 |
 |
| Highlights |
| |
|
| Highlights |
|
 Information
about the Research Training Program:
go directly to the current RTP on-line application forms
Smithsonian
Center for Education and Museum Studies Smithsonian Office of Fellowships - internships
Smithsonian Office of Fellowships - fellowships POST GRADUATES
CONTACT US
- OR -
Research
& Collections
|
Smithsonian
Institution Research
Training Program 23 May 1998 - 1 August 1998 A total of 31 students participated in the 1998 session of the Research Training Program including 3 "non-program" participants and 5 international students representing Bhutan, Brazil, Germany, Guyana, Poland, and Russia. Schedule
of Events |
Poster |
Program
Summary
* * * ARRIVAL * * * * Saturday, 23 May 1998 * 9:00 a.m. : Apartment inspection by Mary - Oakwood Apartment Complex, Alexandria, Virginia 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. : Apartment check-in continues Note: Students, in your apartment you will find your copy of the RTP Reference Notebook. I DO NOT have extra copies! Please review the information, forms, and schedule of events provided in the notebook before the Monday orientation meeting - and, be sure to bring this notebook (and your questions) to the Monday meeting.
* Sunday, 24 May 1998 * 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. : Apartment check-in continues Location: Oakwood
Complex (Alexandria, Virginia) Topic: Welcome
RTP students Potluck party for students, advisors, other staff and SERC interns. Advisors are encouraged to bring a food and drink to share. Although not required, students are also welcome to contribute food items. This will be a great opportunity for everyone to meet staff, advisors and their families and enjoy a fun afternoon. - - - Program Notes - - -
Week
1 |
Week 2 |
Week 3 |
Week 4 |
Week 5 |
Week 6 |
Week 7 *
* * WEEK 1 * * * * Monday, 25 May 1998 (Memorial Day Holiday) * 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. : PROGRAM ORIENTATION * * * Bring your RTP Notebook! * * * Location: Botany Library Topic: Everything
you ever wanted to know about the Research Training Program - here's your
chance to ask. Meet at Constitution Avenue entrance. PLEASE BE PROMPT! Receive a behind-the-scenes identification badge from security - requires that you provide a photo ID to exchange for a one-day SI badge. Please DO NOT your passport for the photo ID exchange, unless you have NOTHING else! 9:15
- 9:30 a.m. Security briefing. Sargent Greenwood
will provide information and insights about security in the Natural History
Building including:
Learn the answers to these questions plus detailed information about procedures for working evenings and weekends. 9:30
- 11:00 a.m. Tour of NHB. There is much to see!
Lots of walking and many stairs to climb. Limit your baggage. Bring a
notepad and pencil to record security access codes for doors and elevators.
Discover answers to:
11:30 - 12:30 a.m. Complete forms.
- Everyone
will need to bring to the meeting:
- Foreign
students will need to submit:
- We will also review
the requirements for the "Project Proposal 12:30 - 1:00 p.m. Group Question/Answer session. 1:00 - 1:30 p.m. Break. Lunch. 1:30 - 3:00 p.m. Individual Question/Answer session. Host: Mary Sangrey Readings & References: * Abbreviations -
- - Orientation Notes - - - * Tuesday, 26 May 1998 * 8:30 a.m. : GROUP PHOTOGRAPH
Photographer: Don Hurlbert (phone: 633-9116). Advisors: Be sure
to include in your tour:
Students: Be sure to get your advisor's signature on the "Intern Registration Form" and complete the "Project Description" section of this form! Location: NMNH Office of the Director Topic: Director's
Office Coffee Hour. Light refreshments will be available. All members from the NMNH community are welcome. Host: Mr. Robert Fri, Director, National Museum of Natural History ( . . . May begin set-up at 11:30 a.m. . . . ) 1. Smithsonian
Registration.
Forms due: ITEM
DUE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Note: Following registration students should divide into two groups with half going first to "Award Confirmation" and the other half to "Photo ID." International students should go with the first group since there are a number of extra registration checks before your day is done. 2. Award
Confirmation.
