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Exhibit Specialist Stoy Popovich is building a traditional Greenland Kayak for an upcoming exhibition at the National Museum of Natural History

Stoy Popovich never has ridden a kayak before, but that isn’t stopping him from building one.

As the National Museum of Natural History’s exhibit specialist, he creates displays and builds objects needed for the museum’s exhibitions, and when he learned the museum wanted a model of a traditional kayak used by Native hunters in Greenland, he jumped at the opportunity to piece one together.

“The project excited me because it was something new, something I’ve never done before,” he says.

The museum plans to suspend the completed kayak alongside Phoenix, its iconic model of a right whale for the reopening of “Living on an Ocean Planet,” an exhibition in the museum’s Ocean Hall about humanity’s evolving relationship with the world’s oceans. Greenland’s Inuit populations have built kayaks for thousands of years because their sleek, stealthy design makes them ideal for sneaking up on prey like seals, walruses and whales while navigating mazes of icy water.

While today the boats are most commonly used for recreation and competitions, some communities in northern Greenland continue to rely on them for hunting. Unlike popular plastic and synthetic models, Greenland’s traditional kayaks are made of a skeletal wooden frame lashed together with seal sinew and covered in sealskin. These materials make the boats light and pliable, so they are easy to cart around and capable of withstanding blows in tumultuous seas.

Popovich began the project in the winter by poking around online for instructional videos and booklets about traditional kayak building. He also consulted with Maligiaq Padilla, a Greenland National Kayaking Champion who made and donated a kayak to Smithsonian in 2005 (exhibit the kayak is problematic because it is susceptible to fluctuations in humidity).

With limited funds for the project, Popovich got creative, scavenging  supplies from around his shop. For the frame, he found sheets of ash, a highly malleable wood; to tie everything together, he dug up some high tension string. He has yet to choose a fabric for the kayak’s exterior (sealskin wouldn’t be an option even if it were lying around the museum because of ethical concerns).

To build the kayak’s frame, Popovich chose ash, a heavy but malleable wood

The materials may not be authentic, but the process certainly is. Northern Greenland doesn’t have too many trees, Popovich points out, so Native hunters spent centuries before global commerce building their kayaks from whatever wood washed ashore around their homes—usually conifers like cedar, which is harder to mold than ash but lighter and more durable.

“We’re following that tradition,” Popovich says. “This has been a grassroots, pick-myself-up-by-my-bootstraps, how-the-heck-do-I-do-this kind of endeavor.”

While an experienced builder would need less than a week to make a kayak, he has taken his time, working around other projects and making sure everything is done correctly. “Every step I stop and think, okay, what’s the best way to get through this?” he says.

Popovich stitched the wooden pieces together with high tension string, then reinforced some connections with nails. In the Arctic, Native hunters lash their kayaks together with seal sinew, making the boats flexible to survive the ocean’s waves

So far, he has nearly completed the frame by setting the keel (the straight wooden piece that runs along the kayak’s underside), soaking and molding the ribs, shaping the gunnels (the uppermost side pieces) and lashing everything together with the high tension string. The frame is customized to Popovich’s own dimensions, as practiced in the Arctic to ensure a tight seal around the opening in  the kayak to fit the person’s body to keep from water coming in and to ensure optimal control.

“These things are made by the person who’s going to be paddling it, because when you’re in it, you actually become part of the kayak. Your legs and your body work with the kayak to maneuver it,” he explains.

His next major step will be “skinning” it with whichever material he chooses.

William Fitzhugh, director of the museum’s Arctic Studies Center, says the kayak will contribute to an increased anthropological focus in the exhibit, where it will be on display with a full-scale mannequin riding it. The exhibition will emphasize how connected we are to the oceans, and how greatly we can effect them with pollution and over-fishing.

“The kayak is the perfect representation of sophisticated technology developed by people who lived in a very harsh environment. They developed a craft that would be suitable for sustaining their cultures over thousands of years,” Fitzhugh says. “It’s a very small, fragile thing, but it’s very adaptable. It was one of the most ingenious watercraft ever developed anywhere in the world.”

Popovich, who considers himself a wood specialist, has been building things for the Smithsonian in different jobs for more than 25 years. He still gets a deep satisfaction out of completing projects, though, and couldn’t hide a grin as he moved the kayak around the shop for photographs. “When it’s finished, it will be a beautiful thing,” he says.

