The Division of Amphibians and Reptiles welcomes all scientific researchers to its collection, but you must complete our Visitor Request Form well in advance of your anticipated arrival.
Researchers must submit visit requests at least 30 days in advance for shorter visits (duration up to 30 days).
Visits longer than 30 days require an institutional security background check; therefore, we require three to six months advance notice for visits over 30 days.
A form is required for each visitor to the collection.
Please email completed forms to HerpVisits@si.edu. All staff will receive your email so please DO NOT email individual staff as well.
The Division of Amphibians and Reptiles is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday (except federal holidays). Our collections are not accessible after hours, on federal holidays, or on weekends.
The National Collection of Amphibians and Reptiles at the National Museum of Natural History is located at the Museum Support Center (MSC) in Suitland, Maryland.
The Amphibians and Reptiles Divisional Library is located at the Natural History Building (NHB) on the National Mall.
For visitors wishing to examine specimens at the Museum Support Center in Suitland, Maryland, a free employee/visitor shuttle runs hourly during normal business hours, Monday – Friday, between the museum on the National Mall and MSC. The trip takes about half an hour.
Visitors with a car can drive directly to the MSC since on-site parking is available.
Visitors wishing to bring comparative material into the MSC facility must first seek approval from Collections Management Staff prior to their visit.
Due to the amount of staff time involved in handling loans from other museums, we are unable to coordinate this for visiting researchers. Instead, we encourage researchers to visit other U.S. natural history museums to examine specimens rather than having loans sent to the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) for examination.
