Kang Min, a Center for Tropical Forest Science research assistant, installs a dendrometer band on a tree. This particular forest plot, located in Singapore, is part of the Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatory, a project established by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, based in Panama.
Photo by Markku Larjavaara, Smithsonian Institution
Lynn Parenti, curator and research scientist in the Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Division of Fishes, National Museum of Natural History, stands among a small portion of the museum's four million fish specimens.
Photo by James Di Loreto, Smithsonian Institution
- How biologically diverse is the earth and how does this diversity change across geography and over time?
- What are the impacts of environmental change on the evolution and extinction of species?
Smithsonian scientists—including biologists, botanists, entomologists, and both vertebrate and invertebrate zoologists—are at the forefront of research in biodiversity, working to answer these and other important research questions. Their work encircles the globe: from Antarctica, where scientists study the feeding habits of Weddell Seals, to the United Kingdom, the location of a network of forests monitored by the Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatory project. Back at home, scientific staff members maintain the world's largest collection of biological specimens, which includes 30 million insects, 4.5 million pressed plants, and 7 million fish.
