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Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
a school of fish

Ocean Science Center

Utilizing NMNH’s broad marine research expertise to expand our understanding of the ocean and contribute to building knowledge, tools, and pathways to conserve it.

NMNH has a long history of conducting ocean-related scientific research that has helped form the foundation of global ocean knowledge. With currently more than 70 ocean researchers spanning the departments of Anthropology, Botany, Invertebrate Zoology, Mineral Sciences, Paleobiology, Vertebrate Zoology, and the Marine Station at Ft. Pierce, FL, our work contributes information needed for sustainable management and conservation of marine resources. NMNH ocean science covers a breadth of natural-science disciplines, including biodiversity, systematics, evolution, ecology, natural-products chemistry, paleobiology, geology and geobiology, maritime archaeology, ethnology, and biological anthropology. Much of this work is anchored in our superb and constantly expanding marine collections comprising more than 35 million objects that provide an unparalleled record of the ocean from deep time to the present. Our ocean portfolio also includes major research, education, exhibit, and outreach initiatives, state-of-the-art research equipment, and two research field stations.

To maximize our impact, NMNH has established the Ocean Science Center (OSC), a thematic umbrella for consolidating and synthesizing NMNH’s marine research expertise. Dr. Carole Baldwin (NMNH Research Zoologist and Curator of Fishes) is currently directing the OSC, serving as the Interim Sant Ocean Chair while the museum seeks a permanent Chair for this endowed position. Dr. Baldwin is supported by a steering committee comprising Dr. Rebecca Johnson (NMNH CW Whitney Associate Director for Science/Chief Scientist), Dr. Valerie Paul (Director, NMNH Smithsonian Marine Station at Ft. Pierce, FL), and Dr. Ellen Strong (NMNH Research Zoologist and Curator of Mollusks). Administrative and research support is currently provided by NMNH contractor Ai Nonaka. The OSC will synthesize ongoing NMNH ocean research efforts and foster collaboration among our scientific, communications, exhibits, and educational assets. The Sant Chair will help set a long-term strategic vision for ocean science at the museum that emphasizes our strengths and focuses on our unique capabilities. The Sant Chair and relevant leaders of OSC research programs are representing NMNH on SI, national, and international initiatives, interagency working groups, and partnerships in ocean science.

The OSC aims to identify NMNH ocean-research strengths as they relate to current ocean issues, including highlighting the broader significance of our foundational collections- and field-based science, and develop communication strategies to ensure that our most impactful work reaches target audiences.    

Ocean Scientists 

NMNH currently has more than 70 resident researchers (permanent, retired, and affiliated-agency staff, postdoctoral and graduate fellows, and contractors) engaged in collections- and/or field-based ocean science. These scientists reside in our Anthropology, Botany, Invertebrate Zoology, Mineral Sciences, Paleobiology, and Vertebrate Zoology departments as well as our Marine Station at Ft. Pierce, FL. Additionally, the museum annually hosts numerous visiting researchers from around the globe who come to NMNH to incorporate study of our marine collections into their research projects.   

Marine Collections 

The OSC portfolio includes our incomparable marine collections that comprise more than 35 million specimens or objects. Every department at NMNH builds and cares for our collections, which provide an unparalleled record of the ocean from deep to recent time. Our biology collections are often referred to as “Libraries of Life.” 

Education & Outreach  

Diffusion of knowledge is half of the Smithsonian Institution’s Increase & Diffusion of Knowledge mission. At NMNH, we are fortunate that our research organization is part of a public museum (Washington, DC) and a public marine-ecosystems aquarium (Ft. Pierce, FL). We have talented exhibits, communications, education, and outreach professionals who help distribute natural-history knowledge, including NMNH ocean science. 

Internships & Fellowships 

NMNH is dedicated to training the next generations of ocean scientists through our various academic opportunities, which are summarized here: Academic Opportunities NMNH. Some of the fellowships and internships available to students interested in ocean science are highlighted below.  

Fellowships 

Internships 

Field Stations 

In addition to our museum on the Capitol mall in Washington, DC, and our Museum Support Center in Suitland, MD, that houses many of our marine collections, NMNH has lab and field facilities from the tropics to the Arctic.  

Partners 

NMNH enjoys major partnerships with several institutions that allow us to leverage existing assets and combine expertise to better tackle current questions in ocean science. Currently these include the following: 

June 2024 Scientific Publications

  • The Marine Benthic Algal Flora of Puerto Rico, II. Chlorophyta and Prasinodermatophyta
    • David Ballentine (DOI)
  • Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis) Mitochondrial Genomes from Senegal Reveal Geographic Structure Across the North Atlantic but Provide no Support for Global Long‐beaked Clade
    • Michael McGowen (DOI)
  •  Sea anemone (Anthozoa, Actiniaria) diversity in Mo’orea (French Polynesia)
    • by Andrea Quattrini (DOI)
  • Nomenclature of the larger toothed whales (Odontocetes)
    • James Mead (DOI)
  • Functional differences between the extraordinary eyes of deep-sea hyperiid amphipods
    • Karen Osborn (DOI)
  • Natural products from Caribbean octocorals demonstrate bioactivity against Vibrio coralliilyticus strains
    • Valerie Paul (DOI)
  •  Skimming genomes for systematics and DNA barcodes of corals
    • Andrea Quattrini (DOI)
  • Corrigendum to “Systematics of deepsea starfish order Brisingida (Echinodermata: Asteroidea), with a revised classification and assessments of morphological characters
    • Christopher Mah (DOI)
  • Modeling the larval dispersal and connectivity of Red Snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) in the Northern Gulf of Mexico
    • Adela Roa-Varón (DOI)

