Research News

Newsroom of the Smithsonian

The Smithsonian is one of the world’s foremost research centers in science, the arts, and the humanities. In addition to research pursued by the museums, our research centers specialize in areas of inquiry spanning the globe and the farthest reaches of the universe.

Small fish swimming near coral reef
Pete Oxford
23-193: Grunts and horse-eyed jacks

Grunts and horse-eye jack fish swim above a reef in Hol Chan Marine Reserve near Ambergris Cay, Belize. (Photo by Pete Oxford)

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Camels traversing Kenyan desert

Caravan of camels moving across the edge of the Chalbi Desert in Marsabit County, Kenya. (Photo by James Hassell, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute).

Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute and Kenyan Partners Awarded $5 Million Grant To Prevent Emerging Diseases in Northern Kenya
Five-Year Study of Three Animal-Borne Pathogens Aims To Enhance Local and Global Health Security
06.06.2023
National Zoo & SCBI Research News Administrative News
Susan Cook-Patton takes a selfie
Susan Cook-Patton
BiodiversiTREE: Susan Cook-Patton

Susan Cook-Patton, an ecologist with The Nature Conservancy, inside one of BiodiversiTREE’s natural regeneration plots. (Credit: Susan Cook-Patton)

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Rachel King poses with shovel
Kristen Goodhue / Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
BiodiversiTREE: Rachel King

Rachel King, lead author of a new study on forest restoration, prepares to extract a soil core in BiodiversiTREE. (Credit: Kristen Goodhue/Smithsonian Environmental Research Center)

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Jamie Pullen measures a tree trunk
Stephen Voss / Smithsonian
BiodiversiTREE: Jamie Pullen

Jamie Pullen, head technician of the Terrestrial Ecology Lab that runs BiodiversiTREE. (Credit: Stephen Voss/Smithsonian)

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Close-up of sycamore trees
Susan Cook-Patton
BiodiversiTREE: Sycamore monoculture

A single-species plot of sycamore trees at BiodiversiTREE. Plots with just one species were far more prone to “boom or bust” compared to more diverse forest plots in the experiment.

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Medium shot of forest with new growth
Susan Cook-Patton
BiodiversiTREE: Multi-species plot

A plot with 12 tree species in the forest restoration experiment BiodiversiTREE, planted at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. Now in its 10th year, BiodiversiTREE has revealed that more diverse forest restorations are less likely to suffer planting failures.

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Group shot of scientists in the field
Susan Cook-Patton
BiodiversiTREE: Inaugural Team

The team of scientists and interns who planted BiodiversiTREE in 2013, along with roughly 100 volunteers. From left: Susan Cook-Patton, Whitney Hoot, Caitlyn Cecil, Jess Shue, John Parker, Kim Holzer and Lada Klimesova. (Credit: Susan Cook-Patton)

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Scientists working on inaugural BiodiversiTREE project pose for group shot

The team of scientists and interns who planted BiodiversiTREE in 2013, along with roughly 100 volunteers. From left: Susan Cook-Patton, Whitney Hoot, Caitlyn Cecil, Jess Shue, John Parker, Kim Holzer and Lada Klimesova. (Credit: Susan Cook-Patton)

Tree Species Diversity Increases Likelihood of Planting Success
Researchers and Volunteers Planted 20,000 Tree Saplings in Reforestation Experiment; Ten Years Later, the Results Are In
05.23.2023
Environmental Research Center Research News
Exoplanet LP 791-18 d

LP 791-18 d, illustrated here, is an Earth-size world about 90 light-years away. The gravitational tug from a more massive planet in the system, shown as a blue disk in the background, may result in internal heating and volcanic eruptions—as much as Jupiter’s moon Io, the most geologically active body in the solar system. Astronomers discovered and studied the planet using data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite along with many other observatories.

Astronomers Find Potentially Volcano-Covered Earth-Size World
05.17.2023
Research News
Earth rising on the horizon of the moon

NASA

Study Presents New Clues About the Rise of Earth’s Continents
One Popular Explanation for Properties That Result in Dry Land Is Unlikely According to New Experiments
05.04.2023
Natural History Museum Research News
Microscopic slide showing garnet and glass
G. Macpherson and E. Cottrell, Smithsonian
The Rise of Continents: ExperimentRUTVP20

A microscope image from an experiment conducted for this study. The image contains glass (brown), large garnets (pink) and other small mineral crystals. The field of view is 410 microns wide, about size of a sugar crystal.

