ABSTRACT

Scientific research at a large, public science institution such as the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) differs very little from scholarly pursuit in a more conventional (i.e., university) setting. AMNH supports a large academic research community where curators and their associated graduate students, assistants, and postdoctoral fellows are engaged in a wide range of research activities, many of which depend on the use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray microanalysis. What makes the AMNH setting unique, however, is that many members of the scientific staff become involved in organizing exhibitions for public display, in addition to carrying out their research. Some scientists may also become involved in educational outreach activities. For the most part, however, scientists at AMNH are engaged in basic research, the range of which is represented by nothing less than the diversity of life on Earth and natural phenomena in the universe.