While research is the primary responsibility of NSL scientists, they spend considerable time engaging in a variety of education and outreach efforts.

The NSL serves many public as well as private institutions and individuals worldwide by providing expert identifications and information for a diversity of marine organisms including, but not limited to, the groups we study. We also review and comment upon manuscripts for scientific journals and for colleagues in the National Marine Fisheries Service, other agencies, and academia. Our staff evaluates research proposals for the National Science Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution, Sea Grant, and similar research funding agencies and organizations.

As members of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History community actively engaged in marine studies, NSL staff contribute a great deal of time and expertise to the joint Smithsonian/NOAA Marine Science Initiative, which includes the development of an Ocean Hall and associated web portal. Sharing knowledge of marine systematics can be a key pathway for increasing ocean literacy.

Scientific staff members give lectures, serve as officers of various scientific societies, and participate in university affairs as research associates and adjunct professors. NSL staff have adjunct positions at The Virginia Institute of Marine Science and the Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics program of the University of Maryland, among others. In this capacity, we teach university courses and supervise graduate students. Some additional descriptions of the education and outreach activities engaged in by NSL staff can be found on individual staff pages.