techniques have been developed to make
this process efficient, but we need your help
to save the biggest collection of cleared and
stained leaves in the world!
PROJECT
TITLE:
Collections Catalogue Web Applications
in PHP (Hypertext Preprocess) Language
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The
Informatics Office supports database initiatives
and web projects throughout the entire museum,
including supporting and maintaining the NMNH
public web presence, the Research & Collections
Intranet Web, the new Multimedia Catalogue System
(MCS using KE Software’s EMu), and other
collections applications. Our efforts in the Informatics
Office are to create and manage information systems,
which are critical to providing access to the
National Collections and associated information.
Major components to the MCS catalogue project
include the public and Intranet web presentations
of catalogue and collections data. The first potential
phase of the project is to build a web-based application
in PHP to query, format, and serve existing data
from a discipline specific museum collection (or
collections) in the MCS. The second phase is to
build and document other object based templates
in PHP so that other museum web developers can
(with minimal effort) create and develop their
own individual discipline, collection, and project
specific query applications.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Applicants should have experience with the PHP
programming language, Extended Markup Language
(XML) exchange format for web development, and
a working understanding of enterprise level object-oriented
database management systems. To see and query
live data currently being served from the MCS
public webserver via PHP, see: http://goode.si.edu/mcs/nmnh/Query.php
PROJECT
TITLE:
Botany of the United States
Exploring Expedition: 1838-1842
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Volunteers will work directly in the US National
Herbarium to extract specimens collected on the
US Exploring Expedition as well as conduct research
online, and in libraries and archives to resolve
gaps in the specimen data record. Volunteers are
also needed to enumerate specimens that have already
been located to maintain organization of specimen
data. Other opportunities include managing the
growing Wilkes collection and transcribing historical
documents including some data-entry is required.
Sure
we've all heard about the journeys of Captain
Cook and Lewis & Clark but have you ever heard
about the US Exploring Expedition 1838-1842? There
were 6 Vessels, 346 men, plus 9 scientists and
artists that traveled the world with the goal
of surveying and charting the South Pacific, exploring
the Columbia River of the US Pacific NW, and claiming
discovery of, then unknown, Antarctica. Even lesser
known are the stories of the expedition's scientific
collections. The Smithsonian Institution's natural
history collections claim their roots in the wealth
of specimens brought back by the scientists on
board. In the US National Herbarium alone, there
are potentially 10,000 US Exploring Expedition
specimens from around the world. It is estimated
that a total of 50,000 botanical specimens exist
at a variety of herbaria across the country and
around the globe. A comprehensive narrative discussing
the Botany of the US Exploring Expedition has
not yet been done. This project focuses on the
botanical story of the expedition from its historical
and scientific perspectives. The project's goals
include enumerating the entire collection, conserving
each specimen, and producing a web presentation
that integrates specimens and historical documents,
such as publications, correspondence, manuscripts,
field notes, and journal entries, into a precise
resource on the Botany of the US Exploring Expedition.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Must have a strong interest in working directly
with museum collections, especially with regard
to botanical specimens. Must possess strong research
skills. Must be able to work independently and
demonstrate a commitment to achieving project
goals. Must be detail oriented and highly motivated.
Careful handling MUST be applied in working with
fragile, historical specimens. Knowledge of Microsoft
Excel and Microsoft Access a plus. A minimum of
10 hours per week is required. Individuals best
suited to the project are eager to search for
'buried' specimens, patient when they don't find
them, and possess a sense of humor.
PROJECT
TITLE:
Power to the Podcasters!
Natural History Web Podcasts at Smithsonian NMNH
- Research, Prepare, Record, and Publish
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Podcasting, like RSS (Really Simple Syndication),
is among the fastest growing internet audio visual
technologies to syndicate and distribute online
information. Likewise, it is growing as one of
the best ways to promote museum events and dynamically
changing and rich audio and video museum content.
NMNH seeks to take advantage of established Podcast
technologies and inexpensive tools to utilize
its power and trend in support of the new NMNH
Web Site which is about to be launched as well
as for the promotion of museum events, new exhibits,
online websites, and other museum promotional
venues.
