Smithsonian Science » Meet Our Scientists

Meet the Smithsonian’s poop sleuth

John Barrat — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 16:58:56 +0000

Ever wonder what it’s like to be an endocrinologist at the National Zoo? Meet Sarah Putman, endocrinologist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.

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Learning from the forest

John Barrat — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 16:00:53 +0000

Learning from the forest. Setting up a long-term forest research plot in a tropical dry forest in the heart of Panama City.

Click here for a Methodology Guide for the establishment of a forest research plot.

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Webcast w/ bird detective, Carla Dove

John Barrat — Thu, 27 Feb 2014 13:17:30 +0000

Carla Dove is an Ornithologist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. In this Feb. 12 Webcast join her in analyzing the remains of birds from airplane strikes and other events. See how she and her team use various types of evidence to identify the birds.

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Meet our scientist Meg Crofoot, primate researcher in Panama

John Barrat — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 06:58:20 +0000

Meet Meg Crofoot, a primate researcher on Barro Colorado Island at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. Meg studies intergroup competition in white‐faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus) by tracking them through radio telemetry collars and observing their behaviors.

Meg is a post‐doctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, as well as at the Tropical Research Institute, and also teaches in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University.

Click here to read more about Meg and her research.

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Joseph Henry: Champion of American Science

John Barrat — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 12:26:31 +0000

Joseph Henry was one of America’s preeminent 19th-century scientists, a pioneer in the investigation of electromagnetism and other fields of study, and the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. This video shows how Henry’s research found practical application in inventions like the telegraph and telephone, and how his passion for the increase of knowledge continues to bear fruit at today’s Smithsonian.

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Meet our Scientist Rachel Page. She studies frog-eating bats, and other animals, in Panama

John Barrat — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 18:33:40 +0000

Meet Rachel Page, a Smithsonian scientist in Panama who studies frog-eating bats (fringe-lipped bats), among other topics. Her current research focuses on learning and memory in neotropical bats, combining field studies with laboratory experiments to learn about predator cognition and its effects on the evolution of their prey.

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Meet Our Scientist: Justin Touchon, Frog Follower at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama

John Barrat — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 13:52:07 +0000

Meet Smithsonian scientist Justin Touchon, a National Science Foundation (NSF) postdoctoral researcher at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.

Justin's work focuses on developmental ecology and reproductive plasticity of the hourglass treefrog (Dendropsophus ebraccatus) and red-eyed treefrog (Agalychnis callidryas). Justin and his advisor, Karen Warkentin, were the first to have witnessed the frogs laying eggs in water, in addition to doing so on land -- something with major implications for the evolutionary biology of similar creatures.

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Meet Our Scientist: Matthew Carrano, curator of dinosauria at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History

John Barrat — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:34:17 +0000

Meet the Smithsonian's Matthew Carrano, curator of Dinosauria at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Matthew studies all things dinosaur, but focuses on the evolutionary history of predatory (meat eating) dinosaurs.

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Meet Our Scientist–Briana Pobiner, human origins researcher at the National Museum of Natural History

John Barrat — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 13:02:36 +0000

Digging up early human and animal remains from the field in Africa, performing examination and publishing research about her findings, then enticing and educating the public about the implications are all in a week's work for Briana Pobiner.

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Meet our Scientist–Mark Torchin tracks invasive marine species and their parasites in Panama

John Barrat — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 10:25:50 +0000

Mark Torchin, a marine ecologist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama, talks about how he studies the parasites of invasive marine animals such as snails. Much of his research focuses on biological invasions and the dynamics between the host, the parasites and the surrounding ecosystem.

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Community ecologist Sunshine Van Bael explains her work in Panama with leafcutting ants

John Barrat — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 15:42:48 +0000

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Meet our Scientist: Brian Gratwicke, Amphibian Avenger

John Barrat — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 18:00:03 +0000

Join National Zoo Conservation Biologist Brian Gratwicke in his work to save Panama's amphibians from extinction. You can also catch up on his dispatches from the field on the Panamanian Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project's blog: http://amphibianrescue.org/

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Coral “whisperer” Mike Henley of the National Zoo explains how he cares for the Zoo’s living coral

John Barrat — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 11:59:57 +0000

How do you recreate the ocean in a box? National Zoo Keeper Mike Henley talks about how he cares for the aquatic invertebrates in the Zoo's collection and how the National Zoo is also working to preserve them in their native habitats.

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Meet Our Scientist: Forensic ornithologist Carla Dove explains bird-strike science

John Barrat — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 15:55:11 +0000

When birds and planes collide: Carla Dove, a forensic ornithologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, talks about the work of the Smithsonian's Feather Identification Lab and its role in improving aviation safety.

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Meet Our Scientist–Helen James dives into dormant Hawaiian volcanoes to find bird fossils

John Barrat — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 13:13:22 +0000

Smithsonian Scientist Helen James dives into dormant Hawaiian volcanoes to find bird fossils. Her work to identify these species (some new species, some extinct) helps us learn about the past--specifically, how humans might have caused the extinction of certain bird species.

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