Research Gallery

a boat on the water
The R/V Sunburst was launched in 2024 and is a vital tool to support researchers studying the Indian River Lagoon system in Florida.
Five scuba divers swim just above an ocean floor carrying various scientific instruments
Scientists dive to the seafloor to deploy ARMS, Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures.
a submarine with people in it views a red lionfish
To study invasive lionfish that live below depths accessible by Scuba divers, Smithsonian scientists spear them using the Curasub submersible at depths down to 800 ft. Photo by Barry Brown, Curacao, southern Caribbean. 
a scuba diver sets a milkcrate experiment on the bottom of the seafloor
Retrieving Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) on a shallow coral reef at Curacao, southern Caribbean.
a diver takes a photo of a white brain coral
Smithsonian researcher and scientific diver, Scott Jones, photographs a Madracis auretrenracoral on the reef near Carrie Bow Cay, Belize as part of the annual surveys near the Caribbean Coral Reefs Ecosystems (CCRE) research station.
corals spawning at night
A colony of elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) releases bundles of sperm and eggs, gametes, on the reefs near Carrie Bow Cay. On only one night per year, all of the colonies of these corals simultaneously release gametes into the water column.
A scientist is looking at an image from a microscope.
Matt Girard examines a specimen of a Redbait under the microscope at NMNH. This specimen represents a new species that was collected in a fish market in the Philippines and described by Girard and colleagues in 2024. Image by Katherine E. Bemis (NOAA).
freshly caught fishes
Fishes caught on a bottom trawl survey in the Atlantic Ocean. Tissue samples of the specimens were taken to develop DNA reference libraries, and the rest of each specimen was preserved as a voucher and cataloged in the NMNH fish collection. Image by Katherine E. Bemis (NOAA).
Scientists hold fresh fishes on the boat.
Matt Girard, Leo MacLeod, and Kate Bemis aboard the NOAA Ship H. B. Bigelow with Gag Grouper and Red Snapper collected during a fisheries survey off the US east coast. The specimens are now part of the NMNH Fish Collection, highlighting a strong partnership between NOAA and NMNH. Image by Sabrina Dahl (NOAA).
Excavation of a Basque whaling site
Excavation of a Basque whaling site at St. Paul River on the Quebec Lower North Shore, west of Newfoundland, revealed the operation of a small-scale whaling station for blubber rendering. Full of discarded baleen, the site dates to the early 16th century, before baleen became a valuable commodity in Europe.
A scientist with the core table onboard the JOIDES Resolution.
Brian Huber with the core table onboard the JOIDES Resolution, soon after an “organic-rich black shale” core was drilled from 94 million years ago when enormous undersea volcanic eruptions released vast amounts of CO2, which caused ocean acidification and an increase to the warmest global temperatures during the past 450 million years.
Fish specimens in jars on the shelves
NMNH houses more than 35 million marine objects in its collections, including over 6 million preserved specimens in the fish collection, the largest of its kind in the world. It is estimated that over two-thirds of the world’s known fish diversity is represented in this collection.
A photo of a live juvenile Oceanic Two-wing Flyingfish (Exocoetus obtusirostris)
This photo of a juvenile Oceanic Two-wing Flyingfish (Exocoetus obtusirostris) was taken by a blackwater diver who collected the specimen for research purposes. The specimen was sent to scientists at NMNH for study and identification through DNA barcoding. Photo by Rich Collins
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Featured Content

Brittle Star Splits

Aquarists watched as one of their deep-water basket sea stars split its body in two, and then, surprisingly, each half proceeded to regrow into a fully functioning basket star—a first for this particular species.
a brittle star splits

Staff

Carole Baldwin: Chair of Vertebrate Zoology, Research Zoologist and Curator of Fishes New World Shorefishes
Carole Baldwin

Interim Sant Ocean Chair, Research Zoologist and Curator

Fishes

Ai Nonaka, Research Associate
Ai Nonaka

Research Assistant

Fishes

Karen Osborn: Research Zoologist and Curator of Annelids and Peracarids
Karen Osborn

Research Zoologist/Curator of Polychaeta, Peracarida, and Plankton

Invertebrate Zoology

Christopher Meyer: Research Zoologist and Curator of Mollusks
Christopher Meyer

Chair of Invertebrate Zoology, Research Zoologist and Curator

Invertebrate Zoology

Andrea Quattrini: Research Zoologist and Curator of Corals
Andrea Quattrini

Research Zoologist and Curator of Corals

Invertebrate Zoology

Valerie Paul: Head Scientist
Valerie Paul

Director, Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce

Brian Huber: Research Geologist, Curator of Foraminifera
Brian Huber

Curator of Foraminifera

Paleobiology

Torben Rick: Curator of North American Archaeology
Torben Rick

Curator of North American Archaeology

Anthropology

All OSC staff →

Related Programs and Projects

School of unidentified fish swimming in a reef.
Ocean DNA
A square box made of stacked layers sits on sand next to rocks covered in orange, yellow, and burgundy encrusting patches. Tiny electric blue colored fish swim around the box.
Global Arms Project
Bleached corals lay next to a piece of healthy orange coral
MDBC Program
Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystems Program
Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystems Program
a narwhal points its tusk to the sky
Arctic Studies Center
Smithsonian staff wading in water collecting specimens
MarineGEO
a submarine on the bottom of the seafloor
Deep Reef Observations Project
Photo of a coral
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management