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| Highlights from 2005 |
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Smithsonian
Institution
National Museum of Natural History Research
Training Program 28 May 2005 - 6 August 2005 A total of 20 undergraduate students were anticipated to join the RTP Class of '05 including 2 students from the Notre Dame partnership program. The following activities schedule was in the planned for the '05 program. As the result of a catastrophic web server crash on 9 February 2005 resulting in the irretrievably loss of all data, the 2005 session of the RTP was canceled. Schedule
of Events |
Poster |
Program
Summary Created: 16 June 2004 | Last Updated: 16 August 2004
* * * ARRIVAL * * * * Friday, 27 May 2005 * 9:00 a.m. : Apartment inspection conducted by Staff Check Points:
* Saturday, 28 May 2005 *
Location:
The
Reserve at Eisenhower Phone:
(703) 751-4100 For questions contact: Debbie Lynch or available property manager. Apartments
come fully furnished:
9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. : Apartment check-in continues. * * * Check-in Notes * * *
Week
1 |
Week 2 |
Week 3 |
Week 4 |
Week 5 |
Week 6 |
Week 7 *
* * WEEK 1 * * * * Monday, 30 May 2005 (Memorial Day Holiday) * 8:45 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. : PROGRAM ORIENTATION - host: Mary Sangrey 8:45 a.m. : Arrival.
9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. : Program Orientation / Completion of Registration Forms.
Topic:
Everything you ever wanted to know about the
Research Training Program - here's the chance to ask. Founded in 1980, the Research Training Program (RTP) is a museum-based, undergraduate course in collections-based research and natural history studies including the biological, geological, and anthropological sciences. Developing confidence and competence in the research process is the cornerstone of the program. The course includes a curriculum of required activities and events plus a research topic conducted under the guidance of a professional scientist.
* Tuesday, 31 May 2005 * 8:30 - 9:15 a.m. : GROUP PHOTOGRAPH - host: Mary Sangrey
Topic: RTP Opening Reception. An informal gathering of residents from the NMNH community plus members from funding organizations and other special guests. Each research advisor will introduce their student to the group and students given the opportunity to offer a brief commentary. Light refreshments available. 1:30 - 3:00 p.m. : REGISTRATION - host: Mary Sangrey
3:00 - 5:00 p.m. : PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION Students: Review and copy forms, test the e-mail system, and begin preparing your project proposal. * Wednesday, 1 June 2005 * * * * A day at the Museum Support Center * * * 9:00 a.m. - noon : TOURS - Part I Join collection managers Deb Hull-Walski (Anthropology), Jeremy Jacobs (Mammals), Steve Gotte (Herps), Jeff Williams (Fish), Leslie Hale (Rocks & Ores) and Linda Welzenback (Meteorites) for a tour through the MSC pods and laboratores.
Location:
MSC Patio Moderator: Mary Sangrey (phone: 202-633-4548) Topic: Collections Management: one hundred twenty four million and counting, caring for the national collections. Join the tour hosts for a discussion about the upcoming behind-the-scenes tours of NMNH research collections. The Smithsonian collections total more than 142 million artifacts, works of art, and specimens from nature. Our collections form an unparalleled encyclopedic record of life on earth from its earliest beginnings to contemporary societies. Natural History's holding count for more than 88% of these, or 124.7 million specimens. Over 300,000 new specimens are added to the collections each year though active collecting, specimen exchanges, plus donations and acquisitions. Each year the Smithsonian loans more than 271,000 to institutions around the world, including loans to over 50 different foreign countries. Annually we borrow over 130,000 specimens from other institutions with most specimens loaned for study purposes.
The staff of Natural History includes approximately 650 federally-funded and trust-funded employees, performing collections management, research, administrative, educational, and facilities management functions at NHB and MSC; plus 197 research associates; and more than 65 scientists, technicians, and staff from resident affiliated agencies. The collections receive about 2,200 research visitors each year totaling about 16,500 visitor days Approximately 578,841 square feet is dedicated to collections storage at our two major facilities, the Natural History Building on the Mall and the Museum Support Center in Silver Hill, Maryland. Collections management activities are many and varied, as are the people that comprise this staff. Three areas, however, are common to all departments and account for a large portion of the activities. They are collections care, maintenance and conservation; specimen/object processing (including physical processing and identification) and cataloging; and "transaction management" which includes lending specimens to other institutions, processing those borrowed by our curators, donating, acquiring, and exchanging specimens or objects, and other related activities. Although techniques for many of these operations are unique to each department or division, the goal is common to all: to acquire and conserve specimens and objects that are appropriate to the museum's mission, to capture collections data (and by today's standards, that means electronically), and to provide appropriate access to our collections and their data (today that means both physical and electronic access). For more information:
Topic: The Osteo Prep Facilities Guides: John Ososky Visit the Smithsonian's osteopreparation facility and see how most vertebrate skeletal specimens are prepared. View the skeletal processing methods from carcass preparation to the production of clean, undamaged skeletons. Topic: The new whale storage facility Guide: Charley Potter (202-786-2497) Location: The Garber Facility at MSC Although the Garber Facility is best known for its airplane collection, a new whale storage facility was just established there. Housing the large whale collection and an extensive collection of baleen whales, Garber contains the most massive of the marine mammals. Join Charley into an entirely different dimension of museum collections, as he describes the wonders and challenges of having to manage such large specimens. 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. : OPTIONAL SOCIAL and TOUR
Topic:
Botany
Greenhouses Tour the greenhouses then relax amid the tropical plants. Snacks and dDessert will be available. Members from the NMNH Botany community will gather to discuss their research interests.