Popovich doesn’t know if he will be allowed to test the finished boat in water, but he says he certainly would like to

Learn about how Native Americans used dolls as toys and teaching tools at the American Indian Museum Tuesday. Image courtesy of Wikicommons

Tuesday, June 18: Get Hands-On with Native American Dolls

Step aside, Raggedy Ann. An exhibit at the American Indian Museum is showcasing 23 colorful and detailed dolls representing the Plains and Plateau tribes and made by Native American artists. Come to the museum’s interactive cart and learn about how these dolls were traditionally used as toys and teaching tools. Free. 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. American Indian Museum.

Wednesday, June 19: Lemur Feeding

Feeling hungry? Come warm up your appetite at the lemur feeding at the National Zoo. Lemurs enjoy primarily a light diet of leaves and fruits, which are easily attainable for this tree-living species. Following this event are feeding demonstrations for the zoo’s Amazon fish, giant Pacific octopus, sea lions, black-crowned night herons, stingrays and crustaceans. Each feeding lasts approximate 15 to 20 minutes. Free. 10:30 a.m. for the lemur feeding. National Zoo.

Thursday, June 20: “Cujo”

Dog lovers, beware. The film adaptation of Stephen King’s K-9 horror novel Cujo, which will be shown at the Hirshhorn Thursday, is enough to make anyone think twice about buying that adorable puppy, or at least letting him run outside at the risk of catching rabies. The film will be shown as part of this year’s “Summer Camp: Pup Tense” film series, the theme of which is, you guessed it, canine horrors. Free. 8 p.m. Hirshhorn Museum Ring Auditorium.

Also, check out our Visitors Guide App. Get the most out of your trip to Washington, D.C. and the National Mall with this selection of custom-built tours, based on your available time and passions. From the editors of Smithsonian magazine, the app is packed with handy navigational tools, maps, museum floor plans and museum information including ‘Greatest Hits’ for each Smithsonian museum.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.

“Genome: Unlocking Life’s Code,” a new exhibition about developments in genomic research, opened at the Natural History Museum today. All photos: Donald E. Hurlbert and James Di Loreto, Smithsonian

Today, the National Museum of Natural History opens a new multimedia exhibition that’s all about the stuff that makes you you.

“Genome: Unlocking Life’s Code” examines the instruction manual built into all living things: the genome, an organism’s hereditary material bundled up in the nuclei of every one of its cells.

The exhibition, which was created in collaboration with National Human Genome Research Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, covers 4,400 square feet with interactive games, 3D models, DNA sequencing equipment and videos of real-life stories. It aims to show the relevance of modern genomic research to everyday life as genetic sequencing becomes increasingly accessible.

Marking the 10th anniversary of the completion of the Human Genome Project as well as the 60th anniversary of Watson and Crick’s discovery of DNA’s double helix structure, the exhibition traces the major advances in human health, disease studies, ancestry and other natural sciences that have occurred since the genome project’s completion. It also looks ahead to how genomics will influence our lives as genetic sequencing becomes increasingly easy and inexpensive.

“Genomics is highly relevant, because it’s in the news every day, so people have a broad awareness of this topic, but almost no specific knowledge,” says Kirk Johnson, the Sant Director of the National Museum of Natural History. “You read the paper, and there it is, boom, but what does it mean when the police have my DNA? This exhibition helps to answer questions like this.”

The 4,400 square-foot exhibition includes interactive games, 3D models, DNA sequencing equipment and videos of real-life stories

In just the past few weeks, the Supreme Court ruled on two major decisions on genomic research: On June 3, the court ruled law enforcement could collect DNA from anyone who has been arrested. On Thursday, it then ruled naturally occurring human DNA could not be patented. Additionally, Angelina Jolie recently decided to get a preventative double mastectomy based on her predisposition to breast cancer as identified by genetic sequencing.

Genomics’ future raises major ethical questions surrounding human cloning, genetic engineering and prenatal genetic testing.

Visitors explore one of the exhibition’s many interactive displays

To address the array of complicated issues surrounding genomic research, the exhibition features four themed areas that cover what the genome is, how it relates to medicine and health, how it connects humans to all life and how it is part of each persona’s individual story. The displays are designed to be adaptable, with physical pieces and digital content that can be rearranged and replaced so that the displays can change as the field advances.

