These records document the administration of Assistant Secretary for Science, David Challinor, 1971- .

Bureaus whose actions are documented in these records include the Center for the Study of Man, Chesapeake Bay Center for Environmental Studies, Fort Pierce Bureau, National Air and Space Museum, National Museum of Natural History, National Zoological Park, Office of International Programs, Radiation Biology Laboratory, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), Smithsonian Science Information Exchange (SSIE), and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). These records also document offices which underwent administrative changes during the period, 1971-1976 including the Center for Natural Areas, Center for Short-Lived Phenomena, Office of Environmental Programs, Office of Environmental Sciences, Office of International and Environmental Programs, and the Office of Oceanography and Limnology. In addition, there is material concerning the office's involvement with federal and international agencies and private organizations regarding the preservation of endangered species and flora, conservation of the environment, ecological research, and the Research Awards Program which the office administered.

The pre-1971 records include materials transferred by Challinor and one of his assistants, Michael R. Huxley, from their previous assignment at the Office of International Activities (OIA), where Challinor served as Director, 1968-1971, and Huxley as Assistant Director, 1970-1971. The remainder of the pre-1971 material was inherited by Challinor from his predecessor, Sidney R. Galler.

These records consist of a correspondence register; files on bureaus administered by the office including reorganization proposals for SSIE, 1972-1973, photographs of the STRI facility at Barro Colorado Island, the Johnson-Sea-Link accident, 1973, SAO's Multiple-Mirror Telescope project, 1975-1976, and the Foreign Currency Program country files, 1972-1978, including the Nepal Tiger Ecology Project, 1972-1977; general office files including photographs of recipients of the Edward W. Browning Achievement Award, participants in the 1972 Galapagos Science Conference, Challinor's appointment books, and materials concerning organizations concerned with endangered species, flora, and ecology; OIA materials including information on the Sea Level Canal Study, 1970, the Mekong Basin Project, 1972, congressional bills pertaining to endangered species and flora, proposals for rules and regulations by international conservation organizations, scientific research agreements between the U.S. and foreign countries, and the Foreign Currency Program country files, 1965-1974; Research Awards Program award and program files and proposals, 1966-1977; newspaper clippings and journal articles; and printed materials.