Alum Brandie Smith Named Director of National Zoo
Brandie Smith (Ph.D. '10, BEES; advisor: Professor James Dietz) has been named the John and Adrienne Mars Director of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, effective Nov. 9, 2021. Smith previously served as acting director of the Zoo beginning May 2021.
As director, Smith oversees the 163-acre Zoo facility in Washington, D.C.’s Rock Creek Park and the 3,200-acre Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) campus in Front Royal, Virginia. She is responsible for the operations of the public Zoo in Washington, which has approximately 1.8 million visitors a year, and manages the Zoo’s groundbreaking conservation biology research team that works in more than 30 countries. Smith also oversees educational programs, ticketed events and other public services and programs.
