3 August 2007
Addison Kemp
Mount Holyoke College
South Hadley, Massachusetts
Dear Honorable Max Berry,
I want to express
my sincere appreciation for your generous donation to the Research Training
Program (RTP), which allowed for my participation in this program at
the National Museum of Natural History. Visiting the museum as a child,
I had the overwhelming impression that I could have stayed in the exhibits
indefinitely without being able to look, explore and read as much as
I wanted. I feel the same way now that I have returned to the museum
as a member of the RTP. The sheer amount of information available here,
as well as the endless possibilities for investigation presented by
the research collection can be both humbling and daunting at times,
but always thrilling.
It was the prospect
of utilizing these tremendous collections, and the expertise of Smithsonian
curators, that excited me most during the months between my acceptance
and the day I arrived in the Constitution Avenue lobby. I was certainly
not disappointed. The diversity of the collections that we are exposed
to distinguishes this program from any other undergraduate research
program. Punctuating my ichthyology research were tours of the anthropological
collections and lectures on methods used to model planet formation.
I also had the opportunity to learn from my fellow participants about
their respective fields and research topics. This varied set of experiences
expanded my perspective on my own project, even leading me to investigate
the geological events that could have affected the evolution and speciation
of the fish I studied.
The universally
acknowledged caliber of this research institution also significantly
augmented my research experience. Being associated with the Smithsonian
provided me with a myriad of opportunities inaccessible to me as an
isolated undergraduate. My association with my advisor, Dr. Stanley
Weitzman, and the Smithsonian, enabled me to correspond with leading
researchers at other institutions and access the rare specimens I used
to describe a new species of Neotropical fish. The Smithsonian’s
reputation for excellence laid an entire world of research out before
me.
The RTP offers
undergraduates an unparalleled research experience in a natural history
institute of the highest caliber, and I am inexpressibly thankful for
having had the opportunity to participate in this program.
Sincerely,
Addison Kemp
Research Training Program
Class of '07