The
technical focus of this opportunity is to work
with the NMNH IT Web Branch and/or internal content
providers and web managers to develop and implement
an easy-to-use Podcast toolbox, establish usage
standards, audio encoding guidelines, and documentation
for multiple and/or custom museum Podcast feeds
through which to distribute and promote museum
audio or visual information. If necessary, this
opportunity would require ample research (if not
already known) into Podcast standards and best
practices from which the museum can take full
advantage.
Since
the NMNH web sphere is emerging deeper into the
Smithsonian's utilization of Interwoven TeamSite/OpenDeploy,
our Web Content Management (WCM) system, this
volunteer opportunity also offers the advantage
of gaining valuable experience by working with
a powerful and industry standard, enterprise wide
WCM.
QUALIFICATIONS:
This opportunities best suited for candidates
with basic or advanced levels of audio and video
web development and especially those with a good
or aspiring understanding of Podcast technologies
and associated encoding and RSS formats, and those
that are interested in working within an industry
standard WCM. Moreover,
good communication skills, dynamic initiative,
creativity, and thorough follow-up with solid
documentation skills would also be important to
find success with this opportunity.
PROJECT
TITLE:
Wield the Power of RSS and
Help Feed the Hunger for Smithsonian Natural History
Museum Information
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The RSS, the Really Simple Syndication XML format
is among the fastest growing internet technologies
to distribute, expose, and share online information.
It is also growing as one of the best ways to
promote museum websites and dynamically changing
and rich museum web content. The NMNH Web Branch
seeks to take advantage of the established RSS
technologies and utilize its power and trend in
support of the new NMNH Web Site which is about
to be launched as well as for the promotion of
existing websites, exhibits, and other promotional
venues.
The
technical focus of this opportunity is to work
with the NMNH IT Web Branch and/or internal content
providers and web managers to develop and implement
the required RSS XML templates, usage standards,
guidelines, and documentation for multiple museum
RSS feeds through which to distribute and promote
museum information. If necessary, this opportunity
would require ample research (if not already known)
into RSS industry standards and best practices
from which the museum can take full advantage.
Since the NMNH web sphere is emerging deeper into
the Smithsonian's utilization of Interwoven TeamSite/OpenDeploy,
our Web Content Management (WCM) system, this
volunteer opportunity also offers the advantage
of gaining valuable experience by working with
a powerful and industry standard, enterprise wide
WCM.
QUALIFICATIONS:
This opportunities best suited for candidates
with basic or advanced levels of web development
and especially those with a good or aspiring understanding
of XML and RSS and those that are interested in
working within an industry standard WCM. Moreover,
good communication skills, dynamic initiative,
creativity, and thorough follow-up with solid
documentation skills would also be important to
find success with this opportunity.
PROJECT TITLE:
Fantastic Flash Development
and Educational Flash Interactives
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Flash has been called the industry standard for
creating high-impact interactive web presentations,
and this description fits well for many museum
virtual efforts, online exhibits, and educational
and informative interactives. As with other museums
and public educational institutions, the use of
Flash at NMNH has paralleled the industry trends.
This Flash based volunteer opportunity offers
2 optional directions:
1)
The firsts is to work with the NMNH IT Web Branch
or NMNH Content Providers and implement a small
collection of Flash based applications that use
the "scribble" coloring book Flash interactive
application technology, which basically allows
web users to color or draw on a selection of images.
The Smithsonian has complete usage rights to these
tools and various implementations are already
in use at a few other Smithsonian museums. Specifically,
the volunteer would assist in choosing and editing
optimal natural history related images (dinosaurs,
gems, animals, plants, etc.), work with Flash
and code configurations, upload, test, and document
the steps and procedures. An example of the "Scribble"
Flash application can be seen in use at the Smithsonian's
Postal
Museum.
2) The second opportunity is to develop a less
specific Flash based interactive that would allow
the volunteer to come up with and implement his
or her own idea for an educational or edutainment
oriented Flash interactive that makes innovative
use of our rich online educational and collections
content.
QUALIFICATIONS:
These
opportunities are best suited for candidates with
basic or advanced levels of Flash experience,
but aspiring Flash developers are also welcome.
