The Smithsonian’s National Museum, Washington DC

A number of affiliated U.S. government agencies contribute to the museum’s strength as a research center. These include the Department of Interior (Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Geological Survey), Department of Agriculture (Systematic Entomology Laboratory), Department of Commerce (National Marine Fisheries Service Systematics Laboratory), NOAA and the Department of Defense.

The museum is home to scientific staff and research associates who conduct expeditions and studies worldwide that contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge. This work enhances everyday life in ways that yield benefits to society, including the development of medicines, improvement of the world’s food supply, management and preservation of important species and habitats, and the identification of invasive species.

Cristián Samper is the museum’s Director, overseeing approximately 450 full-time employees with an annual (fiscal year 2008) budget of $67 million. The staff includes Smithsonian scientists; collaborating research associates and fellows; and a professional team of educators, exhibition developers, designers, information specialists, building managers, administrators, security personnel and support staff. The scientific staff is organized in seven departments: anthropology, botany, entomology, mineral sciences, invertebrate zoology, paleobiology and vertebrate zoology. Interdisciplinary research programs bring together scientists from the museum’s departments and research institutions throughout the world. These programs address topics of current importance to society, such as biological diversity, global climate change, molecular systematics for enhancing the understanding of the relationship between living things, ecosystem modeling, and the documentation and preservation of human cultural heritages.

The museum is the steward of the world’s largest assemblage of natural history items, with more than 126 million objects and specimens in its collections. The Smithsonian’s Museum Support Center in Suitland, Md., provides state of-the-art conditions for storage and conservation of collections, as well as a library and advanced research facilities.

Permanent exhibitions display some of the best-known museum objects in the world. The Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals showcases the Hope Diamond and other treasures of the National Gem Collection. It also encompasses re-created mines and galleries that present important research in mineral chemistry and physics; plate tectonics, seismology and the study of volcanoes; and planetary science.

The museum is dedicated to bringing definitive scientific content to audiences across the United States through electronic field trips, video conferences and hands-on learning activities for school groups and the public. Innovative facilities pioneered by the museum include the Discovery Room, where visitors are able to examine objects up close; and the Naturalist Center, a resource and reference center in Loudoun County, Virginia, where visitors have access to natural history specimens and reference books. The museum also presents free programs, including films and lectures.

The museum provides off-site access to the physical collections through one of the most active museum loan and exchange programs in the world. The Web site provides public electronic access to departmental databases, as well as to online exhibitions and up-to-date information about museum programs.

The National Museum of Natural History is dedicated to understanding the natural world and our place in it.