National Museum of Natural History Annual Report 2006 by Creative Project Management, Inc

National Museum of Natural History ANNUAL REPORT 2006

N AT U R E A N D S O C I E T Y

Janet or Frederick Wulsin, Rural Tibetan kitchen, September 1923

Photograph from the Frederick Wulsin Photographic Collection, Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University [56-55-60/15669.1]

National Museum of Natural History Annual Report 2006

Chip Clark

N AT U R E

A N D

S O C I E T Y

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN & DIRECTOR

WE ARE PROUD to report that 2006 was a very good year for the National

James Di Loreto

Museum of Natural History. The Museum’s 5.9 million visitors in the past year made it the most visited museum in the United States, and our research and collections were broadly disseminated during more than 12 million visitor sessions to the Museum’s web sites. Museum scientists continue to explore the natural world, documenting biodiversity, conducting research related to human health and the effects of climate change, exploring the evolution and extinction of life on Earth and celebrating the diversity of human cultures through exhibitions and festivals. Our 2006 Annual Report provides an overview of the Museum’s wide range of activities, including the impact of our research in meeting the needs of society. For example, the exhibition Arctic: A Friend Acting Strangely showed the impact of global warming on the Arctic ecosystems through scientific data and testimonies from Native peoples. This presentation was a powerful reminder that the planet is constantly changing and that our actions can have a profound effect on the natural world.

Chip Clark

As a research institution, the Museum’s 126 million specimens and objects comprise the largest natural science collection in the world, and protecting the integrity of this extraordinary resource will always be our chief concern. To ensure the long-term conservation of our collections, we are building a $44 million expansion of our Museum Support Center in Suitland, Maryland. More than three million collection records have been made available electronically to provide

National Museum of Natural History • www.mnh.si.edu

scientists worldwide with even greater access to Museum collections, and this number will continue to grow. Looking ahead, there are many exciting projects underway. In November 2007, we will open a pavilion with live butterflies to tell the story of co-evolution between plants and animals. A major renovation of our first floor is taking place as we complete construction of the new Ocean Hall, scheduled to open in September 2008. The generosity of our supporters is critical to the continued development of the Museum’s research, collections, exhibitions and education outreach programs. The Human Origins Initiative has become a reality through individual gifts from board members David H. Koch and Dr. Peter Buck. A gift from The Tiffany & Co. Foundation established an endowment and permanent presentation case for the National Gem Collection. In addition, a gift from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation will support rapid, accurate identification of animal and plant species using DNA sequences. We would like to recognize the dedication and assistance of our previous Board Chairman, Marshall Turner, and our outgoing board members, David Dilcher and Edward O. Gaylord. Their fine work on behalf of the Museum warrants our sincere gratitude. It is also our pleasure to welcome Kathryn S. Fuller, David H. Koch, Senator Patrick Leahy and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, all of whom joined our Board in 2006. To our supporters, we thank you for all that you do to help us increase our understanding of nature and the role each of us has in protecting it. Roger W. Sant Chairman of the Board

Cristián Samper Director

N AT U R E A N D S O C I E T Y

Studying the Natural World to Safeguard Our Future

nderstanding the natural world and our place in it informs everything that the Museum does, including extensive scrutiny of three of today’s most significant scientific concerns: protection of human health, the maintenance of biodiversity, and the impact of climate change.

biodiversity & human health

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Mónica Medina/David Keyes

Sustaining biodiversity is vital to the health of humans and the well-being of the planet. Unfortunately, the world continues to lose plants, animals and habitats at an alarming rate. “We are facing a major biodiversity crisis,” asserts Dr. Hans-Dieter Sues, Associate Director for Research and Collections. “Biodiversity is the raw material making up the world’s ecosystems that humans depend upon for survival. Yet we have barely scratched the surface in identifying every living species on Earth.” For example, only five percent of the Earth’s oceans have been examined, leaving vast amounts of habitat to explore and countless new species to discover. Our life support system and our future health depend on the oceans’ vitality: providing food and livelihood, influencing climate and weather, and yielding abundant oxygen. The Museum’s Ocean Initiative and the Ocean Hall in development aim to advance the scientific understanding of the oceans and increase public awareness that oceans are a global system essential to all life, including our own. In another biodiversity initiative, Museum researchers are taking molecular samples from all available animal and plant species and linking them to photographs, descriptions and other scientific information to build the largest database of its kind. Using this database, scientists working in the field will be able to instantly access the data on animals, plants and other organisms for numerous uses, such as guarding against invasive species, identifying disease

Ken Rahaim

BIODIVERSITY & VITAL ECOSYSTEMS

carriers and monitoring endangered species and habitats. Along the way, important ecological and evolutionary discoveries will be made and better means to conserve and manage organisms and ecosystems will be developed.

If we remain ignorant of biodiversity, we undercut the future of humanity. DR. CRISTIÁN SAMPER

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HUMAN HEALTH Emerging infectious diseases not only affect individual health, but also have an adverse impact on our economy. Understanding the source and spread of disease plays a vital role in helping safeguard both human and animal populations from the continued threat of evolving diseases. In an increasingly critical effort, Museum researchers are analyzing the molecular sequences of live specimens and historical collections in order to shed light on vectors of disease. In researching one particularly common vector of disease—the southern house mosquito—researchers have found genetic variations in the mosquitoes that affect the insects’ ability to carry the parasite that causes human filariasis (elephantiasis). Their research has also revealed that bird introductions have the ability to move parasites around the world, an important finding for healthcare policy makers in this time of avian flu and other emerging infectious diseases. ANNUAL REPORT 2006

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Climate change is another societal issue with dramatic biological consequences that the Museum is addressing in multiple disciplines. Most scientists agree that during the past century a significant increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide has caused a gradual warming of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans. The consequences of climate change are currently being most strongly felt in the Arctic, where over the last several years the temperatures have been rising quickly and the greatest reductions in sea ice have been recorded since the advent of satellite records in the 1970s. Melting ice threatens the livelihood of Arctic indigenous peoples such as the Inuit. They worry that their dietary staples, such as seals, caribou and walruses, may become rare or totally unavailable. Most climate models project sustained sea ice losses, and scientists are concerned that the formation of new sea ice in the winter will not keep up with the rate of melting in the summer. Museum researchers are studying the human aspects of these alarming phenomena, which were brought to the public in the Museum exhibition Arctic: A Friend Acting Strangely. Museum paleobiologists and paleoanthropologists are investigating how long-term physical changes of ancient global geography and climate have affected the evolution of plants, animals and humans; how ecosystems have responded to these changes; and how these responses have affected today’s patterns of biodiversity. Museum scientists have studied fossil leaves from the PaleoceneEocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), an episode of carbon release

Gregory S. McKee

DR. HANS-DIETER SUES

CLIMATE CHANGE

National Museum of Natural History • www.mnh.si.edu

and global warming 55 million years ago during which Earth’s average surface temperature rapidly rose four to eight degrees Celsius and remained that way for about 100,000 years. Fossil leaves collected in Wyoming reveal that the geographic distributions of many plants changed rapidly in response to the PETM, with some species from the southern U.S. invading the northern Rocky Mountains and other species crossing Arctic land bridges. The PETM global warming period is relevant to our future. Not only was it a rapid climate change like today’s warming, but the huge amount of carbon that was released into the atmosphere during the PETM is similar to what we estimate humans are going to produce during the next 500 years. By studying the PETM, scientists can see what effects future global warming might have on biological systems, and also how the Earth’s climate system adjusts to sudden change.

THE MUSEUM’S ROLE IN INFORMING THE WORLD At the National Museum of Natural History, we share the results of our research in the hope that when people around the world better understand the workings of our planet, they will make more informed personal decisions and formulate policies that benefit the whole of humanity.

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Throughout history, climate has been inextricably linked to biological diversity, evolution and human development.

The Beaufort Sea in winter and summer. Many scientists believe that the Arctic Ocean may become completely ice-free in summer in just a few decades.

Scott Wing

N AT U R E A N D S O C I E T Y

FORMATION & EVOLUTION OF EARTH & SIMILAR PLANETS

climate change

Global Climate Change & its Effects on Northern Peoples

rom April to November 2006, the exhibition Arctic: A Friend Acting Strangely illuminated the changes in Arctic climate and weather patterns and its often-dramatic impact on the people across the Earth’s polar regions. These changes have been observed by scientists and northern residents alike, all of whom are seeking to understand what is happening and determine what can be done to keep pace with the new reality of Arctic environmental change. Specifically, temperatures have been rising; Arctic sea ice and land glaciers are shrinking rapidly; and permafrost soil has begun to melt. In response, plant and animal distributions have begun to change. Arctic waters are warming and animals are changing their migration routes. Some of these changes have costly implications and bring hardship to polar communities, particularly to Arctic indigenous people whose well-being and economies depend primarily upon local resources.

“This exhibition came out of our strong belief that Arctic residents should be given the chance and the means to tell to the public what they see happening to their environment,” says Dr. Igor Krupnik, one of the exhibition’s organizers. “We would love for Museum visitors to be touched by changes in peoples’ lives in distant lands, so that when they hear information about environmental processes they can see the impacts through the eyes of others.” Arctic: A Friend Acting Strangely was a joint outreach effort by the Smithsonian, NOAA Arctic Research Office, NSF and NASA under the interagency SEARCH (Study of Environmental Arctic Change) program. Curators Krupnik and Dr. William Fitzhugh of the

Northern residents and polar scientists are concerned about the societal implications of such a rapid shift in Arctic environment. Moreover, transitions in the Arctic may be early warning signals of the types of changes that are likely to affect other parts of the world in the coming decades. These changes raise an important question: How should we prepare for change?

Museum’s Arctic Studies Center were assisted by a team of scientists from the Museum and the other partner institutions. Special thanks go to many Arctic residents from Alaska, Siberia, Canada, northern Scandinavia and Greenland, whose knowledge, observations, images and objects were invaluable in producing this exhibition. The exhibition website launched in early 2007 and includes National Science Standards-based educational activities for teachers, informal educators, and families. A smaller version of the exhibition will travel to various northern destinations later in 2007. http://forces.si.edu/arctic/

Arctic warming is causing a change in caribou and reindeer migration routes, a significant concern for people who depend on them for survival. Smithsonian scientists are studying how reindeer herding people, like these Netnets children from Arctic Russia, are adapting to climate and social changes.

