From Plant Press, Vol. 19, No. 1, January 2016.
The National Museum of Natural History presented the 2015 Peer Recognition Awards on December 8, 2015. Award recipients are individuals who have given their time and talent to the museum above and beyond what their job calls for and to those who have done something that makes a difference in the outside community, for the museum, or for the larger Smithsonian community. The Peer Recognition Award Committee is composed of 11 NMNH staff members representing a cross-section of the entire museum community.
The Department of Botany was recognized at the ceremony when six department members were presented with three different awards.
Melinda Peters and Kenia Velasco Gutierrez from the Department of Botany received the “Conserving Traditional Languages Award,” a team which also included Tom Hollowell from the Information Technology Office and Kate Riestenberg from the Department of Anthropology. They were recognized for being diligent and dedicated members of the large international and inter-disciplinary project, Documentation and Revitalization of the Language and Traditional Ecological Knowledge of an Isthmus Zapotec Community of La Ventosa in the southern Mexican State of Oaxaca. This work documents the indigenous plant names of the community for inclusion in a dictionary of the local endangered language. These researchers collected and processed 1,361 herbarium samples, and distributed multiple sets to partner herbaria. This project formed the pilot for the groundbreaking National Ethnobotanical Herbarium Online. To accomplish this, an impressive number of local volunteers and contractors were assembled and trained to assist. The exceptional commitment and remarkable work ethic of these awardees were absolutely necessary to the success of this complex work in a short timeframe.
Jim Harle from the Department of Botany was awarded the “Volunteer Excellence Award.” Harle has worked enthusiastically to create a searchable digital map library. Together with a corps of volunteers and interns that he trained, they have cataloged and imaged over 28,000 maps from four different NMNH Departments as well as the National Museum of African Art. Having the information now available on the Department of Botany website dovetails this remarkable effort with the Museum’s strategy to improve access to its collections through digitization, and its commitment to training the next generation of scientific staff.
Vicki Funk, Ida Lopez, and Caroline Puente from the Department of Botany received the “Scientific Team Engaging Young Minds (STEM) Award,” a team which also included members from the Departments of Entomology, Paleobiology and Vertebrate Zoology, Divisions of the National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Gardens, Departments of the National Air and Space Museum, and the Global Genome Initiative. With youth interest in science careers at a low, the vast underrepresentation of minorities and women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields, the Youth Engagement through Science (YES!) mentors generously gave of their time and expertise to ignite the flame of inspiration in young minds. This eclectic team of mentors helped to provide students in the Washington, DC area with an authentic scientific experience, which broadened and deepened their knowledge of science career fields. With the help and accompaniment of their mentors, YES! interns refined their research, analysis and communication skills as they each created an eight minute talk about the scientific work they were performing behind the scenes. These talks were given to audiences during an “Intern Is In” session in Q?rius, The Coralyn W. Whitney Science Education Center. Several interns credit this experience with giving them confidence for future endeavors. Through their personal investment these staff members helped to inspire and engage a group of young people showing them the way to become our future generation of scientists.
Nice work
Posted by: Hawi Moore | 05/30/2017 at 04:05 AM
For a volunteer,their greatest joy is satisfaction for achieving the task.Good article.
Posted by: Martin Buuri Kaburia | 06/28/2017 at 12:10 PM
great work......really impressive
Posted by: enock | 07/02/2017 at 02:38 AM