The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History is the most visited natural history museum in the world and the most visited museum in the Smithsonian complex. (There were more than 7 million visits to the museum in 2007.) Opened in 1910, the museum on the National Mall is dedicated to maintaining and preserving the world's most extensive collection of natural history specimens and human artifacts. It also fosters significant scientific research, as well as educational programs and exhibitions that present the work of its scientists to the public. Cristián Samper is the museum's director.

Research, Staff and Budget
The museum is home to scientific staff and research associates who conduct expeditions and studies worldwide that contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge. This work enhances everyday life in ways that yield benefits to society, including the development of medicines, improvement of the world's food supply, management and preservation of important species and habitats, and the identification of invasive species.

The museum has approximately 450 full-time employees and an annual budget of $67 million (fiscal year 2008). Staff includes Smithsonian scientists; collaborating research associates and fellows; and a professional team of educators, exhibition developers, designers, information specialists, building managers, administrators, security personnel and support staff.

The scientific staff is organized in seven departments: anthropology, botany, entomology, mineral sciences, invertebrate zoology, paleobiology and vertebrate zoology. Interdisciplinary research programs bring together scientists from the museum's departments and research institutions throughout the world. These programs address topics of current importance to society, such as biological diversity, global climate change, molecular systematics for enhancing the understanding of the relationship between living things, ecosystem modeling, and the documentation and preservation of human cultural heritages.

A number of affiliated U.S. government agencies contribute to the museum's strength as a research center. These include the Department of Interior (Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Geological Survey), Department of Agriculture (Systematic Entomology Laboratory), Department of Commerce (National Marine Fisheries Service Systematics Laboratory), NOAA and the Department of Defense.

Collections
The museum is the steward of the world's largest assemblage of natural history items, with more than 126 million objects and specimens in its collections. The Smithsonian's Museum Support Center in Suitland, Md., provides state-of-the-art conditions for storage and conservation of collections, as well as a library and advanced research facilities.

The museum provides off-site access to the physical collections through one of the most active museum loan and exchange programs in the world. The Web site (www.mnh.si.edu) provides public electronic access to departmental databases, as well as to online exhibitions and up-to-date information about museum programs.

Permanent Exhibitions
Permanent exhibitions display some of the best-known museum objects in the world. The Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals showcases the Hope Diamond and other treasures of the National Gem Collection. It also encompasses re-created mines and galleries that present important research in mineral chemistry and physics; plate tectonics, seismology and the study of volcanoes; and planetary science.

"Butterflies + Plants: Partners in Evolution," a new permanent exhibition, innovatively combines traditional and experiential learning to provide visitors a rare, up-close look at how butterflies and plants have evolved and diversified together for millions of years. Designed by Smithsonian scientists, "Butterflies + Plants" provides two distinct offerings: the Exhibition Hall and Live Butterfly Pavilion.

The African Voices Hall presents the people, cultures and the history of the African continent through photographs, videos and more than 400 objects from the museum's collection.

Featured in the Dinosaur Hall are a newly remounted Triceratops, the giant Diplodocus and the FossiLab, a glass-enclosed lab that allows visitors to watch the museum paleontologists and trained volunteers extract fossils from rock and construct fossil casts and molds.

The O. Orkin Insect Zoo offers visitors a variety of exhibits and live insects—as well as daily tarantula feedings—and plenty of hands-on activities.

Among the other permanent exhibitions are:

• Life in the Ancient Seas


• Fossil Mammals and Ice Age


• Origins of Western Culture


• Osteology


• Kenneth E. Behring Family Hall of Mammals


• Butterfly Habitat (outdoor seasonal exhibit)

Education
The museum is dedicated to bringing definitive scientific content to audiences across the United States through electronic field trips, video conferences and hands-on learning activities for school groups and the public. Innovative facilities pioneered by the museum include the Discovery Room, where visitors are able to examine objects up close; and the Naturalist Center, a resource and reference center in Loudoun County, Virginia, where visitors have access to natural history specimens and reference books. The museum also presents free programs, including films and lectures. The National Museum of Natural History, located at 10th Street and Constitution Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C., is open every day from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission is free. For information, visit the museum's Web site at www.mnh.si.edu or call Smithsonian information at (202) 633-1000.

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