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Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
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Department of Invertebrate Zoology

Opportunities

The Robert D. Hevey, Jr. and Constance M. Filling Fellowship in Invertebrate Zoology

Applications due 28 April 2025 8 am EDT

The Robert D. Hevey, Jr. and Constance M. Filling Fellowship in Invertebrate Zoology was established to support short-term, resident, graduate student fellowships focused on invertebrate zoological studies in the Department of Invertebrate Zoology at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) in Washington, DC. Priority will be given to applicants who have not previously visited the NMNH. 

Robert Hevey is currently pursuing a PhD in Plant Conservation Biology at Northwestern University and the Chicago Botanic Garden focused on tolerance ranges of native bush clovers. Previously, his nearly 40-year business career provided him a variety of opportunities ranging from public accounting to distribution, corporate restructuring, and inventory appraisals. Constance Filling, EdD, serves as the Chief Learning Officer at the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC). In this role, Constance Filling is responsible for building a highly effective learning unit with the goal of providing AAMC members the education, training, research, and clinical care models to succeed in newly emerging fields. Robert Hevey and Constance Filling established this short-term graduate student fellowship at NMNH to complement their suite of giving and to help contribute toward the training and inspiration of the next generation of natural history researchers.

Contact OsbornK@si.edu with questions.

Mo'orea Biocode 2.0 Ultra-Barcoded Coral Reef Internship

Deadline to apply: February 21, 2025, at 11:59PM (EST)

  • Start Date: 6/2/25 (not flexible)
  • End Date: 8/8/25 (not flexible)

The Ultra-Barcoded Coral Reef Internship at the Smithsonian Institution supports upper-level undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral training to learn and do advanced research on marine biodiversity through genomics, focusing on coral reef communities. This project builds on the Moorea Biocode Project (MBP 1.0), utilizing DNA extractions from thousands of marine species housed at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). The interns will learn to employ genome skimming (shallow shotgun DNA sequencing) to create "ultra-barcodes" for these species. In addition to the targeted template species, these genomic profiles are likely to contain genetic signatures from associated taxa, including protists and bacteria (e.g holobiont communities). These genomic resources will enhance species identification, evolutionary studies, and conservation efforts. Interns will learn bioinformatic pipelines to process the resulting molecular profiles and generate comparative datasets.

The internship emphasizes responsible data management by adhering to FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and CARE (Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility, Ethics) principles, ensuring all genetic data and metadata are publicly accessible. 

Further details such as application instructions and stipend information can be found here

Visiting Researcher

The Department welcomes qualified scholars and professionals from around the world who are interested in utilizing the collections and facilities of the NMNH for on-site research and study. Visiting researchers must request a visit well in advance of the anticipated arrival to ensure approvals, availability of collections, appropriate workspace, and other details. Researchers must comply with all export compliance regulations.

For additional information contact: Karen Reed

Fellowships

Fellowships provide an opportunity for scholars to conduct resident, independent study under the guidance of an NMNH staff advisor.

The Kenneth Jay Boss Fellowship in Invertebrate Zoology provides support to graduate students interested in conducting resident, independent collections-based research in the Department of Invertebrate Zoology (IZ) at NMNH. The fellowships range from one week to up to six months and are awarded preferentially to students researching mollusks, although proposals focused on other invertebrate groups will be considered.

This fellowship was established through a generous donation from the estate of Edward B. and Phyllis E. Reed to enable research on North American freshwater copepods. All copepod biologists actively engaged in research that includes North America freshwater copepods, whether it be collections-based (e.g., systematics, phylogeny, biogeography, comparative morphology, functional morphology, diversity), ecology, conservation or other areas are eligible. Awardees are not required to be in residence in the Washington, D.C. area nor to spend a significant amount of time working in the Smithsonian NMNH Department of Invertebrate Zoology during their tenure. Fellowships are for 1-24 weeks. We especially encourage applicants proposing work on the newly digitally catalogued Frey North American Freshwater Plankton collection.

For more information on the Reed Fellowship please see here

This fellowship was established through a generous donation from the estate of Leonard P. Hirsch (Smithsonian Institution Office of International Relations and Office of the Undersecretary for Science) and Kristian Fauchald (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Curator of Polychaetes). The Kristian Fauchald Polychaete Research Fellowships provide financial support to enable polychaete biologists from graduate students through senior researchers to conduct independent collections-based research in the Department of Invertebrate Zoology (IZ) at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH).  These funds enable Kristian’s legacy of encouraging and including polychaetologist from around the world in USNM Polychaete Collection research.

For more information on this Fellowship please see here

Fellowships for research and study in the Department are available through the Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program (SIFP), which provides funding for graduate students, post-doctoral scholars, and senior investigators to conduct research in association with Smithsonian scientists. Fellowship durations range from three months to three years depending on fellowship category. 

The Department hosts fellows through the Peter Buck Fellowship Program for full-time, resident, independent research focused on utilizing the NMNH collections and facilities. Multi-year postdoctoral fellowships are generally awarded, often paired with first year awards through the Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program (SIFP), to external postdoctoral scholars who have received a Ph.D. or equivalent within the last five years.

For a complete listing of fellowship opportunities available for placement at NMNH visit the Smithsonian Office of Fellowships & Internships.

Internships

Internships offer undergraduate, graduate and advanced high school students a mentor-guided experience designed to meet their learning objectives.

Students selected for participation in the Natural History Research Experiences Internship Program may be placed in the Department. Through NHRE undergraduate students are paired with a scientific mentor of their choice to develop and investigate a research project.

A variety of other internship opportunities are available, including paid and unpaid appointments, resident and virtual projects, and short and long-term tenure.

For a complete listing of internship opportunities at NMNH visit the Smithsonian Office of Fellowships & Internships.

For a complete listing of internship opportunities at the Smithsonian, many available for placement at NMNH visit the Smithsonian Office of Fellowships & Internships.

Volunteering

The Department hosts many volunteers who assist in research and collections task. A minimum commitment of 3 consecutive months is required and at least 6 hours per week.

For more information visit our volunteer page.