On May 6th, 2014 I attended a lecture called “Why the Smithsonian matters.” This lecture was sponsored UMD’s engineering college and featured noted speaker Dr. Wayne Clough. Upon further research, I found out that he was also a fellow civil engineer, just like me, and my interest compelled me to sign up for his lecture.
The presentation first began with the introduction of Dr. Wayne Clough. Dr. Clough is a well-known and revered man within the scientific and engineering community. He holds a doctorate in civil engineering, and has held many previous executive positions in institutions across the US, including president of Georgia Tech and Dean of Virginia Tech. After becoming the 12th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in 2008, Clough has made “tremendous strides in improving the Smithsonian Institution in all fields, including educational, research, social, and historical.” His snow-white hair and beard reminded me of a polar bear, and although his voice was soft, he showed passion in what he was talking about.
Dr. Clough opened up his lecture by talking about his accomplishments in the area of UMD and Smithsonian partnerships. One such example is the SEED Grant Program, which is a program that encourages students to make strides in all the areas of society that the Smithsonian covers. For example, the program has produced an app titled “LeafSnap”, in which a person uses their smartphone to take a picture of a leaf. The app will then analyze the leaf and tell the user what type of tree it is, what the tree looks like, and also records the location of the photo so that scientists can track the trees being recorded. According to Clough, “The program has been developed to celebrate the joy of innovation with the University of Maryland, for Americans are natural inventors, constantly looking for the next great thing.”
In addition to talking about the partnership between UMD and the Smithsonian, Secretary Clough also talked about the topic that most people relate the word Smithsonian to: the museums. There are 19 Smithsonian museums across the United States, 17 of which are in DC and 2 in New York, employing 6,200 employees and 6,500 volunteers. The African American History and Culture Museum is being constructed and will bring the grand total up to 20 once completed. The institution operates 9 research centers, one of which is located in Maryland.
According to Dr. Clough, there are four grand challenges that he and the Smithsonian aim to bring to everyone:
• Understanding the American Experience
• Valuing world cultures
• Understanding and promoting a diverse bioplanet
• Unlocking the mysteries of the Universe
Of these four challenges, Clough emphasized the last two. The Institution employs a “millennium plan” to all of the artifacts it possesses, meaning that when they obtain an artifact they develop a method to preserve that artifact for the next 1,000 years. This idea of preserving the past for the future ties in very well to the subject of sustainability, both in history and in objects. The Smithsonian Institution is very active across the board with sustainability, from its policies to its museum topics.
The Smithsonian Institution is active in preserving the world and enlightening others to be more aware of the biosphere. One such example of the actions taken by the Smithsonian is ForestGEO, which is a Smithsonian sponsored database that monitors the growth and decay of certain forests across the globe. By doing this, scientists can compare the growth and decay of the forests with the effects of climate change in those regions. The Smithsonian Institution also has a marine observation network, a series of research facilities that house many research projects dedicated to gathering evidence on habitat change and changing climate and the effects that these changes have on species living there.
Dr. Clough also went on to talk about how their exhibits and museums help inform the public about our role in the biosphere. One such example is the future exhibit of Todd McGrain’s “The Lost Bird Project,” which will be showed from March 15th to March 27th 2015. This project “recognizes the tragedy of modern extinction by immortalizing North American birds that have been driven to extinction,” such as the passenger pigeon, Labrador duck, and the Carolina parakeet. This is where I felt a connection with what we have discussed in colloquium – The topic of climate changes effects on species has been discussed only a few weeks prior. It was kind of reassuring to know that topics taught to us in colloquium are actual real world problems being studied and promoted in the world, and that there are people who dedicate their lives to combat the issues being faced. This allowed me to put a face on an otherwise difficult to relate to topic, and increased my respect for Dr. Clough, my father, and all the other people who work hard to promote sustainability and a more aware world.
The lecture was a great experience that reaffirmed my desire to pursue a degree pertaining to sustainability. I walked away from this lecture with a plethora of new knowledge. While before I only thought of the Smithsonian as a series of cool museums that promoted education, but I quickly found out that there was so much more. The Smithsonian works in all facets of our society, from the scientific, social, and cultural. I have worked at the National Baltimore Aquarium and also at DCwater, two companies that both also promote sustainability, but if given the opportunity I would also love to work for the Smithsonian in a research environment, especially pertaining to water resources. There is something fascinating about being to work with experts on a topic of mutual interest, and Dr. Clough’s lecture gave me hope that someday I will be able to do just that.