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Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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"Written in Bone: Forensic Files of the 17th-Century Chesapeake" opens at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History on February 9, 2009. The exhibition offers an exceptional opportunity for qualified interns to learn how museum education staff members work with exhibition curators to develop and implement programs that communicate the work of Smithsonian scientists and curators in engaging ways. 

*THE EXHIBITION*
The exhibition incorporates about 340 objects, artifacts and human bones from the museum's collection as well as loans from more than 20 archaeological organizations and museums.  These human remains and objects are brought together for the first time to tell the story of how early colonists in the Chesapeake region lived and died 400 years ago. Highlights of the exhibition include the skeletal remains and artifacts from five "Colonial Cold Cases," three extremely rare lead coffins that held members of the Calvert family-the founding family of Maryland, five stunning facial reconstructions based on actual skulls and two true-to-life-size figures clothed in appropriate historic garments. The 4,800-square-foot exhibition illuminates what life was like for the earliest English and African settlers in the Chesapeake region through nine informative sections and an additional 600-square-foot Forensic Anthropology Lab allowing visitors to experience firsthand how forensic anthropologists examine and learn from human remains.

*THE INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY*
The Forensic Anthropology Lab is designed to engage school and public audiences in the work of the museum's Forensic Anthropologists, using real human bones and other artifacts to collect evidence that tells the story of real people and sheds new light on their characteristics, occupations, health, and mortality. Unlike any other NMNH educational facility, the Written in Bone Forensic Anthropology Lab will be outfitted with the tools of a forensic anthropology laboratory and will emphasize forensic anthropology and related forensic disciplines. 

Working with the museum's Education & Outreach team and the exhibition's curators, interns will help to develop and implement classes for students in grades 4-10 and programs for the public the Forensic Anthropology Lab. The intern will assist students in grades 4-10 in collecting data, drawing conclusions, and learning from bones and other artifacts during classroom lessons; interact with visitors (mainly families) during public hours to guide them through educational activities that include working with objects, microscopes, and computer programs that analyze data collected from bones; assist with the set up, break down and general maintenance of Lab activities for public audiences; help to revise and create new activities that can be used in the Forensic Anthropology Lab; and conduct administrative tasks such as correspondence or creating packets for educators.

*QUALIFICATIONS*
The successful intern will be an undergraduate or graduate student who has completed coursework or is currently enrolled in courses in museum studies or museum education and has a background in Physical Anthropology, Forensic Anthropology, Colonial History, and/or Historical Analysis. Applicants should come to the program with clear goals, an eagerness to learn, the flexibility to work in a large institution, excellent organizational skills, good communication skills, and the ability to work with families and students in grades 4-10 in an education setting. Interns are supervised by the Education Specialist for the Forensic Anthropology Lab, but work in a team environment with other staff, volunteers and interns. 

*TIMEFRAME*
Internships are accepted on a rolling basis, with opportunities available in the Spring, Summer, and Fall semesters of 2009 and 2010. 

*TO APPLY*
Interested persons should send a resume and an interest statement to Bill Watson at [log in to unmask] 

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