Sep
14

Climate change, civil rights and Cleopatra’s barge: the 2016 Secretary’s Research Awards

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Group shot on stage at MAH's Warner Theater

The recipients of Smithsonian Congress of Scholars 2016 Secretary’s Research Prizes. (Photo by Richard Strauss)

Each year, the Secretary’s Research Prizes are awarded to recognize excellence in recent research by Smithsonian staff. The 2016 prizes were presented in September to:

  • Kathleen Ash-Milby and David Penney of the National Museum of the American Indian for their co-edited exhibition catalog Kay WalkingStick/An American Artist
  • Stephen Cairns of the National Museum of Natural History for his article “Stylasteridae (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa: Anthoathecata) of the New Caledonian region” published in Mémoires du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle
  • Lee Glazer of the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery for her exhibition without a published catalog “Peacock Room Remix: Darren Waterston’s Filthy Lucre”
  • Jefferson Hall of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute for his edited volume Managing Watersheds for Ecosystem Services in the Steepland Neotropics
  • Douglas Herman of the National Museum of the American Indian for his article “Traditional Knowledge in a Time of Crisis: Climate Change, Culture and Communication” published in Sustainability Science
  • Carlos Jaramillo of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute for his co-authored article “Middle Miocene Closure of the Central American Seaway” published in Science
  • Paul F. Johnston of the National Museum of American History for his book Shipwrecked in Paradise: Cleopatra’s Barge in Hawai‘i
  • Ramiro Matos and José Barreiro of the National Museum of the American Indian for their co-edited book The Great Inka Road: Engineering an Empire
  • Daniel Piazza and Mr. Calvin Mitchell of the National Postal Museum for their exhibit and catalog, Freedom Just Around the Corner: Black America from Civil War to Civil Rights
  • James Ulak of the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery for his exhibition catalog Sōtatsu

The Sept. 14 presentation was followed by the third annual Bruce “Will” Morrison Memorial Lecture. This year’s lecture, “Indigenous Ice Dictionaries: Sustaining Endangered Knowledge About Our Changing World,” was given by National Museum of Natural History curator Igor Krupnik.

The prizes include a $2,000 award to be added to the prize winner’s research account. The work submitted by the recipients of the Secretary’s Research Prizes underwent peer review and the finalists were recommended by a committee representing research areas across the spectrum of Smithsonian scholarship.


Posted: 14 September 2016
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