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Climate has influenced Arctic cultures for thousands of years. What we’re seeing now is, perhaps, the tip of the climate change iceberg. DR. WILLIAM FITZHUGH

ANNUAL REPORT 2006

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FORMATION & EVOLUTION OF EARTH & SIMILAR PLANETS

Siobhan Starrs

n the multi-faceted exhibit, Atmosphere: Change is in the Air, scientific research stories and objects from the collections of the Museum’s departments of Paleobiology and Mineral Sciences collections helped illustrate the range of atmospheric processes that are critically important to life on Earth and how changes in the atmosphere affect plants, animals and people. Ozone damage to leaves hampers plant growth

Saharan dust heads for the Caribbean

From April to November, dynamic displays—including movies, interactive computers and striking graphics—demonstrated the effects of the atmosphere on human health and the environment around the world. Stunning visuals from NASA demonstrated the interaction of the atmosphere with various global systems, and the latest results from NASA’s Aura satellite were revealed.

This Dynamic Planet

new map, This Dynamic Planet: World Map of Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Impact Craters, and Plate Tectonics, was created by Dr. Tom Simkin and Paul Kimberly of the Museum’s department of Mineral Sciences, along with Dr. Robert Tilling, Dr. Stephen Kirby, and Dr. David Stewart of the U. S. Geological Survey and Dr. Peter Vogt of the U. S. Naval Research Laboratory. The map’s first two editions made it the best-selling map in the history of the USGS. This third edition includes authoritative, high-resolution topography, bathymetry, tectonic-plate-boundary data and a wealth of explanatory panels on the back. Forty thousand copies were printed, and the accompanying website designed by Kimberly and Simkin was effectively launched from the Department of Mineral Sciences website. 6

National Museum of Natural History • www.mnh.si.edu

“We emphasized the public health and environmental aspects to help people understand what changes in the atmosphere—like ozone depletion and poor air quality— really mean to them,” says exhibition curator Dr. Patrick J. Neale. A part of the ongoing Forces of Change series, Atmosphere: Change is in the Air was developed by scientists at the Museum, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, in partnership with NASA Goddard’s Aura Satellite Mission. Special assistance was provided by Dr. Patrick J. Neale, SERC; Dr. Ernest Hilsenrath, NASA Goddard Aura Satellite Mission; and Stephanie Stockman, NASA Goddard Aura Satellite Mission. http://forces.si.edu

understanding earth The map shows Earth’s most prominent features when viewed from a distance and more detailed features upon closer inspection. The back of the map zooms in further, highlighting examples of fundamental processes while providing text, timelines, references and other resources to enhance the understanding of Earth. The website’s interactive maps invite visitors to make their own regional maps, using whichever “layers” they choose. Users can also find data for any volcano, earthquake or impact symbol via the “Identify” tool. The recent activity shown on this map provides only a present-day snapshot of Earth’s long history, helping to illustrate how its present surface came to be. www.minerals.si.edu/tdpmap/index.htm

SeaWiFS photo courtesy NASA

Atmosphere: Change is in the Air

Google Earth Volcano Update

illions of Google Earth users can now access the volcano layer of the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program. It features a volcano placemark layer that was designed by the program staff and programmed by webmaster Ed Venzke. Clicking on each volcano triangle pops up a “balloon” with the Smithsonian logo, a photo, summary information about the volcano, and links to the Global Volcanism Program website and those of other U.S. and international volcano observatories. Google Earth now highlights Smithsonian data on more than 1,500 volcanoes with known or possible activity during the past 10,000 years. “The very high number of ‘balloon hits’—approximately 1000 per hour— underscores the public’s fascination with volcanoes and the utility of virtual globes in exposing society to scientific data,” says Museum volcanologist Lee Siebert. “This has been a tremendous educational tool.” After downloading Google Earth, the volcano layer can be accessed by clicking on “Geographic Features,” or by downloading directly from the GVP website www.volcano.si.edu and clicking on “Google Earth Placemarks.”

Global Volcanism on Disc

geohazards

he Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program (GVP) released Volcanoes of Central America, a CD-ROM produced by Lee Siebert, Paul Kimberly and Dr. James Luhr of the GVP, Christina Calvin of Brown University and Dr. Guiseppina Kysar Mattietti of George Mason University. Third in a series partially funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Geothermal Technologies, the effort involved collaboration with volcanological colleagues in Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.

chronologies of known eruptions during the past 10,000 years and nearly 1,000 images of Central American volcanoes and their dramatic eruptions. The CD includes more than two decades of current eruption summaries from monthly Smithsonian bulletins, along with the GVP’s petrologic, bibliographic and map databases. It also features Eruptions Through Time, a program that sequentially plots all eruptions since 1960 on a physiographic map of Mexico and Central America.

Volcanoes of Central America contains an extensive compilation of the Global Volcanism Program’s data and images on one of the world’s most active volcanic regions. A map-driven interface enables users to select each of the 126 Holocene and Pleistocene volcanoes of Central America. Users can view data about individual volcanoes,

Volcanoes of Central America brings together a broad spectrum of Smithsonian GVP data on volcanoes in an easily-accessed format as a resource for volcanic and geothermal studies, for public officials with responsibility for volcano hazards assessments and for anyone who is interested in the volcanoes of this active region. ANNUAL REPORT 2006

DISCOVERING & UNDERSTANDING LIFE’S DIVERSITY

Coral Evolution and Modern Threats orals provide the infrastructure for the most diverse ecosystems in the oceans: the tropical reef environments. Today corals face tremendous pressures from human activities and are threatened with extinction. If all corals were to become extinct, the repercussions would likely affect all life on Earth. Understanding these basic life forms is, therefore, essential to our future.

habitat, corals that cannot either adapt or persist will become extinct.

All corals in the sea, particularly the familiar kinds that form reefs, have hard external skeletons. But some close relatives of corals, the anemones, do not have external skeletons at all. Inside their bodies, however, the two groups are similar and have long been thought to be related. Could anemones be corals that lost their skeletons long ago through evolutionary processes?

Widespread coral extinction would have profound impacts on human

In an article by zoologist Dr. Allen Collins and colleagues in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the authors hypothesize that the loss of the coral skeleton of stony corals (Scleractinia) during the Cretaceous Period 110 to 132 million years ago created “naked corals.” While this has long been suspected, there has never been any strong evidence to support the idea.

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well-being.

Corals and naked corals, like these examples from the shallow waters of Japan, have comparable bodies. The Tubastrea coral (left) has a hard external skeleton covered by a thin layer of greenish brown tissue. In contrast, naked corals like the Discosoma (right) have similar internal anatomy but lack calcified skeletons.

Allen Collins

DR. ALLEN COLLINS

National Museum of Natural History • www.mnh.si.edu

Mónica Medina/David Keyes

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With this change in

Collins, of the National Systematics Laboratory of the NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service and Adjunct Scientist at the Museum, and Dr. Mónica Medina generated molecular data— complete mitochondrial genomes from both stony corals and anemones—and conducted phylogenetic analyses that provided the first clear evidence that one group of stony corals is more closely related to an anemone group (Corallimorpharia) than it is to a second coral group. With this strong evidence, the scientists concluded that while some corals continued their evolution as stony corals with skeletons, another lineage of corals lost its skeleton giving rise to the “naked corals” still in existence today. Most interesting was the finding that during the time period in Earth’s history when corals most likely lost their skeletons, the atmosphere had high carbon dioxide levels. High atmospheric carbon dioxide levels alter ocean chemistry, negatively impacting the ability of corals to grow skeletons. Naked corals may have escaped extinction by adapting to these conditions. “Today, corals and other animals with calcareous skeletons are facing similar conditions. As our activities increase atmospheric carbon dioxide, ocean chemistry is changing, becoming more acidic,” Collins says. “This places pressure on corals because it interferes with their ability to secrete skeletons. Could some species lose their skeletons? Those that cannot adapt or persist will become extinct. Widespread coral extinction would have profound impacts on human well-being.”

habitat change

Understanding the Spread of Infectious Disease

Using molecular methods, the authors explore whether overall avian malaria parasite prevalence differs between introduced common mynas and those in their native range, and whether mynas carry parasite lineages with them to their introduced region or obtain them once they get there.

The original native range of the common myna is India. The study found that some introduced populations—Australia and South Africa, for example—had equivalent parasite loads to those found in India, while others—such as Fiji and Hawaii—had few or no blood parasites. Additionally, while mynas apparently brought parasites with them from India to their new homes in such places as Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, the molecular data revealed that they also likely picked up new parasite types when they arrived. These findings indicate a potential mechanism for the spread of avian flu or other emerging infectious diseases. According to Fleischer, “To our knowledge, this is the first comparative study conducted on blood parasites in an avian host that has been introduced from one to multiple regions.”

Eben Gering

ecent news reports tell of evidence of avian flu and the potential for the spread of disease. A study published in the high-impact scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B, by Dr. Robert Fleischer, Head of the Smithsonian Molecular Genetics Program with joint appointment with the National Zoological Park, along with Smithsonian Fellows Dr. Farah Ishtiaq and Jon Beadell, and others, makes it clear that bird introductions have the ability to move parasites around the world, a finding of some importance in this time of emerging infectious diseases.

human health

Avian malaria infecting the red blood cells of a Myna

Mosquito Introductions as Vectors of Disease

hen invasive species can threaten human health, the environment and even our economy, the importance of understanding emerging pathogens and their animal vectors becomes increasingly clear. Dr. Robert Fleischer, Dr. Dina Fonseca and Julie Smith of the Smithsonian Molecular Genetics Program and colleagues are shedding light on one pervasive vector of disease—the southern house mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus. The team focused on one of the best known introductions of mosquitoes where the mosquito is the sole vector of deadly avian malaria and a major vector of avian poxvirus: that of C. quinquefasciatus to the Hawaiian Islands from Mexico in 1826. To determine whether Mexico was the sole source of current Hawaiian mosquito populations, the team performed a worldwide genetic survey of mosquito species and

found that C. quinquefasciatus has divergent Old and New World genetic signatures with further distinctions between East and West African, Asian and Pacific/Australian populations. These findings demonstrate that the original Mexican mosquitoes in Hawaii have been almost completely replaced by ones introduced from Australasia. The worldwide divisions also correlate with the source and spread of human filariasis—an infection by parasitic worms carried by mosquitoes that can cause skin swellings, blindness or elephantiasis— suggesting variations in which mosquitoes carry the parasites. The scientists also discovered that most of the C. quinquefasciatus arriving in Oahu via aircrafts appear not to reproduce—an important observation in the fight against invasive pest species.

ANNUAL REPORT 2006

DISCOVERING & UNDERSTANDING LIFE’S DIVERSITY

R. Ritson-Williams

evolution Flatworm consuming a live cowry, leaving an empty shell

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This research highlights how little we know about the diversity of our oceans and the critical role of natural products in the ecology and behavior of marine organisms.

