Research News

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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.

Gray and red bird
Carlos Muñoz Brenes
Biodiversity: Slaty-Tailed Trogon

Slaty-tailed trogon (Trogon massena), a bird common in tropical forests and coffee plantations of Central America.

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Yellow frog on green grass

Hourglass treefrog (Dendropsophus ebraccatus). Amphibians, which face some of the steepest declines worldwide, saw some of the biggest benefits to living in protected lands. (Credit: Justin Nowakowski)

Protecting Lands Slows Biodiversity Loss Among Vertebrates by Five Times
Effective Government Key To Ensuring Protected Areas Safeguard Biodiversity
09.27.2023
Environmental Research Center Research News
Elkhorn Coral

Roshan Patel/Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

New Technique Could Facilitate Rapid Cryopreservation of All Coral Species
Successfully Cooling and Thawing Coral Fragments Key to Global Conservation Milestone for Vanishing Coral Reefs
08.23.2023
National Zoo & SCBI Research News
Still life photo of various clams and other bivalves spilling from a bushel basket

Human-harvested shellfish from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History research collections. (Credit: Brittany M. Hance and James D. Tiller, Smithsonian)

More Than 800 Human-Harvested Shellfish Species Tend To Be More Resistant to Extinction
Researchers Caution That Harvests Must Be Sustainably Managed To Preserve Populations for Future Generations
08.15.2023
Natural History Museum Research News
Smithsonian sunburst
Analysis Reveals Ancestry, Possible Descendants of Enslaved and Free African Americans
Scientists Analyzed DNA From an African American Burial Ground Located at a Historic Maryland Ironworks
08.03.2023
Natural History Museum Research News
Base of large tree on Barro Colorado Island
Steve Paton
23-216 Bezos Earth Fund: Large tree base

One of the largest trees on Barro Colorado Island in Panama. Tropical forests pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere where it causes global warming and store it as wood. But the amount of carbon stored varies depending on tree species, age, climate conditions and other factors.

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Huge tree on Barro Colorado Island

One of the largest trees on Barro Colorado Island in Panama. Tropical forests pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere where it causes global warming and store it as wood. But the amount of carbon stored varies depending on tree species, age, climate conditions and other factors. Verifiable estimates of carbon stored in forests are necessary to calculate carbon credits. (Photo by Steve Paton)

Bezos Earth Fund Grants $12 Million to Smithsonian To Support Major Forest Carbon Project
07.06.2023
Tropical Research Institute Research News
Looking up the trunk of a large tree toward the canopy
Steve Paton
23-216 Bezos Earth Fund: Big tree canopy

One of the largest trees on Barro Colorado Island in Panama. Tropical forests pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere where it causes global warming and store it as wood. But the amount of carbon stored varies depending on tree species, age, climate conditions and other factors.

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Buttress of large tree seen from the ground
Steve Paton
23-215 Bezos Earth Fund: Tree Buttress

One of the largest trees on Barro Colorado Island in Panama. Tropical forests pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere where it causes global warming and store it as wood. But the amount of carbon stored varies depending on tree species, age, climate conditions and other factors.

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Worker in green T-shirt measures circumference of tree trunk
Steve Paton
23-216 Bezos Earth Fund: Measuring 1

The GEO-TREES project will provide highly accurate estimates of the carbon stored by different forests around the globe based on on-the-ground tree measurements, with terrestrial and aerial laser scans (LiDAR).

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Worker seen in profile measuring trunk of large tree
Jorge Aleman, STRI
23-216 Bezos Earth Fund: Measuring 2

The GEO-TREES project will provide highly accurate estimates of the carbon stored by different forests around the globe based on on-the-ground tree measurements, with terrestrial and aerial laser scans (LiDAR).

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Chinese students examine data in fores
ForestGEO Network
23-216 Bezos Earth Fund: ForestGEO Workshop China

The Bezos Earth Fund made a $12 million dollar grant to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, where the ForestGEO network has been tracking individual trees for the past 40 years to understand tropical forest dynamics.

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Black woman dressed in purple takes measurements with crew of associates inbackground
ForestGEO Network
23-216 Bezos Earth Fund: Iveren and Crew

The Bezos Earth Fund made a $12 million dollar grant to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, where the ForestGEO network has been tracking individual trees for the past 40 years to understand tropical forest dynamics.

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Cristian Samper and Secretary Lonnie Bunch at reception announcing Bezos Gift
Smithsonian Institution
23-216 Bezos Earth Fund: Samper and Bunch

Cristián Samper (left), managing director and leader for nature solutions at the Bezos Earth Fund, announced a $12 million dollar grant to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute at the opening of an exhibition at the National Museum of Natural History to celebrate 100 years of tropical fores

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23-216 Bezos Earth Fund: VIDEO
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Diverse group, including woman in headscarf, examine trees
ForestGEO Network
23-216 Bezos Earth Fund: ForestGEO Workshop BCI

The Bezos Earth Fund made a $12 million dollar grant to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, where the ForestGEO network has been tracking individual trees for the past 40 years to understand tropical forest dynamics.

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Fossil human bones showing cut marks
Jennifer Clark
23-199A Figure 1

View of the hominin tibia and magnified area that shows cut marks. Scale = 4 cm.

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Close-up of cut marks on fossil tibia
Jennifer Clark
23-199B Figure 4

Nine marks identified as cut marks (mark numbers 1–4 and 7–11) and two identified as tooth marks (mark numbers 5 and 6) based on

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3D model of fossil tibia
Michael Pante
23-199C Figure 2

3D model of marks 7 and 8 identified as cut marks. (Image courtesy Michael Pante)

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Three bones showing cut marks from stone tools

Briana Pobiner

Humans’ Evolutionary Relatives Butchered One Another 1.45 Million Years Ago
Cut Marks on a Fossil Leg Bone Belonging to a Relative of Modern Humans Were Made by Stone Tools and Could Be Evidence of Cannibalism
06.26.2023
Natural History Museum Research News
Composite photo showing cut marks on 3 different bones
Brian Pobiner
23-199D Figure 6

Close-up photos of three fossil animal specimens from the same area and time horizon as the fossil hominin tibia studied by the research team. These fossils show similar cut marks to those found on the hominin tibia studied.

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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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Fisherman casts seine net from small boat
Credit: Luciano Candisani
23-193 Honduran fisher

A small-scale fisher throws a net over Rock Cay in Utila, Honduras. (Credit: Luciano Candisani)

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Fisherman casting seine net

Credit: Luciano Candisani

Marine Protected Areas Improve Health, Wealth of Nearby Communities
New Smithsonian-Led Study Shows Protecting Marine Life Can Support Multiple U.N. Sustainable Development Goals in Mesoamerican Reef
06.22.2023
Environmental Research Center Research News

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