Description: 100 years ago in August of 1914, the Panama Canal opened to commercial shipping. Smithsonian scientists knew the canal would create major environmental changes and have spent the last 100 years documenting them.
Description: The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center is located near Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, on land donated by Robert Forest in 1965. Initially a field station, the center focused on environmental research, including the work of the Radiation Biology Laboratory. Today, the Center studies links between coastal zone land and water ecosystems. History of the Smithsonian