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Holycross maneuvers an X-ray beam onto garnet samples for analysis.
Elizabeth Cottrell, Smithsonian
The Rise of Continents: Megan Holycross-E2

Megan Holycross, formerly a Peter Buck Fellow and National Science Foundation Fellow at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and now an assistant profes

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Megan Holycross in the laboratory
Elizabeth Cottrell, Smithsonian
The Rise of Continents: Megan Holycross-E1

Megan Holycross, formerly a Peter Buck Fellow and National Science Foundation Fellow at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and now an assistant profes

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Megan Holycross in the laboratory
Elizabeth Cottrell, Smithsonian
The Rise of Continents: Megan Holycross

Megan Holycross, formerly a Peter Buck Fellow and National Science Foundation Fellow at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and now an assistant profes

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Elizabeth Cottrell loads an experiment in her lab at Natural History
Jennifer Renteria, Smithsonian
The Rise of Continents: Elizabeth Cottrell in the lab

Elizabeth Cottrell, research geologist and curator of rocks at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, loads an experiment in her lab at the museum.

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Earth rise photo of planet Earth on the horizon of the moon
NASA
The Rise of Continents: Earth Rise

Apollo 8 pilot Bill Anders took this iconic photo of Earth from lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 1968. Earth’s continents—unique in the solar system—are visible, rising above the ocean.

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Kirtland's Warbler

Research ecologist Nathan Cooper holds a radio-tagged Kirtland’s Warbler just before releasing it in The Bahamas. Credit: Tim Romano/Smithsonian

Night Flight: Tracking Data Reveal When and Why Songbirds Begin Their Massive Journeys and How They Decide To Leave
Most Birds Start Within a 69-Minute Window Just After Dusk
05.01.2023
Research News
Center for Environmental Justice at the Anacostia Community Museum
Smithsonian’s Center for Environmental Justice at the Anacostia Community Museum Launches on Earth Day
04.07.2023
Anacostia Community Museum Research News Public Programs
Close up of coral polyps underwater

A close-up ofextended polyps of an apparently healthy great star coral colony (Montastraea cavernosa) on a reef near Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The tentacles surrounding the mouth of each polyp help trap food particles for the coral to eat. The brown coloration is from the symbiotic microalgae (Symbiodiniaceae) that live in the coral tissues. Credit: Valerie Paul

Newly Discovered Probiotic Could Protect Caribbean Corals Threatened by Deadly, Devastating Disease
New Treatment Offers an Alternative to Antibiotic Treatment, Reducing Risk of Resistant Pathogenic Bacteria
04.06.2023
Natural History Museum Research News
Smithsonian logo
Unraveling a Microbial Mystery
Why Are Some Bacteria Making Environmental Mercury Even More Toxic?
04.04.2023
Environmental Research Center Research News
Smithsonian logo
Global Natural History Initiative Builds Groundbreaking Database To Address 21st-Century Challenges
Effort Connects More Than a Billion Objects in Scientific Collections Across 73 Museums in 28 Countries
03.23.2023
Natural History Museum Research News
Open book with dozens of painted silhouettes

Credit: Page spread from William Bache’s Silhouettes Album, black paper-coated silhouettes mounted on paper. Digitized by Mark Gulezian/NPG. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; partial gift of Sarah Bache Bloise

Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery Reveals Identities of Hundreds of People in Early 19th-Century Portrait Album
Portrait Gallery Research and Conservation Project Used Getty Grant To Create a Microsite Featuring 1,800 Paper Silhouettes From Political Elite to Everyday People
03.20.2023
Portrait Gallery Research News
Book cover with images of clothing and musical instruments and text "Musical Crossroads"
National Museum of African American History and Culture Releases New Book on Black Music and Its Global Impact
Objects and Essays Explore 400 Years of Musical Culture
03.01.2023
African American Museum Research News

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