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DR. VALERIE PAUL

The Flatworm’s Potent Neurotoxin Even though many marine flatworms are conspicuous inhabitants of coral reefs, their ecology remains mostly unknown and many remain undescribed. In an article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, research technician Raphael RitsonWilliams, Dr. Mari YotsuYamashita and Dr. Valerie Paul (head scientist of the Smithsonian Marine Station at Ft. Pierce) describe the feeding ecology of a previously unknown flatworm. Most free-living marine flatworms eat organisms that cannot move to escape, but this flatworm ate at least 11 families of mobile mollusks. Through chemical analysis, the authors discovered it uses the potent neurotoxin tetrodotoxin to paralyze its prey. Tetrodotoxin was one of the first marine natural products to be structurally characterized, and this compound is still used extensively in research on the nervous system because it blocks sodium currents in nerves. Tetrodotoxin is a complex but widespread compound found in more than 10 major groups of marine and terrestrial animals, the best known probably being the Japanese delicacy Fugu (puffer fish) and the deadly blue-ringed octopus.

Bee Origins & Diversification With more than 16,000 species, bees are the largest and most important group of pollinating insects. They originally evolved more than 140 million years ago, presumably in synchrony with the flowering plants. Understanding the co-evolutionary history of bees and flowering plants requires a robust evolutionary history for both. A paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Research Entomologist Dr. Seán Brady and colleagues from Cornell University presents the first robust evolutionary history for all major lineages of bees. The authors gathered and analyzed DNA data from 94 species, representing all 21 subfamilies of bees as well as closely related wasps.

National Museum of Natural History • www.mnh.si.edu

The new bee evolutionary history has particular implications for understanding early bee diversification, historical biogeography, the bee fossil record and bee interactions with flowering plants. This work helps to explain the chronological appearance of bee fossils, suggests an African origin for bees and indicates that host-plant specificity may be an ancestral trait for bees. “Many crops are pollinated by a variety of bee species, but many bee populations are declining drastically, affecting their ability to pollinate these agriculturally important plants,” Brady points out. “Understanding the evolution of bee diversity will help us to better understand the relationship between bees and the plants they pollinate, hopefully allowing us to reverse this pollinator decline.”

New Discoveries Illuminate Ant Evolution The evolution of agriculture in ants conforms to two broad patterns: “farming” as practiced by fungusgrowing ants and “herding” as practiced by trophobiont-tending ants. Fungiculture has evolved only once within the ants, but trophobiosis has evolved multiple times. In trophobiosis ants acquire honeydew, the sugar-rich fluid excreted by sap-feeding insects; in return, the ants protect these insects from parasites and predators. For most ants, trophobiosis is optional, but in a very few ant species, trophobiosis is essential. In Acropyga when virgin queens depart on their mating flights, they do so carrying the trophobiont between their mandibles. A publication by Dr. Ted Schultz, Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. John LaPolla and colleagues sheds light on the evolution of these obligatorily trophobiotic ant species. The study analyzed a dataset comprised of both morphological and molecular data. In the publication, evidence is presented in favor of Acropyga being monophyletic, hence trophophoresy has evolved only once within the Formicinae and twice within the ants overall. Their results may suggest that trophobiosis was the first form of agriculture to evolve in ants.

extinction

Understanding Extinction

Written as a mystery story for the general public, the book asks the question: what could have triggered such a massive loss of life? A far greater crisis than the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, plants and animals came closer to complete extinction than at any point since they first evolved.

The multitude of geologic events during the PermoTriassic interval has made establishing what caused the extinction very difficult. Proposed causes have included the impact of a meteorite or comet, climate destruction and acid rain from massive volcanism in Siberia, the oceans losing their oxygen and snuffing out the animals that require it, and a combination of several interacting and mutually reinforcing events. Today geologists recognize this extinction event as a fundamental turning point in the history of life, bringing the world of the Paleozoic to a close, and in the aftermath of the extinction, constructing the world of today. Erwin comments, “This was the greatest biodiversity crisis of the past 550 million years, and as an evolutionary biologist the really fascinating question to me is how life recovered after the mass extinction.”

Interpreting Nature’s Revelations

he greatest mass extinction of the last 600 million years of Earth history was an event when, by some counts, nearly 95 percent of species disappeared. This mass depletion of land and marine organisms occurred at the end of the Permian Period, 250 million years ago. Understanding these mass extinctions is critical, but how can scientists be sure of their evidence? A paper by paleontologist Dr. Conrad Labandeira and colleagues in the journal Palaios examines plant fossils in South Africa’s Karoo Basin, one of the few basins worldwide in which the land-based fossil record for this critical time interval is exposed and well-preserved. Comparing fossil plant remains from numerous localities within the Karoo Basin allows scientists to better understand how plants, insects and especially their associations were impacted by the extinction at the

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Given our current biodiversity crisis, we have a remarkably poor understanding of how biological diversity is constructed. Mass extinctions provide an excellent laboratory to study these processes. DR. DOUGLAS ERWIN

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end of the Permian Period and how they diversified again during the subsequent Triassic Period. The authors address previous claims that a regional extinction of plants resulted in a change in the patterns of rivers and streams in the Karoo Basin. “It is possible that the extinction event may have varied regionally in magnitude and timing, and the effects on land may or may not coincide with the effects documented in the oceans,” Labandeira concludes. However, the changing landscape through time did have an effect on which plant assemblages became fossilized, and hence conclusions about extinction based on surviving fossils have to be made carefully.

Courtesy of Conrad Labandeira

xtinction: How Life on Earth Nearly Ended 250 Million Years Ago by paleontologist Dr. Douglas H. Erwin is a book-length review of the possible causes of a catastrophic extinction event that unfolded at the end of the Permian Period 250 million years ago, resulting in the loss of virtually all living species. Some 95 percent of marine species and 65 percent of terrestrial vertebrate species went extinct, and insects suffered their greatest mass extinction in Earth’s history.

Dr. Conrad Labandeira collecting fossil plants in the Karoo Basin, South Africa

ANNUAL REPORT 2006

DISCOVERING & UNDERSTANDING LIFE’S DIVERSITY

Daniel Janzen

Although central to much of biological research, the identification of species is often difficult. DNA barcoding uses a short gene sequence from a standard part of the genome of animals, plants and microorganisms as a “biomarker” that is unique for most species on Earth. However, the effectiveness of such DNA barcoding for identifying specimens in species-rich tropical regions is still relatively untested.

A male skipper, one of four look-alike species that fly in the same area but differ clearly in their DNA barcodes

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Improving our knowledge of biodiversity is the critical first step in preserving and managing the diversity of life on the planet.

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DR. CRISTIÁN SAMPER

In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, entomologist Dr. John M. Burns and colleagues show that DNA barcodes effectively discriminate among species in three families of Lepidoptera, including skipper butterflies, from Area de Conservación Guanacaste in northwestern Costa Rica. The authors found that 97.9 percent of the 521 species recognized by prior taxonomic work possess distinctive barcodes, and that the few instances of overlap involve very similar species. If these results are general, they offer further evidence that DNA barcoding will significantly aid species identification and discovery in tropical settings.

Sloan Grant Supports the Consortium for the Barcode of Life The Smithsonian Institution received a grant of $1.5 million from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for continued support of the Consortium for the Barcode of Life and CBOL’s Secretariat Office hosted by the Museum. “Natural history museums are treasure troves of information about the diversity of life on the planet,” says Museum Director Dr. Cristián Samper. “DNA barcoding is a new tool that will help us unlock this biodiversity treasure, and it will accelerate our efforts to discover new forms of life. Improving our knowledge of biodiversity is the critical first step in preserving and managing the diversity of life on the planet.”

DNA barcodes are being used by taxonomists and others to identify the species to which an organism belongs, and the technique has the potential to solve some important real-world problems such as identifying agricultural pest groups like fruit flies or a medically important group like mosquitoes.

Virtual Plant Species Collection on DVD A two DVD set containing 78,736 images of plant type specimens was produced by the Museum’s Department of Botany. This virtual plant species collection contains a user-friendly interface designed by Botany’s Information Management Head, Ellen Farr, and her staff. Alice Tangerini, staff illustrator and Curator of Botanical Art, provided the artwork and graphics and Collections Manager Rusty Russell supervised the overall production. Dr. Cristián Samper presented the DVD set at the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity with the message: “To conserve and manage your sovereign biological resources, you need to understand the species in your care, and to better understand species, you need type specimens.”

NMNH Type Specimens Available to the Public In 2006, 57 percent of the Museum’s biological type specimen collections—181,678 type specimens—were made available to the public online. Important specimen collections data from the departments of Botany, Invertebrate Zoology and Vertebrate Zoology were also made available, bringing the total online specimen records to 2,869,637. To search these important collection records, visit http://acsmith.si.edu/.

documenting biodiversity National Museum of Natural History • www.mnh.si.edu

Ken Rahaim

Barcoding and Identifying Species

documenting biodiversity

Documenting the Biodiversity of Northeastern South America

Morag Williams

Checklist of the Terrestrial Vertebrates of the Guiana Shield, edited by Dr. Tom Hollowell and Dr. Robert P. Reynolds, USGS Biological Survey Unit and Smithsonian Adjunct Scientist, and sponsored by the Museum’s Biological Diversity of the Guiana Shield Program, documents 1,850 species of terrestrial vertebrates of northeastern South America with a biogeographical focus that is a first step toward thinking in terms of ecosystems, evolution and systematics rather than simple lists of organisms. It was produced using information from research expeditions and collections at NMNH and museums worldwide, and it is already being used to examine levels of indigenous species and species turnover rates, as well as locating areas most in need of additional study.

Squirrels: The Animal Answer Guide Dr. Richard Thorington and Katie Ferrell have produced an authoritative and engaging guide in their book Squirrels: The Animal Answer Guide. The book presents fascinating aspects of squirrel biology—form and function, coat color and genetics, behavior, ecology, reproduction and development, foods and feeding, squirrel problems from a human viewpoint and human problems from a squirrel’s viewpoint—in an understandable set of questions and answers. Fully illustrated, it also provides a comprehensive review of the literature on squirrel biology, the interrelationships between fossil history and current distribution, between anatomy and ecology and ecology and behavior, and reveals the group’s worldwide diversity with 278 species on five continents. According to Thorington, “We wanted to use the popular subject of squirrels to teach ecological and evolutionary perspectives, which we consider very important to society.”

