Description: Dr. Cara Santelli, research geologist at the Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum of Natural History, studies the impact of microbial activity on mineral formation, rock-weathering processes, and remediation of contaminated environments. #Groundbreaker
Description: Dr. Elizabeth Cottrell, Geologist and Director of the Global Volcanism Program at the National Museum of Natural History, researches volcanoes to improve our understanding of how the plate-tectonic cycle, or continental drift, is oxidizing and hydrating the deep Earth. #Groundbreaker
Description: Dr. Anna J. Phillips, Research Zoologist, National Museum of Natural History, focuses on the systematics, evolution, and host associations of two parasitic worms: leeches and tapeworms. She has conducted fieldwork on 6 of the 7 continents. #Groundbreaker
Description: National Museum of Natural History paleontologist, Dr. Anna K. Behrensmeyer, reconstructs and compares land ecosystems through time to explore how ecology has helped to shape land vertebrate evolution and community structure throughout the Phanerozoic. #Groundbreaker