Week One: “Baptism by Fire”

For the next ten weeks I will be working in the O.Orkin Insect Zoo, the Butterfly Pavilion, and the Written In Bone exhibit’s forensic lab. My exact schedule has yet to be determined; I am currently bouncing back and forth between the butterflies and insects, depending on where I am most needed on a given day. In my third week I will start in the forensic lab. All of the work I am doing is related to education and exhibit maintenance. My main project for the summer is to create an interactive online orientation for new Insect Zoo volunteers.

I last worked in the museum as a high school intern for the Insect Zoo. It was the summer of 2007, and the Insect Zoo was undergoing renovation and new construction. The exhibit was closed to the public while the new Butterfly Pavilion was being built. At the time, there were two full-time staff, one summer contractor, and me. For a period of months, all the Insect Zoo volunteers were displaced with their insect cart to a back corner of the museum. Much of my time was spent navigating the construction site, hard hat and all, just in order to provide basic animal care. Now, in 2010, the new zoo is up and running. There are eight permanent staff, three interns, and a new set of volunteers for the Butterfly Pavilion. It is a very different place.

On my first day, I filled out the necessary paperwork in the intern office and then wandered up to the Insect Zoo. I was met by my supervisor, who immediately sat me down and said, “Okay, welcome back. Today’s going to be sort of a baptism by fire. It’s free Tuesday in the Butterfly Pavilion. Here’s your shirt, have fun!”

It was wonderful. I put on my new yellow polo shirt with the butterflies on it (it goes almost to my knees. I could just about wear it as a dress,) and began learning the opening speech for the pavilion, the rules, the animals, and how the place runs now. The next morning I was in at 8:00, wearing old clothes, helping to change out all the plants in the butterfly exhibit before changing into a nicer outfit (relatively speaking) in order to interact with the public. I am loving learning the new dynamics and procedures. One of the things I love the most about the museum is how it is constantly changing. Every time I come back there are new exhibits, new volunteers, and new projects. Never a dull moment in the Smithsonian.