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Marine Nematode Checklist Marine nematodes—a major group of worms—are typically the most abundant multicellular animals of the marine environment with possibly as many as 100 million species. Dr. Duane Hope substantially contributed to the understanding of the marine environment with An annotated checklist of the marine nematodes of the western North Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico in a special issue of the Journal of Nematology. Since only 4,000–5,000 species are known, the checklist is an essential reference for future assessments of the diversity and distribution of nematodes in this region.

Although nematodes are critical organisms in most ecosystems and of great societal concern as parasites, we have documented less than one percent of those in the marine environment and have much to learn about their ecology and diversity. DR. DUANE HOPE

ANNUAL REPORT 2006

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DISCOVERING & UNDERSTANDING LIFE’S DIVERSITY

Changing Nature

ransitions: Photographs by Robert Creamer features nearly 40 images exploring Robert Creamer’s fascination with change, bringing an arresting dignity to plants and animals past their prime, capturing an artist’s appreciation for the shapes and patterns of nature and expressing a teacher’s enthusiasm for discovery.

does not focus on one point but instead renders the entire surface crisp and sharp. He began using the scanner on a whim after finding a dead hummingbird in his neighborhood. His careful use of rich blacks or negative space helps to emphasize the light of his subject and allude to the mystery of an ever-present dark.

Many of the images employ objects from the Museum’s collections— everything from bird skins to animal bones. The exhibition is on view from October 2006 through June 24, 2007. He explains, “I select objects based on my intuition of what they might become in the days and weeks ahead, looking for the decisive moment and point of view that reveals something new.”

In 2005, he scanned a variety of objects and specimens at the Museum’s Naturalist Center. That led him to scan the scientific collections housed at the Museum, which brought about this exceptional exhibition. In addition to curator Robert Creamer, the exhibition team included Jackie Weisz, project manager, Sarah Grusin, writer, and David Wiley, designer.

The arresting detail and luminosity of these photographs stems from a lifetime behind a camera and a recently discovered tool—the flatbed scanner. Creamer found that, unlike a camera, the scanner

According to Creamer, “I enjoy exploring the transitory nature of beauty and am constantly enthused by the serendipitous understandings and new relationships that this technique reveals to me.”

National Museum of Natural History • www.mnh.si.edu

H U M A N D I V E R S I T Y & C U LT U R E C H A N G E

Climate Change & Human Evolution

The challenges of interpreting climate signals from the deposits of ancient lakes are exemplified by the Pleistocene Olorgesailie Formation in Kenya, where ancient strata record many fluctuations between lake and dry land. By studying the details of these layers, scientists decipher the scale and magnitude of their climate signals.

Anna K. Behrensmeyer

limate and biological evolution have interacted throughout Earth’s history. In an article in Science, Dr. Anna K. Behrensmeyer discusses cause and effect relationships between climate change and human evolution, and the challenges of relating different types and scales of paleoclimatic evidence. For example, marine cores can establish ancient climate trends more clearly than terrestrial strata that contain early human fossils, but changes recorded in the oceans may not be the same as climatic effects on land.

Behrensmeyer stresses the need to integrate evidence for environmental change from local, regional and continental scale sources. Stratigraphic sequences from different regions of Africa, together with better marine

core data, provide ever-stronger evidence for large-scale climate change. This improved paleoclimatic evidence can then be used to test for correlations with key evolutionary developments. “Synchronous” events in the geological and paleontological records from different parts of Africa could provide stronger evidence for climatic cause and evolutionary effect.

Clues Plants Leave Behind

our ancient past

ow can scientists tell what ancient peoples ate? How do we know when humans began to farm rather than gather wild foods? What was the ancient climate like? Many clues can be found in the study of phytoliths—microscopic pieces of silica that form in the cells of many kinds of plants that are left behind when they die and decay. Remaining well-preserved through very long periods of time, phytoliths can be used to identify plants in archaeological and other ancient contexts and are a powerful tool in reconstructing ancient environments and human uses of plants in the past.

Only 9000 years ago, Lake Nakuru in Kenya was part of a much larger freshwater lake that lapped onto the volcanic ridges in the background. Changes in global climate at the end of the last Northern Hemisphere glacial period are correlated with this major period of lake expansion in East Africa, suggesting that earlier ups and downs of the rift valley lakes may also be related to global climate change.

Using more than a hundred images, Dr. Dolores Piperno provides a helpful summary in her book Phytoliths: A Comprehensive Guide for Archaeologists and Paleoecologists. Phytoliths were first used in archaeology by Piperno and others for documenting prehistoric agriculture in tropical zones where other types of plant fossils had long-decayed from the humid climate. Now phytoliths are being applied in all types of environments. This review and synthesis of worldwide studies on phytoliths will be invaluable for those working directly with phytoliths and for those who rely on the results of analyses of these microfossils for their own research.

ANNUAL REPORT 2006

H U M A N D I V E R S I T Y & C U LT U R E C H A N G E

Eastern North America: Center of Domestication Scott Whitaker

Three-thousand-year-old sunflower achene provides evidence for the initial domestication of this species in eastern North America. All present-day domesticated sunflowers are derived from wild populations that still exist in the Midwestern United States.

wenty years ago, Museum archaeologist Dr. Bruce D. Smith first postulated eastern North America as an entirely independent center of plant domestication, adding it to the list of other previously identified world regions in Asia, Africa and the Americas that had witnessed the independent transition from hunting and gathering to farming. In the past five years, however, a number of genetic and archaeological studies have called for a reconsideration of eastern North America as a center of domestication, suggesting that it may initially have received domesticated crop plants introduced from Mexico instead of experiencing independent domestication of local crop plants. In an August article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Smith addresses this recent challenge and provides a synthesis of the

currently available archaeological and genetic evidence from Mexico and eastern North America regarding the initial domestication of the four plant species identified as potential eastern domesticates—squash (Cucurbita pepo), sunflower (Helianthus annuus), marshelder (Iva annua) and chenopod (Chenopodium berlandieri). With new accelerator mass spectrometer radiocarbon dates, Smith confirms the initial independent domestication of all four species in the East between 5,000 and 3700 years ago, while also documenting the misidentification of the early domesticated “sunflower” in Mexico. According to Smith, “When considered together, genetic and archaeological evidence strongly supports the independent domestication of all four of these plants in the eastern United States, and reconfirms the region as one of the world’s independent centers of domestication.”

domestication The Intersection of Genetics and Archaeology Degrees of map shading indicate the genetic influence of zebu cattle, originally from India, on modern cattle populations, reflecting their ancient points of entry into Africa as part of a flourishing Indian Ocean trade network that arose around 5000 years ago. Genetic and archaeological evidence for the origin and dispersal of domesticated crops, like millet and bananas, and livestock such as donkeys, horses and camels, provide special insight into the first global economy that spanned much of the ancient world and profoundly affected the course of human history across this broad area.

“D

ocumenting Domestication: The Intersection of Genetics and Archaeology,” co-authored by Museum archeologists Dr. Melinda Zeder and Dr. Bruce D. Smith with Dr. Eve Emshwiller and Dr. Daniel Bradley, was published as the cover article in the March issue of Trends in Genetics. The article examines the various ways in which archaeologists and geneticists document the process of plant and animal domestication, highlighting areas of crossillumination between genetics and archaeology in tracking the origin and diffusion of domestic species.

National Museum of Natural History • www.mnh.si.edu

This is the first such article to bring together researchers working on plant and animal domestication who are using both archaeological and genetic approaches. Trends in Genetics is a leading review journal for current research in genetics, developmental biology and genomics. The article draws from a major volume of collected papers entitled Documenting Domestication: New Genetic and Archaeological Paradigms, co-edited by the article’s four authors and published by the University of California Press in 2006.

The Nile’s Canopic Channel, Revealed

According to Stanley, “The discovery of the location of the Canopic channel—which served from Greek to Ptolemaic times as one of Egypt’s major transport byways—now provides baselines for renewed archaeological exploration in this sector of the Nile Delta.”

Urban Dwellers, not Nomads

F. Goddio & the Hilti Foundation

The Canopic channel flowed to the Mediterranean coast, but became inactive and was abandoned in the 5th Century A.D. Its channel, now completely buried by Nile silt, is not visible on aerial photographs or satellite images. But by applying images from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), coupled with ground-based geologic investigations such as sediment cores, Stanley and Jorstad

have now identified the position of the Canopic channel. The SRTM data reveal two sinuous channel traces of this Nile branch, one located next to the buried commercial Ptolomaic Roman city of Schedia. The finding is published in an article in Geoarchaeology.

Divers discovering the Egyptian god Hapi, once positioned along the Canopic Nile but now submerged off the coast of Egypt.

ancient societies

he Mongol empire founded by Chinggis Khaan (Genghis Khan) was the largest contiguous empire in human history. While scholars have regarded the empires of the Mongols and their predecessors as being nomadic, highly mobile political confederations, recent research now suggests otherwise. In the December 2005 article in Antiquity, anthropologist Dr. Daniel Rogers and colleagues Erdenebat Ulambayar and Mathew Gallon report on their discoveries regarding the inner mechanics of Mongol empires.

The advanced planning and design of these centers featured impressive monuments that served a variety of functions, open spaces within the walls for tent neighborhoods and extensive irrigation systems beyond the city walls. Rogers’ study demonstrates that past interpretations of the Inner Asian empires have overemphasized the nomadic aspects of the economy.

Contrary to earlier interpretations, Rogers’ American–Mongolian team found that the large political confederations which characterized the great Inner Asian empires of the first and second millennia A.D. made use of highly sophisticated urban places as central points of trade, administration, agriculture, craftsmanship and military operations.

“The great empires of antiquity that originated on the steppes of Mongolia provide a tremendous lesson about human adaptability and environmental consequences,” says Rogers.

Courtesy of Daniel Rogers

mithsonian geoarchaeologist Dr. Jean-Daniel Stanley and his assistant Thomas F. Jorstad have been investigating two Greek cities—Herakleion and Canopus—which now lie at water depths of nearly seven meters in Abu Qir Bay off Egypt’s Nile Delta. These trade centers were positioned near the mouth of the Canopic, the Nile River’s major branch. From the Canopic, a major canal provided the fresh water supply to the Greek port city of Alexandria on the desert coastline west of the Nile Delta.

Dr. Daniel Rogers at Khar Balgas

ANNUAL REPORT 2006

H U M A N D I V E R S I T Y & C U LT U R E C H A N G E

Lost Languages in Southeast

I Roger Roop

n an issue of Anthropological Linguistics published in January 2006, Dr. Ives Goddard, Senior Linguist in the Department of Anthropology, shows that many more languages were spoken by the Native peoples of the Southeast at the time of first European contact in 1540 than previously thought, making the Southeast a region with great and as yet largely unknown linguistic diversity.

