Hello! My name is Jacqui and I’m a junior in biology at Whitworth. I love working with plants and animals and I’m especially interested in horticulture and aquaculture. I’ve had the incredible opportunity to embark on an Honors internship semester at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. this fall term, and I’d like to share a little about my experience.

                Over this semester I have been working as a botanical illustrations archival intern at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. In my internship, I digitally manipulate botanical plates in Photoshop to clean them up for Smithsonian publications. These botanical plates are grayscale hand-drawn collections of details unique to a plant that help the viewer identify a species. An example of a raw scan and the finished edited plate can be seen in the picture below. While my internship is focused on scanning and editing these plates, I also get to work on several individual projects. In my most recent project, I was able to help a 92-year-old retired botanist edit and prepare her thesis on protosalvinia (a prehistoric shoreline plant) for publication nearly 40 years after she wrote it at her university. This project allowed me to work with original micrograph scans and color pictures from the botanist’s earlier excursions, which offered a unique and exciting view into field research.

Left: Raw scan of original botanical plate.
Right: Completed edited plate. Both images are sourced from and the intellectual property of the US National Herbarium, Department of Botany, NMNH, Smithsonian Institution.

                Before this semester, I had never worked in an office, so interning at the National Museum of Natural History has allowed me to develop many general and specialized skills that will benefit me personally in my future endeavors. Perhaps the simplest yet most intimidating of these new skills was learning how to operate the high-tech scanner and printer in the office. I’ve also gotten to learn Photoshop from the ground up at a rapid pace, which has greatly increased my graphic design and editing skills. One moment I may be managing dozens of digital layers while working on a botanical plate, and the next I’m communicating with my supervisor about deadlines or being asked to collaborate on her lastest project. Whether I’m practicing marketable skills in Photoshop, learning the art of mastering new technology (and there will always be new technology), managing my time as a student and intern efficiently, or writing professional emails to my coworkers, I’m constantly keeping busy with new things to learn and do that will improve my skill set and my candidacy for future jobs.

                Much like learning a foreign language, immersing yourself in an environment dedicated to a specific subject is a great way to more fully grasp your understanding of that subject. For me, being surrounded by a diverse group of people all interested in botany has been a great learning tool. By joining in conversation with my colleagues, I now know that redefining organismal families by molecular taxonomy (genetics) as opposed to the prior morphological taxonomy (appearance) is “the next big thing” in botany, and that the study and application of this would likely be a smart choice vocationally. Prior to my internship, I was most interested in conservational aquaculture as a profession, and while I found phylogenetics and taxonomy interesting, I hadn’t considered them specifically for a career. This opens new doors for my studies and potentially for my career path. These kinds of insights are due to the special environment I have been placed in at the Smithsonian. This internship has also strengthened my interest and appreciation for combining art and science in a career, and I’ve found that I enjoy working in a museum setting. I feel like the work I’m doing is valuable both as a commodity and as a resource for the common good, so I have purpose in my work. Overall, I’m not just learning about botany and Photoshop, but also about my own goals and values.

                I hope this peek into my life as a botanical illustrations archival intern at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History through Whitworth University’s Honors Semester has been interesting and helpful for you. Perhaps you’ll be inspired to pursue new and exciting vistas in your scholastic or professional life. Who knows where you’ll go next!

 – Jacqui