Moreover, good communication skills, dynamic initiative,
creativity, and thorough follow-up with reasonable
documentation would also be important to find
success with these opportunities.
PROJECT TITLE:
Natural History Internal Navigation
and Emerging Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) Development
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
NMNH is among the largest and most complex museums
in the world. As the Web Branch moves forward
to support the web and online needs of our web
visitors and professional associates, we also
must provide an efficient internal (intranet)
web presence to meet the growing needs of internal
communication and information sharing. Traditionally,
the museum intranet space as been a disparate
collection of various office and departmental
spaces without a necessary logical structure that
supports the internal museum structure. Efforts
to consolidate our intranet resources into the
Smithsonian's enterprise wide web content management
system (WCM) are already underway. The Smithsonian
uses Interwoven TeamSite/OpenDeploy among the
most powerful and industry standard WCM systems.
The
focus of this opportunity is to work with the
NMNH IT Web Branch and internal content providers
to build and implement a more solid navigational
foundation and structure for museum internal resources
within the Intranet WCM and assist in the migration
of disparate intranet content sources into the
new proposed structure and system. Because new
NMNH Intranet efforts are moving to CSS functionality,
it will also be important to implement a dynamic
and changeable format for the navigation that
takes advantage of style sheet functionality,
from which the NMNH Web Branch has already started
to build and manage.
QUALIFICATIONS:
This opportunity is best suited for candidates
with basic or advanced levels of web development
and especially those with a good understanding
of CSS and those that are interested in working
within an industry standard WCM. Moreover, good
communication skills, dynamic initiative, creativity,
and thorough follow-up with reasonable documentation
would also be important to find success with these
opportunities.
Or
print the application
form and mail the completed form to the address
above. You may include a résumé
(maximum 2 pages e-mailed separately), if you
wish. Upon receiving your application, someone
from VIARC will contact you to schedule an interview.
Volunteer Resources
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The NMNH Department of Paleobiology is home
to 35,000 fossiliferous rocks collected within
the Green River Formation in the states of Colorado
and Utah. The age of the Green River Formation
is within the Eocene period and these fossils
specifically date back to around 50 million
years before present. Each rock usually contains
an abundance of insects and floral material
as well as spiders, downy feathers, flowers,
reptiles. The Paleobiology Department is in
the process of creating 
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The Department of Entomology is seeking a volunteer
to sort, label, and database identified longhorned
woodboring beetles. Volunteer(s) are needed
on a somewhat regular basis, especially during
the summer. Volunteers will see what few visitors
see and will gain a new appreciation for insect
diversity!
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The intern will translate original species descriptions
from Spanish, French, German, and Latin to English
for mollusk species listed on 
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Nemerteans are beautiful and interesting marine
worms that don’t get the respect they deserve.
Few people study them, because information is
hard to access and there are very few mentors
available – leading to a vicious circle.
We are trying to change that with the website
nemertes.si.edu. The goal is to gradually compile
almost everything that is known about nemerteans
and at least provide easy access to resources
that will make it practical for people find
the information they need. Our main need is
scanning literature, especially very rare and
delicate older literature, which still is absolutely
essential to studying the taxonomy of these
worms. We also need data entry – bibliographic
information, looking up and recording locality
coordinates, recording species information,
and more.
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The intern will work on transferring plant DNA
samples into bar coded tubes, for long term storage.
An Excel spreadsheet matching bar codes to voucher
and other information would be produced. Supervision
would be provided by Botany Department staff members
Zimmer. Interns working for longer periods of
time would have the opportunity to perform DNA
extractions and gel electrophoresis.
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Researchers rely on easy electronic access to
data about specimens. However, data entry for
all previously cataloged coral specimens is not
currently included in our master database. Volunteers
are needed to assist with this data entry as well
as print labels and associate labels with specimens.
We also need volunteers to catalog and complete
data entry for new specimens. 
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Open to anyone with experience in biology, especially
entomology or botany. The Department of Paleobiology
is seeking a volunteer to enter data on plant-insect
associations into a relational data-base. Most
of the work will involve maintenance and improvement
of this data-base. Alternative tasks could include
(1) general taxonomic sorting, including numbering,
of fossil insect material, or (2) general curation
of the Green River Insect collection, which numbers
approximately 95,000 specimens. REQUIRES a committment
of one or more days per week.
