Malaysian Wildlife Department, will use the funding to 

 follow wild elephants after they are relocated. In return, 

 the Tracking Project staff will help identify an or- 

 phaned elephant calf that Enron will be able to bring 

 back to the United States for che Washington Park Zoo 

 in Portland, Oregon. 



Spr 



■ Research The unique cylindrical mirrors designed by 

 an SAO scientist to form the heart of the Advanced X- 

 ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF), a space observatory 

 scheduled for launch in late 1998, were successfully 

 tested by NASA and found to exceed all premanufac- 

 ture specifications. In space, the mirrors should have a 

 resolving power 10 times greater than those in any pre- 

 vious x-ray telescope. 



Spring— Summer 



■ Internships A visiting professional librarian from 

 Romania, a library student form Germany, a graduate 

 student from University of Maryland, and a graduate of 

 the University of Oklahoma, received professional train- 

 ing in cataloging, Natural History branch collections, 

 preservation of special collections, and assisted with 

 preservation of fragile library materials in the 

 Anthropology Branch. 



March 



■ Exhibition Newborn Ancestors: The Art and Articles of 

 Plains Indian Children, an exhibition created by NMAI 

 deputy assistant director for cultural resources George 

 Horse Capture (Gros Ventre), opened at the San Francis- 

 co airport. The collaboration between the NMAI and 

 the San Francisco Airport Authority demonstrates the 

 museum's desire to bring Native culture to a broad 

 range of individuals. 



March 



■ Exhibition Agayuliyararput: Our Way of Making 

 Prayer — The Living Tradition ofYup'ik Masks opened at 

 the NMAI's George Gustav Heye Center in New York. 

 Planned by Alaskan Native peoples in collaboration 

 with the Anchorage Museum of History and Art, the 

 creation of this exhibition offered Yup'ik people the 

 first opportunity to exhibit their masks in the context 

 of the dances, the stories, and the complex cosmology of 

 the people who created them. 



March 



■ Exhibition An Office of Exhibits Central editor and 

 designer began collaboration with the International Gal- 

 lery (IG), rhe Cooper-Hewitt, and an outside curator 

 and exhibit designer to produce The Jewels of Lalique. 

 based on an exhibition that opened in Paris. The 

 adapted exhibition, which opens in New York in 

 February 1998 and will be on view later at IG, presents 

 more than 200 rare pieces of art nouveau jewelry by 

 Rene Lalique, a prominent French artist best known for 

 his art deco glass designs. 



March 



■ Documentary A production agreement was made 

 with Marge Ostroushko for a two hour Radio Smithson- 

 ian documentary on the Lemelson Center's "Electrified, 

 Amplified, and Deified" symposium. 



March 



■ Agreement An agreement was made with Razorfish, 

 Inc., to create a demonstration version of the "Smithson- 

 ian Without Walls" internet exhibit. 



March 



■ Agreement A preliminary agreement was reached 

 with Voyager Expanded Learning, Inc., on behalf of the 

 National Museum of Natural History, providing for col- 

 laboration on "Joint Learning Projects" to provide 

 educational programs and curriculum for elementary 

 age children's after school programs. 



March I 



■ Reorganization The Office of Sponsored Projects 

 (OSP) was moved organizationally to report to the Pro- 

 vost rather than to the Chief Financial Officer. The Chief 

 Financial Office retained responsibility for OSP insti- 

 tutional level financial activities such as overhead and 

 contract cash flow. 



March 3-28 



■ International Assistance Nancy Fuller, Research Man- 

 ager at the Center for Museum Studies, spent a month 

 in Zimbabwe consulting with museum staff and teaching 

 two museum studies workshops designed to increase 

 museum -community partnerships. The Si's International 



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