Forms due:
ITEM DUE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3. Photo
ID.
4. Visa
Confirmation*.
5. Notary
Public*.
* International students only Students: Review and copy forms, test the e-mail system, begin preparing your Project Proposal and supply/travel budget.
* Wednesday, 27 May 1998 * 9:00 a.m. - noon : RESEARCH Students: Confirm that you have a computer to use and that you can read GroupWise e-mail on it. If you have questions, have them ready before the ADP ORIENTATION this afternoon. Remember that the RTP has three laptop computers available for one-day check-out. Location: Waldo Schmitt Room Topic: One hundred twenty one million and counting: using, managing and maintaining the NMNH collections.
NMNH collections management staff will discuss their views and comment on their experiences. Moderator: Mary Sangrey Panelists: Anthropology . . . . . . . . - Deb Hull Walski
(phone: 357-2483) Botany . . . . . . . . . . . . . - Rusty Russell (phone:
357-4362) Entomology . . . . . . . . - David Furth * (phone:
357-3146) Invertebrate Zoology . . . . . . . . . - Cheryl Bright *
(phone: 357-4687) Mineral Sciences . . . . . - Leslie Hale * (phone:
357-2134) Paleobiology . . . . . . . . . - Jann Thompson *
(phone: 357-2405) VZ-Birds . . . . . . . . . . . . - Phil Angle phone:
357-2031) VZ-Fishes . . . . . . . . . . . - Lisa Palmer (phone:
786-2426) VZ-Herps . . . . . . . . . . . . - Steve Gotte * (phone:
357-4805) VZ-Mammals . . . . . . . . - Linda Gordon (phone:
786-2491) NOTE: * means the
panelist will attend the session Host: Kevin
Stewart Readings & References:
* Collections Management
Policy
Location: Room 51 Mezzanine Topic: Smithsonian
Libraries The Smithsonian Institution Library (SIL) system totals over 1 million volumes including rare books, current journals and reprints from around the world. The Natural History Branch consists of a main location and subject-based sublocations including Anthropology, Botany, Entomology, Invertebrate Zoology, Mineral Sciences, Mollusks, Vertebrate Zoology, and Vertebrate Paleontology. The Natural History main location includes a collection of reference materials covering topics such as general biology, geology, paleontology, ecology, and conservation. The Natural History Library is open from 8:45 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. Monday through Friday. Interlibrary loan services are available. * 2:00 p.m. : ITEM
DUE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1) SI Libraries Borrowing
Authorization Form.
Panelists:
Host: Mary Sangrey References &
Readings: * National Museum of Hatural History Branch Library
Location: ADP Conference Room EG-15 Topic: ADP services and facilities Learn how to telnet to your home e-mail account, how to access and use your Smithsonian e-mail account, review the Museum's internet browsing policies and virus protection requirements, see the common use computer facilities and receive instruction on preparing slides for your presentation, scanning documents and images, etc. NOTES:
* 3:00 p.m. : ITEM
DUE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Host: Mary Sangrey * Thursday, 28 May 1998 * 9:00 a.m. - noon : RESEARCH Location: Cooper Room Topic: Morphometrics and Data Analysis Speaker: Ralph Chapman (phone: 786-2293) Mary will be coming around to check on "how things are going" and to take a picture of you and your advisor for the "photo board." * Friday, 29 May 1998 * - - - BOTANY - - - 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. : LECTURE Location: Waldo Schmitt Room Topic: Recent
discoveries in marine botany. Drs. Mark and Diane Littler are marine scientists who have developed a unique husband and wife working relationship. Their mutual interests and aspirations in the field of marine botany provided the foundation from which two jointly productive research careers have been based. Their research has taken them around the globe, including field research in the Belize Barrier Reef Islands, French Polynesia and Galapagos Islands. They have collectively published more than 100 research papers. As a team, the Littlers' research interests are directed toward the stability of marine ecosystems, the productivity and evolution of marine plants and the analysis of plant morphology as a method of predicting its ecological role in the reef community. In 1983 they generated excitement in the scientific community with their discovery of the deepest plant life ever collected from the ocean. The crustose red alga was found in the Bahamas at a depth of 880 feet. This discovery extended the depth distribution limits of marine plants and challenged established theories concerning the minimum light levels necessary to maintain plant growth. In 1994 they discovered a new pathogen of reef building algae - "CLOD" - that threatens Pacific coral reefs. Speakers: Drs. Mark and Diane Littler. B.A. (1961), M.S. Ohio University; Ph.D. (1971) University of Hawaii. (phone: 357-3012). Host: Sean Menke Readings & References: * Littler, M.M., D.S.
