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Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
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At a Glance

    Moving back to the Mall in Winter 2012

The Naturalist Center was a joint venture with Loudon County, VA and provided both individuals and groups with a variety of natural history learning opportunities from 1995 to 2011.

The Smithsonian's Naturalist Center will return to the National Mall in winter 2012 as part of a new educational facility at the National Museum of Natural History. "The Naturalist Center is one of the jewels of the science education program at the Smithsonian," said Bill Watson, chief of learning and evaluation at the National Museum of Natural History. "We are thrilled that the Naturalist Center will soon be an integral part of a much larger, expanded facility that will offer our visitors even more opportunities to become connected to science and the natural world."

"We wish to express our sincere appreciation to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors and the Loudoun County Public Schools for the tremendous support they have provided the center, during its stay in Leesburg," said Richard Efthim, manager of the Smithsonian Naturalist Center. "Over the course of 16 years the Leesburg site has hosted more than 150,000 visitors - people who have learned about everything from paleobiology, to botany and earth sciences. We also wish to pay tribute to our wonderful team of volunteers, whose dedication and tireless energy has made the Naturalist Center such a success."

At the Naturalist Center visitors have had hands-on experiences with collections and were able to conduct scientific investigations similar to those done by Smithsonian scientists. They worked with animals, rocks, minerals, bones, and other objects to expand their curiosity and their skills in scientific research. When it returns to the Mall, visitors will be able to explore museum collections in the same way with a new emphasis on the tools and technologies scientists use. They will also meet scientists face-to-face and hear their amazing stories of adventure and discovery.

Access the complete press release here.

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