Job Description
Research Zoologist (Curator of Crustacea), IS-0410-12
Application Deadline: 19 June 2026
Department: National Museum of Natural History
Employment Type: Full Time
Location: Washington, DC
Compensation: $102,415 - $133,142 / year
OPEN DATE: May 29, 2026
CLOSING DATE: June 19, 2026
POSITION TYPE: Trust Fund
APPOINTMENT TYPE: Temporary, Not-To-Exceed (NTE) 4 Years
SCHEDULE: Full Time
DUTY LOCATION: Washington, DC
Position sensitivity and risk
Open to all qualified applicants
What are Trust Fund Positions?
Trust Fund positions are unique to the Smithsonian. They are paid for from a variety of sources, including the Smithsonian endowment, revenue from our business activities, donations, grants and contracts. Trust employees are not part of the civil service, nor does trust fund employment lead to Federal status. The salary ranges for trust positions are generally the same as for federal positions and in many cases trust and federal employees work side by side. Trust employees have their own benefit program, which may include Health, Dental & Vision Insurance, Life Insurance, Transit/Commuter Benefits, Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance, Annual and Sick Leave, Family Friendly Leave, 403b Retirement Plan, Discounts for Smithsonian Memberships, Museum Stores and Restaurants, Credit Union, Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center (Child Care), Flexible Spending Account (Health & Dependent Care).
Conditions of Employment
- Pass Pre-employment Background Check and Subsequent Background Investigation for position designated.
- Maintain a Bank Account for Direct Deposit/Electronic Transfer.
- The position is open to all candidates eligible to work in the United States. Proof of eligibility to work in U.S. is not required to apply.
- Applicants must meet all qualification and eligibility requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.
- Fieldwork and aspects of curation may require moderate, to strenuous physical activities. Fieldwork frequently requires longer than eight-hour workdays and forty-hour workweeks.
- Work is generally inside a typical research laboratory/office environment and requires the practice of standard health and safety procedures for such areas. Fieldwork imposes varying degrees of risk, depending on the nature of terrain, mode of transportation (whether on land or at sea), specific research activity, and quality of living conditions (e.g., climate and parasites).
- Occasional Travel - 50% or Less
Come join a dedicated and creative team at an exceptional time for the Smithsonian, an institution with a bold vision for the future: to build a better tomorrow for all. The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex. The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is part of the Smithsonian’s unique complex and is one of the most visited museums in the United States. Its mission is to promote understanding of the natural world and our place in it. NMNH has a collection of 148 million specimens and artifacts. Each one reflects a moment in space and time and in these moments, we find Earth’s story.
The National Museum of Natural History is seeking an experienced candidate to fill a position of Research Zoologist and Curator of Crustacea in the Department of Invertebrate Zoology. The IZ Crustacea collections consist of roughly 688,000 lots with 15.6 million specimens that include over 50% of the known species of the world. Increasingly, the IZ historical collections are being complemented with newly collected whole specimens as well as tissue samples preserved for use in molecular genetic studies. This enormous resource built over 150+ years of intense research represents a large investment by the Smithsonian, and is now in urgent need of dynamic, modern scholarly leadership to fulfill its immense potential to generate and diffuse knowledge about crustaceans. Because these arthropods exhibit tremendous diversity in body plans among the invertebrates, and are of considerable ecological and commercial importance, their study is critical to understanding evolutionary patterns as well as effects of global change on many ecosystems. Furthermore, modern research on crustaceans using genomic techniques is producing an intense demand on the IZ crustacean collections.
The purpose of this position is to perform scholarly scientific research and professional curation in the IZ Crustacea collections. The incumbent will serve as a Research Zoologist and Curator of Crustacea under the general administrative direction and professional counsel of the Department Chair. The incumbent is responsible for directing and performing independent scholarly scientific research and professional curation in the National Crustacea Collection. The incumbent develops and expands an internationally recognized research program, making major contributions to the field of zoology through research, integrative scientific investigation, scholarly and public presentations, publications, and recognition within the scientific community.
