Description: Recently, I read some interesting news about the National Public Radio blog, “The Picture Show,” that explores photographic images and issues.
Description: Staff Scientist Emirata, Dr. Mary Jane West-Eberhard, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, studies why some organisms live in societies & is noted for arguing that phenotypic & developmental plasticity play a key role in sharing animal evolution. #Groundbreaker
Description: This piece is part two in a series of posts about Smithsonian Institution Archives’ (SIA) paper conservator and interns working on stabilizing a 1921 panoramic photo of air mail pilots and crews that is being moved to the National Air and Space Museum’s (NASM) Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. Also see part 1 and a related post on NASM's blog. [caption id="attachment_7587"
Description: With nineteen museums and research centers, the Smithsonian Institution is so much more than just the buildings on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. In fact, if you drive about 33 miles east of the National Mall, you will find the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC), located in Edgewater, Maryland, and this year, the site is celebrating its 50th Anniversary.
Description: While we at the Photography Initiative like to argue that photography changes everything, it’s not always the case. On June 2nd, in a controversial ninth inning call, baseball umpire Jim Joyce denied Detroit Tigers’ pitcher Armando Galarraga a shot at making history for pitching a “perfect” game. Joyce—from his point of view behind first base—saw a batter hit a ball, make it
Description: Molecular geneticist and distinguished professor, Dr. Elisabeth Gannt, was a research associate at the Smithsonian's Radiation Biology Laboratory where she studied algae photosynthesis, and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1996 when only 5 percent of the members were women. #Groundbreaker
Description: [caption id="attachment_3281" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Encouraging Curiosity for Man and Animal, Photograph courtesy of Zac Henderson."][/caption] About a year ago, we asked you to reflect on the ways photography has changed your life. We heard from Ellen Hyatt, an English teacher in South Carolina, who uses photographs to inspire her student’s creative writing
Description: Discusses the opening of an exhibit When Time and Duty Permit: Smithsonian Collecting in World War II and the correspondence files that will be displayed.
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: It was July 1880 in Washington, DC and Smithsonian Secretary, Spencer Baird, had fled the city with his family for cool ocean breezes and to study the fishing grounds off the New England coast at Woods Hole on Cape Cod. For those left behind minding the Smithsonian Castle, it was probably hot, humid, and hellish in town and they were in need of relief. Luckily, the proprietors