Invertebrate Zoology - Visiting Scientists

The Department of Invertebrate Zoology is located in the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) at 10th and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20560. The NMNH is open to the public from 10:00a.m.- 5:30 p.m. every day except December 25. The Museum is open later during the summer. Employee core hours are 8:45a.m. - 5:15p.m.; visiting researchers can establish hours that are earlier and/or later than core office hours by special request. Much visitor information is located at the VIARC Website.

By advance arrangements with one of the Department's research scientists or staff, the research collections of Invertebrate Zoology are accessible Monday-Friday during the workday to qualified researchers and/or their students. Access may also be granted to volunteer workers, responsible members of natural history organizations and private citizens with a demonstrable academic interest in our collections, but usually not to the general public. A research scientist, or member of the collections management staff will accompany anyone unfamiliar with the collections and specimen handling procedures, or who is personally unknown to divisional personnel. Access to the collections may be denied because of concern for the safety of the collections or due to lack of staff to assist visitors.

Visiting scientists should plan their stays well in advance to take into account allocation of space and resources by the Department, processing of forms for identification credentials, library access, stipends, and electronic mail. You should contact Invertebrate Zoology staff well in advance of any anticipated visit to ensure that appropriate scientific staff will be available during your visit and that adequate laboratory space and equipment are available. You should also make arrangements to have your sponsor meet you to escort you to the Section which is a non-public area.

Banking	Museum Shop
Collections	Security
Dining Rooms	Seminars
Housing	Transportation

Due to the large number of visitors and limitations of space and staff, advance arrangements are mandatory. You should contact Invertebrate Zoology staff well in advance of any anticipated visit to ensure that appropriate scientific staff will be available during your visit and that adequate laboratory space and equipment are available.
Museum security procedures require that you have a picture ID available (not passport) for admission to the non-public areas of the museum. For extended visits of more than 1 week, it may be possible to arrange for a visiting scientist ID badge.
Collections are open for use Monday-Friday during normal business hours.
All specimens brought into the Museum are subject to international wildlife import and export laws. International visitors are responsible for obtaining any necessary export permits from their home country. Please contact us well in advance if you are planning to bring corals or other CITES regulated specimens to the Museum. You are also responsible for completing and filing the FWS (Fish and Wildlife Service) Form 3-177 (PDF file) to declare your specimen imports and/or exports.
Average quality compound and dissecting microscopes, and basic tools such as forceps, needles, mounting trays, are provided for visitor use. Use of histology lab, SEM, TEM, darkroom and other specialized facilities are by advance arrangement only. Visitors should be prepared to provide their own supplies.
PCs are available on a limited basis for word processing (Word Perfect), email and internet (Netscape) access.
Charges apply to the use of copiers and color printers.

Banking: Visitors receiving stipend or fee checks from the Smithsonian can make special arrangements to cash them locally. A Chevy Chase Bank ATM is located near Constitution Avenue inside the NMNH.

Collections: Visitors who wish to work with the collections should make arrangements with the curatorial staff one to three months in advance of the proposed arrival date. Specify the purpose and anticipated duration of the visit. Special permission is required to work after hours (after 5 pm) or weekends. Individuals interested in examining material stored at the Museum Support Center in Maryland (MSC) must specify this need when initially contacting the department. Also specify any special considerations such as equipment you may need to use (SEM, microscopes etc). Bring your own equipment if possible (e.g. microscope, computer, camera). Desk space, lamps, dissecting tools, photo stands, and a limited number of compound and dissecting microscope are usually available, but not guaranteed. Photocopiers are available. There is a $0.10 (US) charge per page for copies.

Dining Rooms: Most Smithsonian buildings offer public dining facilities and areas for staff to eat, usually at a reduced price.

Housing: Long-term visitors can find a directory of dormitories, residential rentals, and house-share opportunities through the Office of Research Training and Services and the NMNH Research Training Program.

Museum Shop: Your identification credential entitles you to a 20% discount on purchases.

Security: You will be required to have a security credential for admission to the non-public areas of the museum. The Department Chair’s office can provide you with completed forms and the location of the issuing office.

Seminars: The Department operates a seminar series and invites visiting scientists to give a lecture while at the NMNH. Visitors may wish to bring slides and other materials from their home institution to illustrate a talk. Contact the Department Chair for scheduling.

Transportation: The NMNH is easily reached using the METRO subway and bus system. Public parking for cars is limited on the surrounding streets; some parking garages are located within walking distance. The Smithsonian operates a van shuttle service for staff and associates during office hours between buildings.

Copying	Parking
Incoming Mail and Faxing	Supplies
Postage, Correspondence, and Shipping	Telephone Calls

Copying Materials: Visitors may use Departmental copying machines for $.10 per copy. The NMNH Director’s Office copier should be used for items larger than 30 pages. Pre- and post-docs and resident research associates copying research-related materials are not required to pay a per-copy fee.

