Attendees of the 2023 Lab Manager Leadership Summit will have the opportunity to participate in a behind-the-scenes tour of the Museum Support Center (MSC) of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

The MSC is the principal off-site conservation and collections storage facility for the Museum of Natural History’s irreplaceable national collections. One of the first such facilities in the world, MSC was designed to address the needs of collections storage, conservation, and research.

The tour includes:

• Laboratories of Analytical Biology (LAB )—the biotechnology core of the NMNH molecular research programs, including a cleanroom for ancient DNA research
• Biorepository—with capacity to store more than four million 2-millilter cryotubes containing tissue or DNA from all types of samples)
• Anthropology Department Collections and Conservation Labs —for registration, access, and preservation of archaeology, ethnology, and biological anthropology museum collections
• Vertebrate and Invertebrate Departments’ Alcohol Labs/Collection Space—for the accession and study of vertebrate and invertebrate specimens, including over six million fish specimens
• Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute (MCI)—center for specialized technical collection research and conservation for all Smithsonian museums and collections.

Nearly 450 scientists are affiliated with the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, who conduct research in the on-site labs, at the MSC, or at field sites across the globe. The museum’s research is categorized into seven departments:

• Anthropology
• Botany
• Entomology
• Invertebrate zoology
• Mineral sciences
• Paleobiology
• Vertebrate zoology

By attending this tour, you will interact with scientists conducting cutting-edge research in a variety of disciplines and learn about the unique challenges and requirements of working with fragile, ancient samples. Attendees are also encouraged to ask questions about research, lab functions, and other projects not typically seen on display at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.