The languages and major language families of the Southeast at their earliest documented locations (parentheses mark unattested languages).

For more than a hundred years, the conventional view has been that all languages once spoken in the Southeast belonged to a relatively small number of language families, of which Muskogean and Siouan were the most widespread. Goddard’s new assessment supports the presence of Muskogean and Siouan-Catawba languages only in relatively restricted

Coca Chewing in Ecuador

Douglas Ubelaker

he use of coca is widespread in Andean South America and of considerable antiquity. In coastal Ecuador, use frequently included oral application of an alkali derived from shells. Scholars have suggested that coca use may have been responsible for excessive calculus deposits on some skeletons recovered archeologically, presumably reflecting direct deposit from the oral use of the alkali. To examine this hypothesis, samples were examined through the use of scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). Calculus deposits on teeth; artifact above contains alkali related to coca chewing

Elemental analyses of samples of large dental deposits from archeologically recovered skeletons from Ecuador dating between 500 B.C. and 1532 A.D. were compared with analysis of normal calculus deposits and tooth structure of individuals from North America (modern and

National Museum of Natural History • www.mnh.si.edu

areas, as shown on the new map published in Southeast, volume 14 of the Handbook of North American Indians. Early observers of the Native peoples on the lower Mississippi and the Gulf coast and in south Florida and the Carolinas emphasized their great linguistic diversity, often within small areas. The reality is, though, that a very large number of these languages, spoken by small local populations and in some cases by larger groups, are undocumented. Significantly, it also is likely that additional language families were represented among these lost languages. According to Goddard, “This re-evaluation shows that the extinction of languages in the area was much more severe than previously thought and that the crisis of language endangerment, now recognized as threatening the catastrophic loss of knowledge about basic human abilities, began in the earliest years of the modern European expansion.”

cultural development pre-contact) and of samples of alkali recovered from Ecuadorian artifacts thought to have been employed in coca use. Analysis showed homogeneity among all dental samples in deposits and structure and revealed that they are distinct from the pattern revealed in the analysis of the artifact alkalis. Thus there is no evidence from elemental analysis that large deposits of calculus on the teeth are produced from the alkalis associated with coca use. These findings were published by Dr. Douglas Ubelaker, curator of physical anthropology, and a colleague in Latin American Antiquity. According to Ubelaker, “This study was possible because of the availability and long-term curation of well-documented human remains and artifacts from ancient Ecuador.”

Bicentennial of the Lewis & Clark Expedition

The exhibition presented a ground-breaking reinterpretation of the Lewis and Clark story, emphasizing their role as scientists and their unusual powers of perception and description in such fields and eth-

nology and botany. It also compared the assumptions of Lewis and Clark and the Native Americans they encountered on such topics as politics and diplomacy, gender, geography, health and botany. Lewis & Clark was organized by the Missouri Historical Society in partnership with: the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, the American Philosophical Society, the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University, the Library of Congress, the National Archives, the Oregon Historical Society, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University, the Smithsonian Institution and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, Inc. Generous support from Emerson made this exhibition possible. The National Park Service and the state of Missouri also provided support.

Vanished Kingdoms: The Wulsin Photographs of Tibet, China and Mongolia, 1921–1925

uring the 1920s, American explorers Janet Elliott Wulsin and Frederick Roelker Wulsin, Jr., led two major expeditions into western China, Inner Mongolia and the borderlands of Tibet. The National Geographic Society commissioned their most ambitious journey, the Central China Expedition, to document the cultures of these regions which were rarely visited by Westerners. Their ninemonth sojourn took them across the Alashan Desert and into the high mountains of Gansu and Qinghai provinces. From May 22 through October 9, 2006, Museum audiences viewed 39 color images derived from rare lantern slides taken by the pair. The Wulsin expeditions also amassed hundreds of botanical, biological and anthropological specimens, some of which were in the exhibition. Most importantly, their photographs portrayed the people, the landscape and the architecture as they existed 80 years ago.

Donald E. Hurlbert

n 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set out from St. Louis at the behest of President Thomas Jefferson to explore the vast, newly acquired Louisiana Territory. Lewis & Clark: The National Bicentennial Exhibition, commemorating this legendary journey, ended its five-city tour at the Museum from May 12 through September 10, 2006. It featured more than 400 artifacts—including 75 objects from the Smithsonian collections—that illustrated cultural encounters along the pair’s journey. The core of the exhibition was formed by artifacts, artwork and documents organized by the Missouri Historical Society.

exploration

Initially, the images were captured on two-inch by two-inch glass lantern slides which were then painstakingly hand-colored by Beijing artisans, resulting in an intriguing juxtaposition of Chinese design sensibilities and an American photographer’s eye. The Peabody Essex Museum, which organized the traveling exhibition in conjunction with the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University and the Aperture Foundation, commissioned renowned digital artist Fernando Azevedo to create archival inkjet prints of the slides.

PMAE, Harvard University [56-55-60/15698.1]

Shepherd and yurt, April 1923

Dr. Stephen Loring curated the exhibition with the assistance of Jackie Weisz, project manager, David Wiley, designer, Charles Noble, fabrication and Meg Rivers, exhibit assistant.

ANNUAL REPORT 2006

H U M A N D I V E R S I T Y & C U LT U R E C H A N G E

“

Mutual Understanding Through the Art of Photography

Training young people in visual literacy allows them to document their lives—representing an important and innovative development strategy for youth empowerment.

n West Africa, the word “griot” means “storyteller who preserves and performs the oral histories of village and family.” In January 2005, the Academy for Education Development, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, conducted a Visual Griot workshop in Tominian, Mali. Malian and American photographers guided Malian students to capture their lives on film— enabling them to portray their value systems and honor the traditions of their villages through photographs. The students, most from villages with no running water or electricity, documented their rural realities in Mali. The stunning result is an exhibition of 49 black and white photographs that highlight the work of 22 student artists ranging in age from 10 to 16.

”

DR. MARY JO ARNOLDI, Curator of African Ethnology

The photographic medium allowed students to tell stories that transcend language barriers and cultures,

while the workshop instilled the confidence, selfesteem and critical thinking skills necessary to provoke self-exploration and expression. The images come across as strikingly honest and aesthetically powerful, especially since their subjects—their friends, families, homes and villages—are important to them. Each student photographer composed object labels with commentary about their images, allowing ample opportunity for the artists to speak out about their world.

Young workshop participants created images, such as this one by Cristine of Damy Village showing girls making shea butter.

Mongolia Family Festival

Donald E. Hurlbert

I Life in the ger, a traditional Mongolian home

n October, the Museum came alive with the sights and sounds of Mongolia when it celebrated Mongolia’s 800-year anniversary of nationhood. The weekend festival embraced all things Mongolian through music and dance performances, games and artistic endeavors like mask making and felting, films and lectures, archaeology research displays, photography, historic costumes and a display of a traditional dwelling called a ger. The Smithsonian Associates hosted a lecture series that focused on topics such as Chinggis Khaan (Genghis Khan), Mongolian history, dinosaur discoveries, arts, cultures and archaeology. A special film lecture, Mongolian Image in Western Cinema, was held and award-winning Mongolian films were screened.

National Museum of Natural History • www.mnh.si.edu

The photographs were exhibited in Bamako, the capital city of Mali, after being shown in their original villages. The exhibition opened its American tour at the Museum on October 2, 2006, and runs through April 29, 2007, when it will travel to other venues, including schools, in the U.S.

cultural diversity The Mongolia Family Festival was a joint project of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, The Smithsonian Associates and the Embassy of Mongolia. “Genghis Khan is not everyone’s cuddly hero, but the opening of Mongolia to the West has produced surprisingly positive ideas about his role in shaping the modern world,” notes Dr. William Fitzhugh. “The Festival highlighted not only Mongolia’s history and cultures, it brought Mongolia closer to home, especially in Washington, which is now one of the largest population centers for Mongolians in the United States.”

Alaska Native Peoples and the Smithsonian Collections rganized by anthropologist Dr. Aron Crowell and sponsored by the Museum’s Arctic Studies Center’s Anchorage Office, Sharing Knowledge opened on April 30, 2006, in Anchorage, Alaska. The exhibition featured 14 extraordinary objects from the Museum and the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI). The objects—arctic clothing, implements and ceremonial regalia—were presented in the context of tradition, cultural identity and contemporary life. Items included an 1893 Tlingit battle helmet that is a masterwork of expressive sculpture, an Iñupiaq feast bowl with walrus ivory carvings of real and mythical sea mammals, richly beaded Gwich’in Athabascan moccasins, and a ceremonial seal intestine parka decorated with sea bird beaks and feathers from St. Lawrence Island. This exhibition was a preview of the 650 additional objects that will comprise a large permanent installation scheduled to open at the Anchorage Museum in 2010.

Dawn Biddison

To develop the exhibitions, curators worked with more than 40 elders and other representatives of Alaska’s 20 indigenous cultures to record in-depth discussions about the use, meaning and artistry of hundreds of items stored at the Museum and NMAI, which together hold more than 30,000 ethnological objects from Alaska.

The results of the project, including elders’ commentaries and a rich array of images and contextual information, are posted on the new Sharing Knowledge web site, http://alaska.si.edu. As the site grows, it will offer a global portal to the Smithsonian’s arctic collections.

“

We can shoot this arrow up in the air. How far will it go? That’s the future. That’s what we were here for—future generations need to know our cultures.

TRIMBLE GILBERT, Gwich’in Athabascan contributor

”

“Conversations with Alaska Native elders and scholars will continue,” says Crowell, “and having the Smithsonian collections in Alaska will really enhance this dialogue. It’s exciting that so much of the region’s cultural and artistic heritage will be available for study and learning.”

cultural diversity

he Smithsonian filled the month of May with festivities for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Asian cultures were spotlighted in more than 20 events, including films, performances, talks, tours and family programs. On May 5, the Museum celebrated the fifth anniversary of Asian Performances with traditional dances by the Thai Youth Performing Arts of Wat Thai of Washington, D.C., USHAS Entertainment Troupe and the Washington Korean Dance Company. The three events were coordinated by Museum Scientific Illustrator Vichai Malikul and the Museum’s Asian Pacific American Heritage Committee (APAHC).

On May 12, the 20th anniversary of Asian Arts and Crafts Demonstration Day was held in the Museum Rotunda. Museum visitors enjoyed Asian arts and crafts demonstrations like Cambodian stone and metal sculpture, Chinese paper folding, Japanese doll making, Korean calligraphy, Mongolian mask making and painting, Philippine weaving, Thai fruit carving and silver working. The May 12th reception was co-sponsored by the Royal Thai Embassy, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Thais for Thai Association, the Office of the Director of the Museum and APAHC.The Museum’s Department of Public Programs co-sponsored both events.

