In-depth exploration and anaysis of research projects in the SI Data Science Lab
The American comedian Phyllis Diller donated a collection of 52,000 jokes to the Smithsonian Institution, known as the Gag File. Here, we use Python, machine learning, and natural language processing techniques to interrogate this large dataset and glean new insights.
Inspired by the immense research output and strong mentoring ethos of the late Vicki Funk, Drs. Dikow and Tsuchiya use machine learning to explore the historical archives of the Smithsonian annual reports to assess the role of women in scientific history of the institution.
An investigation of digitized museum records reveals how the historical contributions of women are obscured in the vast digitized Smithsonian collections. Our intern Tiana Curry set out to understand how botanist and artist Mary Vaux Walcott contributed to Smithsonian botanical collections and how women’s names become obscured by history.
