Jan

Save the date!

Smithsonian Consortia: Challenging Smithsonian Research Paradigms

The Smithsonian Congress of Scholars Annual Symposium will be held Friday, Jan. 28 from 10:00 a.m. to noon (come early for coffee and muffins!) in the Baird Auditorium at the National History Museum.

Please save the date for an upcoming symposium on the Smithsonian’s Consortia and the inaugural Grand Challenges Awards program. The symposium will be introduced by Secretary G. Wayne Clough, and speakers will include Consortia Directors and several Principal Investigators whose proposals were successfully funded during the first round of applications for Consortia Awards. Participants will reflect on progress of the Consortia, discuss experiences with the application process, and talk about the role of the Consortia in Smithsonian scholarship. Presentations will be followed by an open discussion forum with the Consortia Directors. A detailed schedule will be sent during the week of the event.

From left, Christine Forman, Michelle Delany, Secretary Wayne Clough, Robert Leopold and John Kress (Photo by Amanda Lucidon)

Smithsonian Consortia Directors

Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe – Christine Jones Forman

Christine is Senior Astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (SAO). Her research focuses on the structure and growth of clusters of galaxies and feedback from supermassive black holes in galaxies and clusters. She is the Group Leader for Chandra calibration, Vice President of the American Astronomical Society and President of Division XI for the International Astronomical Union. For the past 17 years, Christine has been Principal Investigator for the SAO Research Experiences for Undergraduates that brings 10 undergraduates to the observatory for 10 weeks of research each summer.

Understanding the American Experience – Michelle Anne Delaney

Michelle is Curator of the Photographic History Collection in the Division of Culture and the Arts at the National Museum of American History. Her research interests focus on American visual culture, early Daguerreian-era photography, art photography and pictorialism, Eadweard Muybridge’s locomotion studies, contemporary photojournalism and Washington, D.C. photography. Her most recent exhibition project, “The Scurlock Studio and Black Washington: Picturing the Promise,” was her first collaboration with the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Valuing World Cultures – Robert Leopold

Robert is Senior Program Officer for History, Art and Culture and former director of the National Anthropological Archives and the Human Studies Film Archives at the National Museum of Natural History. He has a special interest in how scholars and source communities negotiate access to culturally sensitive materials in libraries, archives and museums. At George Washington University Robert teaches Digital Imaging for Museums: Policy and Practice, a course that builds on his experience managing imaging programs and creating online exhibits that support scholarly research and promote the repatriation of knowledge to source communities.

Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet – W. John Kress

John is Curator of Botany and Research Scientist at the National Museum of Natural History. He is an expert on tropical biology in the broad sense, with interests in the evolution and ecology of tropical plants and animals. By teaming up with geneticists and computer scientists, he has devoted some of his research effort to applying new technologies – such as DNA barcoding and computerized image recognition – to increase our understanding of the diversity of plants.