Madan Mohan

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

USHAS Entertainment Troupe

ANNUAL REPORT 2006

NEWS & EVENTS

Heritage Health Index Report

”

DR. DOUGLAS OWSLEY

Dr. Douglas Owsley at work

Significance of Kennewick Man

Naturalist Center Anniversary

Once the scientific team studying the Kennewick Man skeletal remains completed the second phase of research, Museum Anthropologist Dr. Douglas Owsley presented the findings at the annual American Academy of Forensic Sciences conference in February 2006. This phase of the research focused on how geological, pedological (soil formation processes), biological (plant and animal) and human actions affected the skeletal remains of Kennewick Man from the time of his death some 9,300 years ago until the 1996 recovery along the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington.

In December, the Naturalist Center celebrated 30 years of public service. Since its beginnings in 1976, the Naturalist Center’s vast public study collection has enabled hundreds of thousands of visitors to identify objects and do research, has trained teachers to use Museum objects more effectively, and has helped the public understand the learning potential of museums. Over the years the Center has conducted 1,500 school programs totaling more than 100,000 hours of hands-on problem solving activities in science, social studies and art for tens of thousands of students and teachers.

Major media organizations worldwide covered Owsley’s historic report, including: CNN, FOX News, NBC, MSNBC, CBS News, ABC, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Houston Chronicle, The Sacramento Bee and The Seattle Post Intelligencer. 22

For the summary and full report, visit www.heritagepreservation.org/ HHI/index.html.

National Museum of Natural History • www.mnh.si.edu

Chip Clark

“

The examination of Kennewick Man promises important new scientific insights into the peopling of the Americas.

The most urgent preservation issues cited are environmental control and improper storage—one of the greatest hazards to collections. Findings from the survey have influenced collections funding decisions and strategies at the Museum, which has ordered new cabinets for the marine mammals, the collection most in need of better storage. This is the first phase of a larger project; additional funding will be required to adequately house the collection.

The Naturalist Center is managed by Richard Efthim, Program Director, Helene Lisy, Assistant Manager, and Suzanne Hiller and Miriam Westervelt, the teachers-in-residence in 2006 from Loudoun County Public Schools. Chip Clark

Chip Clark

A Public Trust at Risk: the Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America’s Collections details findings from the first comprehensive survey ever conducted on the condition and preservation needs of collections in U.S. institutions. Heritage Preservation conducted the survey in association with the Institute of Museum and Library Services; the Museum’s response was prepared under the leadership of Carol Butler, Chief of Collections and Registrar.

14th Environmental Film Festival

On August 23, 1976, in response to visitors’ enthusiastic response to temporary exhibits in previous summers, the National Museum of Natural History opened its first permanent, live insect exhibition: the Insect Zoo. By the late 1980s, the exhibition needed complete renovation. Former Insect Zoo Director Sally Love led the development team that opened the O. Orkin Insect Zoo in September of 1993, funded by Orkin Pest Control, Inc.

In March, the Museum again presented more programs than any other institution participating in the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital. From the opening day’s moving presentation of the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal, to pioneer Bolivian documentary filmmaker Jorge Ruiz, to the final evening’s screening of acclaimed contemporary French film actor, producer and director Jacques Perrin’s 1989 Monkey Folk, the Museum offered a selection of some 23 international films to appreciative audiences.

Ken Rahaim

Discovery Room Outreach The Discovery Room continues to reach out to non-traditional visitors, making it accessible and stimulating for groups that might not otherwise spend time there. In July, the room hosted 35 students from the Maryland School for the Blind, who were guided to touch and explore objects from the natural world, including bird feathers, whale baleen and teeth, skulls and echinoderms. The activity was developed by Mollie Oremland and led by Amy Bolton with assistance from Research and Collections staff and volunteers. In December, the Discovery Room, in conjunction with the Museum’s Latino Program, hosted a group of ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students from Montgomery County Public Schools and their families for a vocabulary-building activity. The students and families worked together to identify animals on the room’s Biodiversity Wall.

Latino Program Events & The Smithsonian Jazz Café

Insects from Colombia at the Smithsonian

In 2006, the Museum’s Latino Program sponsored several public outreach events to attract multicultural audiences to the Museum, including a series of programs on the biodiversity of Mexico’s oceans, lectures on the cultural and biological diversity of Peru, Brazil and Guatemala, and two concerts at the Smithsonian Jazz Café featuring popular vocalist and flutist Verny Varela and AfroBop Alliance, one of the top Latin Jazz groups in the country. The program also collaborated in the development of Colombia at the Smithsonian, produced by the Smithsonian Latino Center and presented at the Smithsonian Castle. The exhibition showcased the Colombian collections held by the Smithsonian Institution. Natural History was represented by 32 specimens that highlighted the Museum’s wide range of biological and geological collections from Colombia.

James DiLoreto

Today, the Insect Zoo is an engaging educational experience overseen by Nathan Erwin, Manager, Museum Technicians Daniel Babbitt and Liesel McCurry, and more than 50 volunteers. The current exhibition highlights the biological diversity of arthropods, their roles in ecosystems and hands-on activities for visitors.

Chip Clark

Insect Zoo Celebrates 30 Years

ANNUAL REPORT 2006

SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCES

Sixth Annual Smithsonian Botanical Symposium

Jim Harle

The Museum’s Department of Botany, in conjunction with the United States Botanic Garden and the National Tropical Botanical Garden, hosted Island Archipelagos: Cauldrons of Evolution, on April 21 and 22, 2006. Speakers addressed the evolution, ecology and conservation of biotas on the world’s most important island chains. More than 125 participants attended the symposium, which opened with a reception at the U.S. Botanic Garden and concluded with a dinner in the Museum’s Rotunda. Dr. Mike Maunder of Fairchild Tropical Gardens

Arctic Studies Symposia Dr. Noel Broadbent co-organized a symposium, Nordic and Saami Religion in the Viking Age, held April 20th at the University of Maryland and funded by the National Science Foundation. Broadbent spoke on “Sacred Sites, Settlements and Place-Names: New Perspectives on Saami Prehistory in Sweden,” and Dr. William Fitzhugh gave a talk on “Arctic Belief Systems from a Circumpolar Perspective.” On April 21st the Arctic Studies Center presented The Archaeology of Iron at the Museum. Dr. Stephen Loring, who organized the symposium, gave the introduction and a talk on “The Cutting Edge: 18th Century Labrador Inuit Metallurgy.” Broadbent and Fitzhugh were also speakers.

Astrobiology Science Convention

Chip Clark

Dr. Richard Potts, director of the Museum’s Human Origins Program, gave the Convention’s opening lecture, Influence of the Environment on Human Evolution, on March 26, 2006. Two days later, more than 600 attended a reception at the Museum where Dr. Ed Vicenzi introduced shuttle astronaut Ken Reightler, President of Lockheed Martin Space Operations, and Jack Schmidt, lunar astronaut of Apollo 17 fame. A private screening of Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D followed.

Dr. Richard Potts (right) with students at Olorgesailie, southern Kenya, where Potts’s team is investigating the past 1 million years of climate change and its effect on human evolution.

Anna K. Behrensmeyer

Museum Hosts Collections Workshop

National Museum of Natural History • www.mnh.si.edu

Natural Collections Descriptions (NCDs) were the topic of a June workshop funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. NCDs are business-card-like records that will make research resources available via the web, providing the ability to link museum, library and archive holdings for resource discovery. Workshop participants are developing a record schema that will be submitted to the Taxonomic Databases Working Group, an international group that sets standards for biological data.

RECOGNITION

Awards & Achievements

James DiLoreto

At the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) meeting in Puerto Rico, Dr. Bruce D. Smith was honored at the Society’s Fryxell Symposium as the previous year’s winner of the prestigious Fryxell Award for Interdisciplinary Research. The symposium was entitled: Advancing Our Understanding of the Human-Plant Dynamic: Papers in Honor of Bruce D. Smith. A reception for Smith followed the symposium. Dr. Bruce D. Smith

E.O. Wilson lectures at IUSSI

International Congress of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects

The Panamanian government bestowed its highest civilian award, the Orden Vasco Núñez de Balboa, to Dr. Dolores Piperno in recognition of her work documenting and understanding Panama’s past. The ceremony took place in August at the Presidential Palace in Panama City.

Held once every four years, the 15th Congress took place in Washington, D.C., from July 30 to August 4, 2006, drawing approximately 700 social insect biologists from around the world. Co-sponsored by the Museum and co-organized by Department of Entomology Chair Dr. Ted Schultz, the Congress began with a gala reception at the Museum and was preceded by a weekend of Museum events, including lectures by E.O. Wilson and a family festival, Smithsonian Ant Explorers, in the Insect Zoo. The Congress included a symposium organized by Research Entomologist Dr.Seán Brady and talks by Museum scientists, including Dr. John LaPolla, Brady and Schultz.

Dr. Cristián Samper, Museum Director, has been elected to the American Association of Museums (AAM) board for a three-year term. The mission of AAM is to enhance the value of museums to their communities through leadership, advocacy and service.

Stardust Mission

The Trustees of the Paleontological Research Institution (Ithaca, New York) selected Dr. Thomas R. Waller as the 2006 recipient of the Gilbert Harris Award, given annually to recognize excellence in contributions to systematic paleontology. The award is bestowed to a scientist who, through outstanding research and commitment to the centrality of systematics in paleontology, has made a significant contribution to the science.

In November 2006, Drs. Ed Vicenzi and Glenn MacPherson participated in the NASA-sponsored final workshop concerning the preliminary results of the Stardust Mission. They are studying samples using the Time of Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer (ToF-SIMS) and the new analytical Field Emission-Scanning Electron Microscope (FE-SEM) in the Department of Mineral Sciences. Particles and chemical trails caught by the spacecraft represent the first extraterrestrial samples returned to Earth since the Moon landings of the early 1970s.

The 12th International Symposium on Trichoptera, held this year in June in Mexico City, was named in honor of Dr. Oliver Flint— officially entitled, Oliver Flint 12th International Symposium on Trichoptera. Flint was also awarded a plaque for his outstanding achievements in his research concerning Trichoptera, the insect order that contains caddisflies.

Dr. Oliver Flint

Dr. Thomas R. Waller

ANNUAL REPORT 2006

COLLECTIONS

ANTHROPOLOGY

MINERAL SCIENCES

Donated by Leonard Dutton, the Museum received an archeological collection of forty Clovis stone artifacts and 3,531 mammoth bones that were excavated by Dr. Dennis Stanford and Russell Graham on the Dutton ranch near Idalia, Colorado, from 1976 to1979. This collection of 11,000-year-old faunal remains and Clovis tools relates to the Pleistocene-Holocene transition and the peopling of the New World.

