W. Duane Hope Holding a Petri Dish, 1975, Smithsonian Archives - History Div, In his office in the northwest corner of the Natural History Building, W. Duane Hope of the Department of Invertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, holds a petri dish containing worm parts On the table are a microscope and slides in a slide holder tray. His research focused on the systematics, comparative and functional ultrastructure, and phylogenetics of marine nematode worms. Through the window can be seen the Washington Monument and a portion of the National Museum of History and Technology (now the National Museum of American History)..