This is a full-time, 4-year appointment with full Smithsonian benefits to be filled at the IS-12 level with a starting salary of $102,415. This position would have access to existing endowment funds that exist for their taxonomic jurisdiction.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Independently initiates, develops, and participates in an integrative, specimen- or collections-based scientific research program in crustacean evolution and biodiversity (exclusive of hexapods), with focus on one or more of the following: phylogenetics, genetics, anatomy, development, genomics, biogeography, conservation, informatics, or related fields.
- Enhances and expands IZ crustacean collections. Through fieldwork and acquisition of specimens, maintains, develops, and improves the IZ crustacean collection and works with the IZ collection management team. Directs an active program of specimen/data exchange and cooperation with other museums, educational institutions, and scholars. Recommends approval or disapproval of requested loans from the Collection to other institutions. Prepares and oversees crustacean collections improvement projects.
- Regularly publishes peer-review publications such as technical papers, synthetic works of descriptive, analytical, theoretical, and/or applied nature based on own fieldwork, study of collections in this and other institutions, and on existing scholarly publications. Publications are significant contributions of substantial scope and impact within their own field.
- Serves as consultant and expert advisor on professional matters in their area of expertise to colleagues, governmental agencies, other governments, institutions, foundations, organizations, and the general public; on Museum exhibitions, taxonomic identifications, and reports on items and collections submitted to the Museum; data management; strategic planning; reviewing research proposals, manuscripts, and published materials; answering public enquiries; and lecturing professional associations, educational institutions, civic group, clubs and other organizations.
- Secures external funds in support of research program.
- Serves as supervisor or advisor to interns, students, fellows, short-term scholars, and to scientific institutions and museums. Develops performance plans for supervisees and evaluates performance. Gives advice, counsel, or instruction to employees on both work and administrative matters.
QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
Education and Experience:
This position has a positive education requirement.
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet these Basic Education Requirements:
A. Degree: zoology; or a related discipline or field of science that included at least 20 semester hours in zoology and related animal sciences.
OR
B. Combination of education and experience -- courses equivalent to a major in zoology, or in a related discipline that included course work as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
In addition to the Basic Requirements above:
Applicants MUST possess a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in a relevant field of study from an accredited college or university; and/or related experience that demonstrates possession of the competencies described below; or an equivalent combination of experience and education.
Knowledge required for this position is as follows:
- Knowledge of and ability to conduct original, specimen- or collections-based scientific research on Crustacea (exclusive of hexapods), as evidenced by peer-reviewed publications. Highest ranked candidates will have a record of innovative, original, and independent research.
- Knowledge of and experience with curation practices and procedures for museum collections in specialty area.
- Requires thorough knowledge of collections management practices, gained through work experience in curation and research on crustacean/IZ collections, to develop and curate the IZ crustacean collection for which the incumbent is responsible through field work and the acquisition, maintenance, and management of collections.
- Must be able to communicate orally and in writing to articulate their research program to administrators, the scientific community, funding agencies, and the general public.
Join us in "Inspiring Generations through Knowledge and Discovery."
To Apply:
Interested candidates should submit their resume and cover letter by the closing date. Resumes should include a description of your paid and non-paid work experience that is related to this job; starting and ending dates of job (month and year); and average number of hours worked per week. Resumes should provide names and contact information for three professional contacts who can send letters of recommendation upon request.
Cover letters should include a research statement and a summary of curatorial experience.
Unofficial school transcripts (undergraduate and graduate) must be submitted with your application package by the closing date of the announcement. If selected for the position, you must provide official transcripts before appointment.
Applicants who wish to qualify based on education completed outside the United States must have their education deemed equivalent to higher education programs of U.S. Institutions by an organization that specializes in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials. This documentation is the responsibility of the applicant and should be included as part of your application package.
Any false statement in your application may result in rejection of your application and may also result in termination after employment begins.
What To Expect Next: Once the vacancy announcement closes, a review of your resume will be compared against the qualification and experience requirements related to this job. After review of applicant resumes is complete, qualified candidates will be referred to the hiring manager.
