Dr. Alyson Fleming is a James Smithson Fellow at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) and has had a passion for marine mammals since she was 6 years old.  In her current role as a James Smithson Fellow, Fleming seeks to use her research to broaden the knowledge of the scientific community and to inform policymakers on issues of climate change.

Most of Dr. Fleming’s research is conducted at the Museum Support Center (MSC) in Suitland, MD, a facility that covers 4 ½ acres of land and contains over half a million square feet of space. There, Dr. Fleming analyzes bones and teeth of arctic cetaceans (whales and dolphins) in order to gain a better understanding of the changes in their ecosystems over the span of several decades. Analyzing the bones and teeth can tell us a great deal about the habitats and diets of these top-predators, and Dr. Fleming proposes that many alterations to the ecosystem are due to climate change in the Arctic region. According to Fleming, even slight decreases in the amount of ice in the Arctic could have drastic ramifications for marine ecosystems.

As a spokesperson for science, Dr. Fleming believes it is pivotal to be able to clearly communicate her findings not only to policymakers, but to the public as well. By analyzing bones that date back to the 1850s, in some cases, Fleming is using the past to reveal the future of the Arctic landscape.

Featured in their piece, is Harvard-Smithsonian research associate, Fabrizio Nicastro, from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO). Nicastro lead the “cosmic game of hide and seek” for the missing galactic mass, and provided  instrumental insight regarding where scientists should begin to look for answers. According to Insider, answers may become clearer with the expected information gained from  the upcoming space mission known as X-ray Surveyor, which will identify more intricate details regarding our Milky Way’s missing solar mass, by searching previously unidentifiable particles.

For more information, see the Smithsonian Insider’s feature on the Milky Way’s missing mass, here.

This rendering of the Milky Way, by artist Mark A. Garlick illustrates how it may have appeared approximately 6 million years ago.

Cole Caceres (intern) working in the lab creating beetle food

This summer, Cole Caceres had the opportunity to intern at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) in the Terrestrial Ecology Lab. During his time there, Cole cooked an artificial gel for invasive Japanese beetles, hoping to discover how invasive species thrive so well in foreign places.

You can find out more about Cole’s fascinating experiment from a recent article on the SERC Shorelines blog, right here.

L-R: Bryan Diaz, Kevin Rosales, Habin Marroquin, Murad Saeed, Wesley Martinez, Musse Yimmer, Abdella Saleh, Zinab Saleh, Yanira Lazo Pineda, Alexis Morgan, and program intern Abby Jacobs

For three weeks, beginning August 16 and ending September 1, 2016, ten high school students from Arlington, VA and Alexandria, VA took part in an externship program at the Smithsonian Institution through the Office of Fellowships and Internships. The program was sponsored in part by the 4-H Youth Development Alexandria Cooperative Extension under the leadership of Reginald Morris.

Lead by Karen Carter, the students met weekly on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and experienced a variety behind-the-scenes tours, presentations, and events around SI. The group, consisting of Hiban “Jack” Marroquin, Wesley Martinez, Alexis Morgan, Bryan Diaz Perez, Yanira Lazo Pineda, Kevin Rosales, Murad Saeed, Abdella Saleh, Zinab Saleh, and Musse Yimmer, along with one intrepid program intern, Abby Jacobs, met with curators, researchers and other SI staff from units such as the National Postal Museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Zoological Park, the Smithsonian Latino Center, the National Museum of Natural History, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the National Museum of the American Indian, the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, the Smithsonian Gardens, the National Air and Space Museum, the Office of the Chief Information Officer, the Smithsonian Libraries, and even the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.

The group got to see rare books and postage stamps, meteors as old as our solar system, SI’s extensive recordings collections, the “Big Man” sculpture, Peruvian rope bridges, space shuttle toilets, even a deadly electric eel among many, many other things. They saw the massive computer servers that power the entire institution; honed their resume-writing skills and public speaking abilities in interactive workshops, and learned to distinguish different types of jaguars as well as how to start a compost pile.

The students contributed their expertise as well: translating Arabic and Spanish from artifacts at CFCH and NMNH, for example, or solving a Rubik’s Cube side in under 10 seconds. The three-week program culminated in a final capstone project where each student presented on her or his experience at SI in light of a particular theme. The photos below give a sample of the experiences. To see more images, please click here (all photos are taken by Abby Jacobs). Thank you to everyone, SI staff and high school students who made this externship such a Seriously Amazing experience!

Examining rare books

Touring the Folkways extensive recordings collection

Understanding Robert Irwin’s California Light Art

Tasting Allspice leaves in Amazonia at the Zoo.

Big, big computers at OCIO

Paola Gomez of STRI presenting on Jaguars

Inspective a Mars meteor

With Henry the Elephant

At NMAI before touring the Inca Road exhibit

Seriously Amazing group

SIA Research Associate Brian Daniels

This Smithsonian is one of at least half a dozen federal agencies working to protect cultural heritage in Iraq and Syria from threats due to war and natural disasters. Smithsonian Institution Archives (SIA) Research Associate and University of Pennsylvania Museum Cultural Heritage Center Director of Research and Programs Brian Daniels was recently quoted in a Washington Post article about these efforts, which you can check out here.

NMAH Intern Mayela Caro

Last month we offered a brief profile about Mayela Caro, a University of California Riverside Ph.D. student who dived into the history of Latin American food, culture, and migration during her internship at the National Museum of American History (NMAH) this summer.

The UC Riverside UCR Today blog recently did a great write-up about Mayela, which we wanted to share and you can check out right here.

SUNY New Paltz students Dulcia Halliday, Kelly McInerney, Megan LaCognata and Victoria Falco stand with CFCH Art Director Josué Castilleja

This summer four graphic design students from SUNY New Paltz interned with the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (CFCH) and its production of the 2016 Folklife Festival.

You can read all about these students’ experiences in a recent post on the SUNY New Paltz News Blog here.

SSEC Intern Reuben Brenner-Adams

Reuben Brenner-Adams, a Digital Media Intern at the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC) this summer, will be entering his fifth and final year in the Game Design & Development BS/MS program at the Rochester Institute of Technology this fall.

During his internship Reuben created both analog and digital games that will be included in the SSEC’s K-8 science curricula. Specifically, he gained experience by developing a computer game to teach 5th graders about global water trade and a board game to help 3rd graders understand what happens when animals’ habitats undergo change. Reuben also gained experience by working with SSEC curriculum developers to design guides and lessons that go along with the games.

Thanks for being at the Smithsonian Reuben!

Sarah Wells, an English major with double minors in Physics and Computer Science at Clark University, spent her summer interning at the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC) as a Curriculum and Communications intern. Sarah is extremely interested in the fields of science writing and communication and got to dive into them head first this summer at the SSEC. Writing everything from educational blogs, interviews, and content for the unit’s science curriculum, this summer experience with the Smithsonian has been irreplaceable.

For a taste of what she did this summer, check out this post Sarah wrote for the SSEC blog this past June to help celebrate National Pollinator Week!

Jade Lintott, a rising senior at Sidwell Friends School, spent part of her summer as an intern with the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access (SCLDA). During her internship Jade learned how the Smithsonian Learning Lab offers resources to teachers and students.

One of Jade’s projects involved collecting documents, videos, and websites related to LGBT history.

You can read more about it in an article recently posted on the Smithsonian Learning Lab blog here.