* Thursday, 2 June 2005 * 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. : RESEARCH
* Friday, 3 June 2005 * -
- - Botany - - - 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. : LECTURE - host: Intern
10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. : COLLECTION TOUR - host: Intern Meeting
Location: Academic Resources Center
- ARC Tour Guide: Greg McKee (phone: 202-633-0943) Topic: The US National Herbarium
Explore the US National Herbarium. See the "Botany Best" collection and learn why museum plant collections are important. Dead, usually various shades of brown, pressed and dried plants, generally mounted on 11" x 17" sheets of paper may not have the initial appeal of furry mammals or brightly colored bird skins but bring your hand lens or take advantage of the dissecting microscopes available - herbarium collections hold many wondrous characters, it just takes a discerning eye to see the intricate beauty, patterns, and uniqueness. The United States National Herbarium (US) was founded in 1848, when the first collections were accessioned from the United States Exploring Expedition (50,000 specimens of 10,000 species). Current holdings total over 4.7 million specimens from worldwide locations including 90,000 type specimens, making this collection among the ten largest in the world representing about 8% of the plant collection resources of the United States. An average of 40,000 specimens are added to the collection each year. The Department maintains an extremely active loan and exchange program. About 50,000 specimens are lent annually to other institutions around the world and an additional 20,000 specimens are exchanged. Approximately 200 researchers visit the herbarium each year.
a) Research b) Optional Botany Demonstrations & Tours Social | Histology | Pressing & Mounting | Illustration
Topic:
Meet
the NHB Botany Community Dessert will be available. Members from the NMNH Botany community will gather to discuss their research interests.
Topic: Plant Histology The workshop begins with a quick 10 minute tour around the lab and demonstration of the freezing microtome and the services provided by the histology lab. Those interested in learning more are welcome to stay for some hands-on opportunities to try the techniques. 1:30
- 1:40 p.m. 1:40
- 1:45 p.m. 1:45
- 2:15 p.m. The Plant Anatomy Laboratory highlights the wonderful world of Plant Microtechnique. Learn about why anatomy is useful in taxonomic research and especially about the methods that reveal anatomical structure and cellular organization in plants. This is an opportunity to observe and discuss techniques while they are being demonstrated. The session features microtomy, whole mount clearing, critical point drying, light microscopy and photomicrography. 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.
Topic: Plant Processing, mounting & preserving Watch
as specimens are prepared for incorporation in to the herbarium. Plant
pressing and mounting will be demonstrated. On display are examples of
specimens showing different mounting and preservation techniques.
Topic: Botanical Scientific Illustration This is a hands-on opportunity to try pen and ink line drawing and to experiment with the tools used by professional scientific illustrators. On display are examples of illustrations showing different methods of botanical illustration and the steps generally followed 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 equipment and techniques. The workshop will also include an opportunity to experiment with drawing on the computer using the Wacom tablet. * Saturday, 4 June 2005 * Option: 8:45 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. : FIELD TRIP - host: Intern
* * * Advisors and their families welcome * * * Itinerary:
About the Scientists Cliffs Site: Located on the western side of the Chesapeake Bay, the "Calvert Cliffs" were formed over 15 million years ago when all of Southern Maryland was covered by a warm, shallow sea. The cliffs dominate the shoreline of the Chesapeake Bay extending for more than thirty miles; from Fairhaven (Anne Arundel County, MD) to near Drum Point (Calvert County, MD).
They are considered the best marine Miocene (Miocene Epoch, 25 million to 6.5 million years ago) deposit in the world. Three formations are recognized in the cliffs; from oldest to youngest, the Calvert, Choptank, and St. Marys Formations. These have been further subdivided into Members and Beds. Because of the gentle dip (about 11 feet per mile) of the deposits to the southeast, different Beds are exposed at different localities, containing different sediment types and fossils.
The cliffs and beaches have been collected and studied from Colonial
times to the present. Over 600 species of fossils have been identified from these cliffs including the "Maryland State Fossil" Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae Wilson. The most visible fossils are mollusk shells, with some beds so densely packed that they are described as "shell beds." The most popular fossils are the sharks' teeth. Other fossils include microscopic plants and animals, macroscopic plants, corals, barnacles, crabs, sand dollars, sea urchins, bony fish, rays, crocodiles, turtles, birds, terrestrial mammals, and marine mammals. Many fossils have Calvert Cliffs as their type locality and some have been found nowhere else.
Check out more:
* Sunday, 5 June 2005 * OPEN * * * Week 1 Notes * * *
GEOLOGY
WEEK
Adventures in the Geological Sciences * Monday, 6 June 2005 * -
- - Paleobiology - - - 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. : LECTURE - host: Intern
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A
full day of tours at the Museum Support Center (MSC) will be featured
in Week 1.
10:00
a.m. - 6:00 p.m. : Apartment check-in
Location:
Director's Office
Pizza
for lunch is being provided for everyone attending!
The
Calvert Cliffs region is also home to two Federally threatened species
of tiger beetle; Cicindela dorsalis dorsalis (Northeastern Beach
Tiger Beetle) and Cicindela puritana (