Littler, S.M. Blaire, and J.N. Norris. 1985. Deepest known plant life
discovered on an uncharted seamount. Science 227: 57-59.
Location: Fern Counter (Fifth Floor West Wing) Topic: The U.S. National Herbarium The United States National Herbarium is the world's third largest collection and includes approximately 4.5 million collections from worldwide locations including 90,000 type specimens. An average of 40,000 specimens are added to the collection each year and about 300 loans are sent to outside institutions annually. Approximately 200 researchers visit the herbarium each year. TOUR QUESTIONS:
Guides: Bob Faden
(phone: 357-2540) Host: Allison Wack Readings & References: * The Department of
Botany
Location: Room W529 On display are examples from the wood collection and the botanical anatomical reference slide collection. Plant histology techniques including whole mount clearings, paraffin embedding and sectioning, freezing microtome sectioning, critical point drying, and photo micrography will be demonstrated. Instructor: Stan Yankowski (phone: 357-2338) Host: Thinley Namgyel
Location: Fern Counter, West Wing, 5th Floor Topic: Plant
Processing, mounting & preserving On display are examples of different mounting and preservation techniques. See pressed and dried collections, liquid collections, bulky specimens, slides, etc. Plant mounting will be demonstrated and interested participants will be given the opportunity to mount a specimen for inclusion in the US National Herbarium (note: this may require a return visit to complete the activity). Instructors Katherine Rankin
(phone: 357-4369) Host: Jackie Arjoon Location: Room W519 Topic: Botanical
Scientific Illustration On display are examples of different methods of botanical illustration and the steps required to progress from concept to published illustration. Illustration tools, including camera lucida use, will be demonstrated and interested participants will be given the opportunity to experiment with the various illustration techniques. Instructor: Alice Tangerini (phone: 357-1517) Host: Thinley Namgyel
* Saturday, 30 May 1998 * OPEN Note: Mary available in her office to answer questions 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. today.
* Sunday, 31 May 1998 * OPEN
- - - Week 1 Notes - - - 1) Students: About the three-page Project Proposal.... - Most advisors have already prepared a summary of the proposed project. Building on this summary your assignment is to revise the information based on discussions (and agreement) with your advisor about what your ten-week project will be. Please keep this simple! - The format must
include:
- Be sure to include
the labs you will be working in and who you will be working with.
- Be sure to include expenditure for travel (e.g. if you are planning to attend a scientific meeting or participate in field research with your advisor, this must be included). Also note if you are requesting use of a TWA barter ticket to support your request and if any funds have already been spend and charged to the RTP account.
2) Michelle Nestlerode excused 2:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Thursday * * * WEEK 2 * * * * Monday, 1 June 1998 * - - - PALEOBIOLOGY - - - 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. : LECTURE Location: Waldo Schmitt Room Topic: Mass Extinctions: life and death beyond the Permian As severe as that
devastation was, it pales in comparison to the greatest disaster of them
all: THE Mass Extinction, some 250 million years ago, at the end of the
Permian period in which about 90% of all species in the oceans disappeared.