Johnson stresses the exhibition’s capacity to inspire the next generation of scientists who will have to come up with answers to genomics’ big questions. “Out of the millions of teenagers that will visit this exhibition,” he says, “some are going to walk in and go, you know, this is cool. We’re at the edge of this major biomedical revolution, and eighth graders, in 20 years, are going to be 32 -year-olds, and they’re going to be the ones prescribing our medicine. Science is often perceived as hard and boring in classrooms, so we want to break through that stereotype by making things fun and interesting.”

Eric Green, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, believes the exhibition also will help assuage fears of genomics’ future. “Much of what people fear about genomic research is what they don’t understand,” he says. “So this exhibition gives visitors a foundation to think critically and in a more sophisticated way.”

“Genome: Unlocking Life’s Code” will be open in the Natural History Museum through September 1, 2014, after which it will travel around North America for about five years. To learn more about genomics, visit the exhibition’s website and check out Smithsonian Magazine’s own special report on the topic.

Learn what it takes to fly this Saturday at an aircraft show at the Udvar-Hazy Center. Photo courtesy of Flickr user Alaskan Dude

Friday, June 14: Drawing at Dusk

Aspiring artists, now is your chance to draw like a pro! Smithsonian isn’t giving you any excuses not to explore your creative side this evening: free materials, a clothed model and thousand’s of the world’s best artworks to inspire you. All ages and ability levels welcome. Free, but with limited space (show up early!). 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. American Art Museum.

Saturday, June 15: Become a Pilot Family Day

Airplane heaven is coming to the Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center. Today, 50 aircraft, from vintage to military to home-built, will be on display outdoors, with expert pilots to explain the skills it takes to fly them. Inside, flight simulators and hands-on activities for kids will allow visitors to put their new pilot abilities to the test. Free ($15 parking). 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center.

Sunday, June 16: Art Signs

Come witness the universal language of art this Sunday at the American Art Museum and join the Art Signs program, a monthly gallery talk presented in American Sign Language (ASL). The 30-minute talk will be given by a deaf gallery guide, and voice interpreters will be present for a hearing audience, allowing both deaf and hearing visitors to learn about art together. ASL is a completely different language than English, with its own set of grammar rules and syntax. Stop by the museum to learn about the art in two different languages. Free. 1 p.m. American Art Museum.

Also, check out our Visitors Guide App. Get the most out of your trip to Washington, D.C. and the National Mall with this selection of custom-built tours, based on your available time and passions. From the editors of Smithsonian magazine, the app is packed with handy navigational tools, maps, museum floor plans and museum information including ‘Greatest Hits’ for each Smithsonian museum.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Colleen Connolly and Michelle Strange.

Baltimore’s waste-to-energy station creates energy by incinerating waste. Learn about whether or not this process is right for DC in a talk at the Anacostia Community Center on Tuesday. Photo courtesy of Flickr user spike55151

Tuesday, June 11: Waste-to-Energy in DC

DC, like any city, produces a ton of waste. Environmentally-minded city residents recycle and compost, but is that enough? “Waste-to-energy” is the process of creating energy by incineration. Americans can be skeptical about the effectiveness of this process, but there is evidence of its success in Europe. Is waste-to-energy is right for DC? Have an opinion or just want to know more? Stop by the Anacostia Community Museum this evening to learn the facts and discuss! Free. 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Anacostia Community Museum.

Wednesday, June 12: National History Day Contest

From June 9 to 13, roughly 2,400 6th- to 12th-grade students from all 50 states are gathering at the University of Maryland, College Park, for the Kenneth E. Behring National History Day Contest. The students, who competed at state and regional levels to reach the national stage, have completed tabletop exhibits, dramatic presentations, video documentaries, papers and websites based on historical research around this year’s theme, “Turning Points in History: People, Ideas, Events.” Today, the contestants are making a trip to Smithsonian to show off their work, so visit the Museum to see the country’s best history students! Free. 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. American History Museum.

Thursday, June 13: Nature’s Best Photography Awards 2012

Step 1: Preview these jaw-dropping photos of animals and places. Step 2: Go see them in person! The pictures are the winners in various categories of the 2012 Nature’s Best Photography Windland Smith Rice International Awards, annual honors given to the best amateur and professional nature photographers in the world. They just went on display last week, and will be on view through early 2014. Free. 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Natural History Museum.

Also, check out our Visitors Guide App. Get the most out of your trip to Washington, D.C. and the National Mall with this selection of custom-built tours, based on your available time and passions. From the editors of Smithsonian magazine, the app is packed with handy navigational tools, maps, museum floor plans and museum information including ‘Greatest Hits’ for each Smithsonian museum.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.