Anson "Tuck" Hines, SERC director

Fall 2024

There’s a persistent stereotype, that scientists wear white coats and work in labs mixing chemicals or staring at microscopes. While we have our share of chem labs and microscopes at SERC, we also have research boats, showers and regular emails about tick bites, where (not) to leave muddy shoes and reminders not to dump soil down sinks—because field work is that dirty. Personally, I have never worn a white lab coat in 50-plus years of ecological research. But I’ve worn out many wetsuits, foul weather gear, hip boots, hiking boots, t-shirts, baseball hats, insect nets and knee pads.

If you’re reading this, you probably already know lab-coat science is just a drop in the vast ocean of work researchers do. And yet the stereotype endures in American society.

Ulysses Archie shows Samia Towson (left) and Sierra House how to build a newspaper cup to hold seeds and soil at the Baltimore Gift Economy, an urban farm he runs in West Baltimore. (Credit: Alison Cawood)

We’re working to counter that—and not only regarding how society views professional scientists. 

In our fall newsletter, you’ll find several stories where amateur scientists or volunteers play leading roles. This past school year, hundreds of middle and high school students did orchid experiments via the “Classroom Cultivation” project. They produced real data, which our scientists are using to grow endangered orchids in lab—and hopefully, one day, return them to the wild. Another 20 high school students spent their Saturdays gathering data on green spaces in Baltimore churches. The high school internship is part of SERC’s new “Science and Faith” initiative, partnering with faith-based organizations to answer questions that matter to local communities.

We can thank our volunteers for another milestone discovery. Charlie and Sue Staines, a retired entomology duo, spent seven years searching for beetles in SERC forests. This June they found SERC’s 1,000th beetle species, and the number continues to climb.

USDA dog handler Carl Messick searches for orchids with his detector dog, Grand.

We’ve even partnered with canine scientists. Two labradors joined SERC orchid scientist Melissa McCormick in Virginia this summer. They were searching for the endangered small whorled pogonia. After watching the dogs in the field, McCormick suspects they can detect orchids lying dormant underground—though they’ll need to wait at least another year to confirm the dogs’ report. 

All these stories highlight an often-forgotten truth: Science isn’t just for scientists. Science affects everyone—and everyone can play a role in how it gets done. Participating in scientific research makes for good everyday applications of science and better analytical thinking.

Don’t get me wrong; we need the scientists in white lab coats. They’re the ones creating new medicines, making vaccines and testing the safety of our food. At SERC, they’re analyzing hazardous chemicals, looking for DNA markers or searching for carbon in soil samples, to uncover which ecosystems best fight climate change. 

Volunteers Charlie and Sue Staines search for fungus beetles. (Photo: Barb Curtis)

But it’s a loss when people shy away from science simply because they think they don’t fit one narrow label.

Science was once the domain of amateurs—curious people who made discoveries by the power of open minds and keen observations. While society needs professionals, we inhibit ourselves if we don’t embrace the enthusiasm of students and volunteers. At the Smithsonian, our mission isn’t to be gatekeepers, but to push the gates open wider. 

-Anson “Tuck” Hines, director