The Museum’s Gems and Minerals division obtained a superior example of elbaite with lepidolite from the Pederneira Mine in Minas Gerais, Brazil. This dramatic piece will be placed on public display.

James DiLoreto & John Steiner

Chip Clark

Acquisition Highlights

BOTANY

Ingrid Pol-Yin Lin

ENTOMOLOGY

More than 10,000 specimens—mostly ants—were collected for the Museum by Jeffrey Sosa-Calvo, a graduate student working with Dr. Ted Schultz in Suriname, a poorly-represented country in the Museum’s collection.

National Museum of Natural History • www.mnh.si.edu

PALEOBIOLOGY Approximately 783 fossil specimens of Tertiary and Cretaceous crabs and worms from western North America, Guam and Antarctica that have been cited in several journal articles were given to the Museum. The Museum’s Department of Paleobiology is home to the world’s largest collection of fossil animals, plants and other life-forms and a preferred public repository for type specimens of extinct organisms.

INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY

VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY

Specimens of octocorals of the types described in the famous 1899–1900 Siboga Expedition were donated by E. Beglinger of the Zoological Museum of Amsterdam. This acquisition completed the Museum’s collection of type specimens of every species in the genus Narella, an important deep-sea octocoral.

Dr. Carole Baldwin led a team that included David G. Smith, Lee A. Weigt, Julie H. Mounts, and Amy C. Driskell in collecting larval and adult fishes, as well as digital color photographs of them, from Belize for the Division of Fishes. Tissue samples from those fishes are being used to genetically match larvae to adults, and molecular and morphological study of specimens is being used to reanalyze species diversity of Belizean fishes.

John Steiner

A collection of 121 vascular plant specimens from the Marquesas and Hawaiian Islands, including types, were provided by the National Tropical Botanical Garden.

MUSEUM SUPPORT

Leadership Gifts

he National Museum of Natural History is deeply grateful for the generous new gifts and pledges of $1 million or more in 2006 from the following valued donors, whose thoughtful and wide-ranging support has been essential to advancing the Museum’s research and public learning initiatives.

THE TIFFANY & CO. FOUNDATION’S GIFT TO THE NATIONAL GEM COLLECTION The Tiffany & Co. Foundation has given $1.1 million to the Museum to establish an endowment for the acquisition of important gemstones for the Museum’s National Gem Collection. Gemstones purchased with the fund will comprise The Tiffany & Co. Foundation Collection. The gift will also make possible the creation of an exhibition case to display these and other gemstones in the National Gem Collection Gallery. Tiffany & Co. and the Foundation have been active supporters of the Smithsonian, the Museum and its National Gem Collection since 1983.

GIFTS TO THE HUMAN ORIGINS INITIATIVE The past decade has set an extraordinary pace for new discoveries about human evolution that captivate our imagination. In 2006, the leadership gifts of two visionary members of the Museum’s Board are enabling the Museum to expand its distinguished work in this dynamic field of scientific research and to create an awe-inspiring exhibition and innovative education programs to respond to the public’s deep curiosity about our evolutionary roots.

With David H. Koch’s $15 million gift, the Museum is advancing its planned exhibition, What Does it Mean to be Human?, which will be presented in the new David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins. Scheduled to open in 2009, this exhibition will explore the evolutionary history of human beings. Dr. Peter Buck’s $15 million gift enables the Museum to establish DAVID H. KOCH a program of national outreach and education about human origins and a research endowment for the study of human evolution. The Museum will establish the Peter Buck Chair in Human Origins in recognition of this gift.

DR. PETER BUCK

ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION SUPPORTS DNA BARCODING A grant of $1.5 million continues the Foundation’s support of an international initiative to advance rapid, accurate identification of animal and plant species using minimal DNA sequences. The Consortium for the Barcode of Life, the organizing body for the initiative, is hosted at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. This ongoing project is described on page 12 of this report.

ANNUAL REPORT 2006

MUSEUM SUPPORT

National Museum of Natural History Donors Museum Members in 2006 The National Museum of Natural History would like to recognize members of the Hope Diamond Society, Director’s Circle and Benefactors Circle. Their generosity and continued support play a vital role in the success of the Museum’s outstanding research, collections, exhibitions and education. In turn, Members are able to enhance their relationship with the Museum through behind-the-scenes access to our curators, collections and exhibitions.

HOPE DIAMOND SOCIETY Giuseppe and Mercedes Cecchi Robert and Rose Cohen Dr. Sylvia A. Earle Edward and Louise Gaylord

DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE Elizabeth Ballantine and Paul Leavitt Ed and Mary Bartlett Peder and Clarissa Bonde Winthrop and Sarah Brown Alfred and Kathryn Checchi Virginia Fulton C. Wolcott Henry Norman and Margaret Kinsey

BENEFACTORS CIRCLE Sheldon and Paula Apsell Jacqueline Bergman Bonnie and Jere Broh-Kahn Dr. Cesar A. Caceres John D. Erwin Jack Ferguson and Veronica Slajer John Hoskinson and Ana Fábregas Stanley S. Hubbard

National Museum of Natural History • www.mnh.si.edu

Cindy and Robin Martin Dr. and Mrs. Jerold J. Principato Richard Thompson Ann and Marshall Turner Lt. Col. and Mrs. William K. Konze Victor and Ada Kugajevsky Chip and Vicky Magid Gilbert and Jaylee Mead Michael Miller Edward and Nancy Rice Admiral and Mrs. Tazewell Shepard William and Jo Ann Storey Russell and Aileen Train Jed and Blythe Lyons Yolanda Moses and James Bawek Aubrey and Saskia Rothrock Joyce and Jerald Sachs Kate and Theodore Sedgwick Ruth O. Selig Simon and Nancy Sidamon-Eristoff Frank Swain and Sally Wallace Robert and Robin Wilder

The Museum gratefully acknowledges the generosity of the many individuals, foundations and corporations whose support has been essential to advancing Museum initiatives in all fields.

$1,000,000 AND OVER

$50,000 TO $99,999

Dr. Peter Buck

American Society of Agronomy, Inc.

David H. Koch

Richard and Rita Ashley

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.

The Tiffany & Co. Foundation

George Mason University

$500,000 TO $999,999

C. Wolcott Henry (The Henry Foundation)

The Korea Foundation

Indo-US Science and Technology Forum

$100,000 TO $499,999 Anonymous (2)

Edward and Nancy Rice and The Rice Family Foundation

A&E Television Networks

Smithsonian Women’s Committee

Mrs. Richard H. Benson

Species 2000

California Institute of Technology

St. Lucie County School Board

Michael J. Collins ( James M. Collins Foundation)

Prehlad Singh Vachher, M.D.

Columbia University in the City of New York

University of Kansas

The Field Museum

University of Utah

U.S. Department of Commerce University of North Carolina

Mr. and Mrs. Edward O. Gaylord Mr. and Mrs. Alfred C. Glassell, Jr.

$10,000 TO $49,999

Idaho Power Company

Anonymous (4)

Landmark Communications Foundation Margery and Edgar Masinter

American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida

Janet and Jeffery Meyer

American Hospital Association

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Amylin Pharmaceuticals

National Institutes of Health

BASF Corporation

National Science Foundation

Max N. and Heidi L. Berry

Roger and Victoria Sant

Mr. David C. Blackburn

The Schlinger Foundation

Capitol Services, Inc.

Mr. and Mrs. James C. Taylor

Carnegie Institution of Washington

State of California

Giuseppe and Mercedes Cecchi

Summit Foundation

The Colony Group

U.S. Department of the Air Force

Corporate Office Properties Trust

U.S. Department of the Interior

Covington & Burling

U.S. Department of Transportation

Cuatrecasas Family Foundation

Aramco Services Company

Curtis & Edith Munson Foundation

Trust for Mutual Understanding

Dr. Sylvia A. Earle

Ann and Marshall Turner

Edison Electric Institute

University of California–Davis

Event Emissary, LLC ExxonMobil Corporation Fisher BioServices Fort Pierce Community Redevelopment Agency Genentech, Inc. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP Girardi and Keese Global Events Partners, Inc. Leroy H. Harvey, Estate of Healthways, Inc.

University of Maryland, Baltimore County U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior/US Geological Survey

Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the U.S.

Mr. Ashton de Peyster Miranda and Robert Donnelley (The Donnelley Foundation) Elizabeth Duggal Taghipour and Alain Taghipour

$2,000 TO $4,999

Elon University

2006 International Conference on the Culture and History of Taiwan

Mr. and Mrs. John D. Erwin

Arthur and Mary Aufderheide

ExxonMobil Foundation Jack Ferguson and Veronica Slajer

U.S. Department of Justice

Bibliomania!

U.S. Department of State

Dr. Amrik S. Chattha

Waddell & Reed Companies

The Citadel Group Foundation

Gem, Lapidary and Mineral Society of Washington, D.C., Inc.

Warner Brothers Television Inc.

Docents of the National Museum of Natural History

GlaxoSmithKline

$5,000 TO $9,999

Dr. and Mrs. Oliver S. Flint, Jr.

Steven Gaimari

John and Margaret Grey (The Grey Family Foundation)

Ms. Elizabeth Ballantine and Mr. Paul Leavitt

Miriam and Ronald Heyer Mr. Harinder Kohli

Ms. Sharon Lynn Hanger and Ms. Laura Heyer

Insurance Company of Florida

Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Bartlett III

Miss Marilyn C. Link

Harbor Federal

Inter-American Development Bank

Count and Countess Peder Bonde

Malott Family Foundation

John K. Hoskinson and Ana Fábregas

Jagiellonian University

Mr. and Mrs. Winthrop N. Brown

Stanley S. Hubbard

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

CGF Shoniya Fund

Dr. and Mrs. Sarabjit S. and Jaspal K. Neelam

Alfred and Kathryn Checchi

North Carolina State University

Chesapeake Publishing Corporation

Mr. Paul L. Peck

The Honorable L. William Lane, Jr. and Mrs. Lane (The Ambassador and Mrs. L.W. Lane, Jr. Fund)

Robert and Rose Cohen

Dr. Cristián Samper and Adriana Casas

Jed and Blythe Lyons

Mr. Max W. Corzilius

Saudi Arabian Airlines

James A. McComas

Desert Research Institute

Kate and Theodore Sedgwick

Elizabeth and Whitney MacMillan

Earthwatch Institute

Ruth O. Selig

Mr. and Mrs. Wendell Mohr

Four Seasons Hotel

Mr. and Mrs. Peter R. Tyson

Dr. Emilio F. Moran

Ms. Virginia Fulton (The Virginia Fulton Charitable Gift Fund)

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Dr. Yolanda T. Moses and Mr. James Bawek

Wesleyan University

National Science Foundation

Geoff Howe Marketing Communications

Navigant Consulting

Mr. Alan D. Grinnell

Newmont Mining Corporation

Mr. and Mrs. Steven G. Hoch

$500 TO $1,999

Dr. and Mrs. Jerold J. Principato ( Jerold J. and Marjorie N. Principato Foundation)

International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Anonymous (2)

Mrs. Dorothy Rouse-Bottom

Mr. and Mrs. Norman V. Kinsey

American Entomological Society, Inc.

