Description: The Smithsonian National Zoo, Conservation Biology Institute's Chief Veterinarian, Dr. Copper Aitken-Palmer, specializes in giant panda reproduction, health, and conservation. #Groundbreaker
Description: Physicist Dr. Stella S.R. Offner, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, uses computer simulations to understand how stars form. She is also a WorldWide Telescope Ambassador. #Groundbreaker
Description: Community Ecologist Dr. Sunshine A. Van Bael, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, studies how plants co-opt other organisms to aid in their own defense and, to what extent sustainable land-use practices support biodiversity conservation. #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
Description: Dr. Melissa K. McCormick, Plant Ecologist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, studies the interaction between plants and soil microbes. She uses genomics to understand endangered orchids. #Groundbreaker
Description: Astrophysicist Dr. Nancy Remage Evans, formerly of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, was a major contributor to the construction of the Galactic Cepheid Database. She has made observations with the IUE, HST, Chandra, Spitzer, FUSE, WIRE, MOST, and XMM satellites. #Groundbreaker