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The Smithsonian has the largest collection of
Cretaceous and Tertiary plant fossils in the world.
These fossils record the evolution of the world's
vegetation over the last 150 million years - from
the latter part of the age of dinosaurs to the
Ice Ages. There are many spectacular specimens
- giant palm leaves, petrified fruits and seeds,
and delicate flowers. These collections have been
made since the 1860's, and so they also have a
human historical dimension as well as revealing
the history of changing floras and global climate.
We have several projects to improve the organization
and accessibility of these collections. Collections
Inventory. We are currently engaged in an inventory
of all of the Cretaceous and Cenozoic plant fossils
in the Smithsonian. This involves tallying the
number of fossils in each drawer of the collection,
and noting their size, locality and other information.
This electronic database will make the collections
much more accessible to future researchers, and
will be used in planning changes in the physical
layout of the collection. This is a good chance
to look at plant fossils from all over the world,
and collections made as long ago as the 1860's.
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The Smithsonian has the largest collection of
Cretaceous and Tertiary plant fossils in the world.
These fossils record the evolution of the world's
vegetation over the last 150 million years - from
the latter part of the age of dinosaurs to the
Ice Ages. There are many spectacular specimens
- giant palm leaves, petrified fruits and seeds,
and delicate flowers. These collections have been
made since the 1860's, and so they also have a
human historical dimension as well as revealing
the history of changing floras and global climate.
We have several projects to improve the organization
and accessibility of these collections. Fossil
Labelling. Recent paleobotanical field collections
require labelling with Smithsonian locality numbers.
You will see lots of fossils from recent field
expeditions to Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico, and
other places.
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Unwrapping. Recent paleobotanical field collections
need to be unwrapped from field packing, placed
in chipboard trays, and in drawers, labelled with
Smithsonian locality information, and entered
into the collections inventory database. You get
to see the latest finds from ongoing projects
in the western U.S. and elsewhere.
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Fossil Preparation. Experienced volunteers can
assist with preparation of plant fossils - e.g.
uncovering portions of fossils that are covered
by matrix, trimming blocks, and repairing broken
specimens. Plenty of fossil handling. Requires
knowledge of how to use an air-scribe. We can
provide training.
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
The Smithsonian holds the largest collection of
cleared and stained leaves in the world - more
than 20,000 slides are in the collection. These
leaves have been chemically cleared, then their
veins have been stained red to make them easier
to study . Each leaf is mounted on a glass slide
for protection and to facilitate study under a
microscope. The slides are beautiful. Several
projects are underway to conserve and better organize
the cleared leaf collection. Scanning Images of
Cleared Leaves. The goal here is to create an
easily accessible database of leaf vein patterns
that can be studied by scientists anywhere in
the world over the internet. You will learn how
to use a camera and Adobe Photoshop.
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Slide Repair. Many of the slides in the Cleared
Leaf Collection have developed bubbles or areas
of crystallization in the mounting medium. They
need to be repaired by replacing the mounting
medium. Techniques have been developed to make
this process efficient, but we need your help
to save the biggest collection of cleared and
stained leaves in the world!
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
Volunteers will work directly in the US National
Herbarium to extract specimens collected on the
US Exploring Expedition as well as conduct research
online, and in libraries and archives to resolve
gaps in the specimen data record. Volunteers are
also needed to enumerate specimens that have already
been located to maintain organization of specimen
data. Other opportunities include managing the
growing Wilkes collection and transcribing historical
documents including some data-entry is required.
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION:
NMNH is among the largest and most complex museums
in the world. As the Web Branch moves forward
to support the web and online needs of our web
visitors and professional associates, we also
must provide an efficient internal (intranet)
web presence to meet the growing needs of internal
communication and information sharing. Traditionally,
the museum intranet space as been a disparate
collection of various office and departmental
spaces without a necessary logical structure that
supports the internal museum structure. Efforts
to consolidate our intranet resources into the
Smithsonian's enterprise wide web content management
system (WCM) are already underway. The Smithsonian
uses Interwoven TeamSite/OpenDeploy among the
most powerful and industry standard WCM systems.