Joyce and Jerry Sachs

Lt. Col. and Mrs. William Karl Konze

Atalanta Sosnoff Capital Corporation

Mr. and Mrs. Simon Sidamon-Eristoff

M S Grand, Inc.

Dr. Paul B. Barton

Mr. Jagdish Singh and Mrs. Satvinder Kaur

History of Containerization Foundation, Inc.

Korean Air Land O’Lakes, Inc. The Link Foundation M2 Creative, Inc. Marpat Foundation, Inc. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Meniscus Limited Mrs. Charles A. Miller National Geographic Society

Psychogenics Inc. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

University of Oregon Sam-kyun Yoon

Mr. and Mrs. Creighton R. Magid

Dr. William M. Bass

Mrs. Jane A. Smalley and Family

Mr. and Mrs. Frank N. Magid

Jacqueline Bergman (BJNB Foundation)

Sprint Corporation

Mr. Gurdeep Singh Malik

Mr. and Mrs. Jere Broh-Kahn

Sumner Gerard Foundation

Mr. and Mrs. Robin B. Martin

Ms. Elspeth Bobbs

Dr. and Mrs. F. Christian Thompson

Gilbert and Jaylee Mead

Dr. Cesar A. Caceres

Mr. Richard E. Thompson

Mr. and Mrs. William C. Storey

The Camp-Younts Foundation

The Smithsonian Women’s Committee: 35 years of support

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (Ret.) George and Linda O’Malley National Museum of Saudi Arabia Mr. and Mrs. Aubrey A. Rothrock III

Frank Swain and Sally Wallace Robert and Robin Wilder Susan R. Wirths

Chip Clark

Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Deichmiller

From the group’s first grant in 1971 for the original Insect Zoo to their visionary endowment of the Museum’s Research Training Program, the Smithsonian Women’s Committee has touched the full breadth of the Museum’s programs for the last 35 years. The Committee is the longest, most consistent donor in the Museum’s history and Director Cristián Samper presented the group’s President, Judy Lynn Prince, with a plaque to commemorate this tremendous milestone.

Yara North America, Inc.

ANNUAL REPORT 2006

N AT I O N A L M U S E U M O F N AT U R A L H I S T O R Y

Most Visited U.S. Museum The Natural Museum of Natural History had 5,874,485 visitors in 2006, making it the most visited Smithsonian museum. In the fiscal year, it was the most visited in the entire United States.

Financial Summary THESE CHARTS represent the National Museum of Natural History and the Museum Support Center’s pre-audit sources and uses of fiscal year 2006 funds, excluding centrally provided support such as security, maintenance, capital facility costs, human resources, accounting, legal services, contracting and business activities. Federal appropriations are the source of support for most ongoing efforts such as long-term research, collections management, exhibits maintenance and safety programs. Income from private gifts, grants and endowments supports some research projects and nearly half of the Museum’s public program activities, providing vital funds for special exhibitions and an ambitious schedule of exhibition renovation. Smithsonian business activities provide funds for short-term projects and some administrative support. Federal grants and contracts underwrite several research projects.

Unrestricted Revenue 3%

Federal Grants and Contracts 8%

Scientific Research, Collections and Outreach 76%

Gifts, Grants, and Endowment Income 10%

Federal Appropriations 79%*

Facilities Maintenance and Safety Programs 1%

Public Programs 12% Administration 11%

*Total includes expenditure of prior year obligations, transfers from other agencies, and centrally administered pool funds. Total FY 2006 appropriation for the National Museum of Natural History and the Museum Support Center is $45.0 million.

Federal appropriations

$48.1*

Facilities maintenance and safety programs

$0.7

Gifts, grants, and endowment income

$6.1

Administration

$6.4

Unrestricted revenue

$1.9

Public programs

$7.4

$4.6

Scientific research, collections and outreach

$46.2

Total

$60.7

Federal grants and contracts Total

USES OF FUNDS

SOURCES OF FUNDS

National Museum of Natural History • www.mnh.si.edu

$60.7

Board and Staff Members BOARD MEMBERS

Dr. Rita R. Colwell College Park, Maryland

Senator Patrick Leahy Washington, D.C.

Dr. Shirley Sherwood London, England

Sir Peter R. Crane Chicago, Illinois

Ambassador William H. Luers New York, New York

Secretary Lawrence Small* Washington, D.C.

Mr. Robin B. Martin Board Vice-Chair Washington, D.C.

Dr. David Dilcher (through September 2006) Gainesville, Florida

Dr. Emilio F. Moran Bloomington, Indiana

Ms. Paula Apsell Boston, Massachusetts

Dr. David Evans* Washington, D.C.

Mr. Marshall Turner (through May 2006) Round Rock, Texas * Ex-officio members

Dr. Paul B. Barton Reston, Virginia

Ms. Kathryn S. Fuller Washington, D.C.

Mr. Kenneth Behring Danville, California

Mr. Edward O. Gaylord (through September 2006) Houston, Texas

Mr. Roger W. Sant Board Chair Washington, D.C.

Dr. Peter Buck Danbury, Connecticut Mr. Michael J. Collins Coral Gables, Florida

Mr. David H. Koch New York, New York

Elizabeth Duggal Associate Director for External Affairs and Public Programs (from October 2006) Susan Fruchter Associate Director for Operations Dr. Hans-Dieter Sues Associate Director for Research and Collections

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor Washington, D.C. Dr. Jerold J. Principato Bethesda, Maryland Dr. Paul G. Risser Norman, Oklahoma Dr. Cristián Samper* Washington, D.C.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS EMERITUS MEMBERS Mr. I. Michael Heyman Berkley, California Mrs. Jean Lane Portola Valley, California Mr. Robert Malott Chicago, Illinois Jeffery Meyer San Mateo, California

SENIOR MANAGEMENT STAFF Dr. Cristián Samper Director

Dr. Yolanda T. Moses Riverside, California

Robert Sullivan Associate Director for Public Programs (through October 2006) Jerald Sachs Special Assistant to the Director for Business Development and Marketing (through September 2006) Ruth O. Selig Special Assistant to the Director

DEPARTMENT CHAIRS Dr. W. John Kress Botany (through September 2006)

The Museum wishes to recognize the passing of Elaine Hodges, Ellis Yochelson, Jim Luhr and Jeffery Meyer. Their contributions to Smithsonian science were immeasurable and their presence will be missed throughout the Museum community.

Dr. Ted Schultz Entomology

Dr. Rafael Lemaitre Invertebrate Zoology

Rena Selim Exhibits (from October 2006)

Dr. Glenn J. MacPherson Mineral Sciences

Dr. Richard Vari Vertebrate Zoology

Dr. Valerie Paul Director Smithsonian Marine Station

Dr. Warren Wagner Botany (from October 2006)

Dr. J. Daniel Rogers Anthropology

Dr. Scott L. Wing Paleobiology

This annual report was produced and published by the National Museum of Natural History’s Office of Public Affairs. EDITORS Randall Kremer Director of Public Affairs Michele Urie Senior Press Officer WRITING, DESIGN & PRODUCTION Creative Project Management, Inc. creativeprojectmgmt.com Cyndi Wood, President Erin Wetherald & Cyndi Wood, Writers Michael Molanphy, Designer PRINTING McArdle Printing Company

ANNUAL REPORT 2006

N AT I O N A L M U S E U M O F N AT U R A L H I S T O R Y

Looking Ahead TIFFANY & CO. FOUNDATION COLLECTION

Chip Clark

In April 2007, the Museum will unveil a new exhibition case for the display of gemstones purchased with the Tiffany & Co. Foundation Endowment. These and future acquisitions will comprise the Tiffany & Co. Foundation Collection and will become part of the Museum’s National Gem Collection.

KOREA GALLERY

OCEAN INITIATIVE

The Korea Gallery presents Korea’s millennia of history and its distinctive culture through ceramics, paintings, textiles and sculptures, ranging from the 6th century B.C. to the 21st century. Featuring cultural objects and artifacts from Smithsonian and other collections, this new permanent gallery will open in May 2007.

The Ocean Initiative is a multi-disciplinary project to raise public awareness of the ocean as a global system that is essential to all life on Earth. The focal point of the program will be a new Ocean Hall, featuring state-of-the-art displays, a deep ocean theater, a living coral reef model ecosystem and hundreds of specimens from the Museum’s unparalleled marine collections. The 27,000-square-foot exhibition hall will debut in September 2008.

BUTTERFLIES AND PLANTS: PARTNERS IN EVOLUTION

Under the leadership of Dr. Richard Potts, the Museum has launched the Human Origins Initiative, a multi-faceted program that investigates and explores the emergence of human beings. The centerpiece of the Initiative will be What Does it Mean to be Human?, an innovative new exhibition hall on human origins scheduled to open in 2009.

Chip Clark

In November 2007, the Museum will open a new exhibition that utilizes Smithsonian research to illustrate how butterflies, plants and other animals have evolved, adapted and diversified together over millions of years. Along with audio and visual presentations, visitors will be able to walk through a climate-controlled pavilion with living displays of tropical butterflies and plants.

HUMAN ORIGINS INITIATIVE

National Museum of Natural History • www.mnh.si.edu

Bill Fitz-Patrick

Special Events

THE MUSEUM’S unparalleled collections and monumental architecture provide an ideal setting for after-hours special events. Corporations and organizations making an unrestricted contribution to the Museum may co-sponsor a special event in celebration of their gift. Event guests can enjoy cocktails or dinner in the grand four-story Rotunda and take advantage of the Museum’s many exhibition halls, like the Kenneth E. Behring Family Hall of Mammals and the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals. www.nmnh.si.edu/specialevents

National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution 10th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20560-0135 www.mnh.si.edu

Inuit ceremonial mask of a seal blowing air bubbles