Honoring individuals whose contributions to exploration, discovery, and our understanding of our natural world have been largely unknown. Their pursuit of knowledge, passion for innovation, and devotion to their profession inspired us to lift their veil of anonymity.

Dr. Aida Shafreena Ahmad Puad is Reclaiming Malaysia’s Natural History

Rafflesia Arnoldii, also known as stinking corpse lily, produces the largest individual flower of any living species. It is endemic to Sumatra and Borneo. Photo Credit: Maizal Chaniago, 2018In Southeast

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Mary Elizabeth Rice: Establishing The Smithsonian Marine Station

Mary Elizabeth Rice was the first director of the Smithsonian Marine Station in the 1970s, where she created a program to support visiting scientists and fellowships for graduate students and

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Patricia McDonald: A Pioneer in Museum Education

When Patricia McDonald began work as the Education Officer at the Australian Museum in 1953 she was only 24, with a science education degree from Sydney University and one year’s teaching experience. Her office was a room in a tin shed with no water or power. From these humble beginnings, she transformed museum education.

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Elsie Bramell: A Pioneer in Museum Anthropology and Australian Archaeology

When Elsie Bramell (1909-1985) began working at the Australian Museum in 1933 she was the first woman and the first university educated person to take up a scientific position in

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Bertha “Bertie” Parker Cody: First Female Native American Archaeologist

Bertha “Bertie” Parker Cody is widely considered to be the first female Native American archaeologist. Cody, who also went by her Seneca name Yewas, was born in Chautauqua County, New York in 1907. Her mother, Beulah Tahamont, was an actor of Abenaki descent. Her father, Arthur C. Parker, was an archaeologist of mixed Seneca descent, and the first president of the Society for American Archaeology.

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