and about 70% of the land vertebrates went extinct. Even the insects were
suffered - this is the event that almost eliminated the cockroaches. What
caused the extinctions? Was it a volcanic eruption, methane bubble, comet
impact, a combination of factors, or some yet undetermined event? Did
the extinctions occur over millions of years or quickly, possibly in less
than 10,000 years? Driven by curiosity about the events that structure life's evolutionary patterns, Doug Erwin has been particularly interested in this mass extinction event. How much do mass extinctions contribute to the evolution of a group, as compared with long-term adaptive trends? Did certain species survive by pure chance or were there certain adaptive features that help in their survival? Would creatures that survived look any different today had it not been for the end-Permian extinction? Drawing from his research experience Doug will discuss the end-Permian extinction and provide some insight to research questions that are being asked, and answered, based on his findings. Speaker: Dr. Doug Erwin, Research Paleobiologist and Curator of Paleozoic Mollusks. A.B. (1980) Colgate University, Ph. D. (1985) University of California, Santa Barbara. (phone: 257-2053). Host: Tristan Stayton Readings & References:
Location: Cooper Room Topic: The
Burgess Shale and other treasures from paleobiology. A mud slide during
the Cambrian covered an interesting array of soft-bodied creatures which
were preserved in pristine condition and lay untouched until 1909 when
Dr. Walcott, fourth Secretary of the Smithsonian, happened upon the site
in 1909 while vacationing with his family in the Canadian Rockys. Walcott
eventually collected 65,000 specimens from the site, many are now part
of NMNH's Paleobiology collection. Notes: The group will first meet in the Cooper Room for a slide review of the Burgess Shale then divide into three set of 10 per set for three 30 minute presentations (10:30 - 11:00 a.m; 11:00 - 11:30; and 11:30 - noon).
TOUR QUESTIONS:
The Burgess Shale The Collections Host: Matthew Palmer Readings & References: * Department of Paleobiology
Location: Room EG 4 Topic: Paleo Vertebrate Prep Lab Learn about the tools used to remove the rock and sediment that enclose the fossils, the methods used to prepare molds and casts of fossils to provide duplicates to other institutions, and the production of padded storage jackets for large specimens. Try the techniquess and talk to the experts. Instructor: Steve Jabo (phone: 357-2221) Host: Molly Markey
Location: Room EG 13B Topic: Sedimentology Lab Learn about the lab's capabilities for particle analysis and see the equipment used to do X-ray defraction analysis. Instructor: Bill Boykins (phone: 357-2391) Host: Sveta Maslakova
Location: Cushman Room Topic: Foraminifera
Workshop The workshop will focus on teaching the techniques used to sort, pick, and identify a variety of benthic and planktonic foraminifera. After a brief introduction to morphology procedures and methods, interested participants will work with a Recent Hawaiian sample, sorting and identifying several species based on diagnostic shell characteristics. Instructors: Brian
Huber (phone: 786-2658) * Tuesday, 2 June 1998 * 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. : RESEARCH
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
* Wednesday, 3 June 1998 * 9:00 a.m. - noon : RESEARCH
Location: Waldo Schmitt Room Topic: Cladistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
You are HERE. To continue select the next option.
10:00
a.m. : Apartment check-in begins
What
is the role and responsibility of Security at NMNH?
12:00
- 12:45 p.m. : SOCIAL
Why
do we have museum collections? 
Notes:
Bob Faden will present "The U.S. National Herbarium"
featuring the "Botany Best" collection and the Botany types.
You will see special specimens from the Herbarium collections and learn
why museum collections are important. 
Topic:
Plant Histology
2:15
- 3:30 p.m.
Disaster
struck 250 million years ago, when the worst decimation in the earth's
history occurred. Called the end-Permian mass extinction, it marks a fundamental
change in the development of life. The history of life on earth is replete
with catastrophes of varying magnitudes. The one that has captured the
most attention is the extinction of the dinosaurs and other organisms
65 million years ago - at the "K T boundary" between the Cretaceous
and Tertiary periods - which claimed up to half of all species. 
See
fossilized sloth dung, preserved mammoth tissue, and shark dentitition.
Collections are arranged in both a biologic and stratigraphic series.
Guides:
