Excerpt: At a lab inside the 2,650-acre Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, bones are stacked on shelves, centuries-old clay smoking pipes are reassembled and imported shells once used to make buttons are stashed in a drawer.
Outside the lab Wednesday, a half-dozen citizen scientists worked in the sweltering heat to uncover more artifacts and information. They’re examining how humans interacted with the environment in the past, a task that could be used to address problems we face today, according to the center.
Source: Pacella, R., 2017. At Smithsonian archaeology lab, citizen scientists work to unearth environmental history. Capital Gazette, 18 July.