Incoming Mail and Faxing: Visitor mail is delivered to the VISITOR mail slot in W-112 (Crustacea), W-209 (Worms), W-310A (Mollusks), outside W-325 (Echinoderms, Lower Invertebrates). Faxes are delivered to mail slots or hand-delivered to you. A fax machine is located in the Department Chairs’s office. Please use for local calls only unless arrangements have been made with the Department Administrative Officer.

Postage, Correspondence, and Shipping: NMNH Mail Services will accept correspondence from visitors who provide their own postage for private letters and packages. Express mail services are not available. The NMNH is located near a main branch of the U.S. Postal Service at 12^th and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. and for letters and parcels under 1 pound the Post Office at the National Museum of American History at 14^th and Constitution Avenue, N.W. is convenient.

Parking: Parking for visitors is generally not available in the Smithsonian parking lots. Visitors should make arrangements to use public transportation or car-pools.

Supplies: Visitors are responsible for buying their own supplies, such as film and other materials Other supplies may be available depending on what is needed. Ask your sponsor what is available.

Telephone Calls: Visitors may use the telephones for local calls relating to official business. Pay telephones are located in public parts of the building.

Computers	POS Machine
Light Microscopes	RMC and TM-2 Ulramicrotomes

Computers: Computers (but not necessarily Internet connections) may be available in Visitor areas for Visitor use (the software available may vary from computer to computer).

Light Microscopes: A limited number of microscopes are available for use by Visitors on a first-come-first-serve basis. Because microscopes cannot be guaranteed to be available, Visitors should make very effort to bring their own with them.

POS Machine: Visitors are expected to obtain permission from their sponsoring curator, schedule use through the Departmental Illustrator, and must pay the Departmnetal Illustrator or Department Chair's Office according to the schedule posted in the Illustration Lab.

RMC and TM-2 Ultramicrotomes: These are available for use by qualified visitors. You must provide your own knife and other sectioning supplies.

Darkroom	Libraries
Decapod and Stomatopod Lab	Museum Support Center
Histology Lab	SEM Facilities
Imaging Lab	TEM Facilities

Darkroom: Visitors may use the Departmental darkroom, the enlarger, the developing tanks, and trays. They must, however, provide their own film, paper, and chemicals, and see that the room and equipment are cleaned and left in good condition.

To schedule use of the darkroom, see Duane Hope or Abbie Yorkoff in the Worm Unit.

Decapod and Stomatopod Lab: This lab is located near the collections of Crustacea, and is used primarily by visiting scholars or fellows. The lab contains stereoscopes, microscopes, computer equipment, brachyuran picture files compiled by M.J. Rathbun and W.L. Schmitt, many notes and files, books, and an extensive, specialized reprint collection left by the late R.B. Manning. Working visits can be arranged by contacting Rafael Lemaitre.

Histology Lab: A fully equipped histology lab is available. In addition to warming trays and rotary microtomes, an automatic tissue processor and embedding center are available for use. Visitors are welcome to use the lab but are expected to provide all of their own expendable supplies. Advance arrangement must be made through the technician in charge of the lab.

Imaging Lab: Located on the second floor, this lab offers state of the art computer hardware, software including scanners, slide scanners, and color printers.

Libraries, NMNH and the Unit Branch Libraries: Visitors may use the Unit Libraries, but must check out all books in accordance with Unit policy and practices. Visitors must fill out Natural History Branch library form for books.

Interlibrary loans and bibliographic searches, both services of the NMNH Natural History Library, are not available to visitors (excluding pre- and post-docs and research associates), who should make such arrangements through their parent organizations.

Museum Support Center (Suitland, Maryland): A large block of the Invertebrate collections are stored at our state of the art, climate controlled storage facility. For more info about the Museum Support Center.

SEM Facilities: Limited non-staff use by lottery only. You must prepare your own material but you may be allowed to use the Department’s critical point dryer. Depending on the budget and the scope of your project, you may be required to provide your own Polaroid and sheet film.

TEM Facilities: A JEOL-1200 TEM is available for use by qualified visiting investigators after an in-house orientation. You must provide your own supplies (all fixation, preparation and staining chemicals, grids, sectioning supplies), TEM film and chemicals for the Arkay developing system.

Visiting scientists should work closely with their sponsor to achieve the goals of their visit. The following staff will also provide support in the areas noted.

Chairman’s Office, Room W102

Rafael Lemaitre
Department Chair

Marty Joynt
Administrative Officer
Authorizing faxes

Dorothy Caesar
Program Assistant
Identification Credentials
Visitor Data

Other Key Staff for Visitors

Cheryl Bright
Collections Manager
Accession and Loan

Elizabeth Nelson
Museum Specialist
Coordinator for No Bones Newsletter

Molly Ryan
Department Illustrator
Use of POS

Linda Ward
Museum Specialist
Database Manager