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We deeply thank all who supported our work in 2014

HIGHLIGHTS 2014The Field Museum • 1400 S Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605

$1,000,000 and aboveGantz Family Foundation

National Science Foundation

$100,000 to $999,999Anonymous

Cardinal FoundationRita and John* Canning

Mr.* and Mrs. Marshall FieldWilbur* and Linda Gantz

Pamela K. and Roger B. HullThe Negaunee FoundationCari and Michael* Sacks

$25,000 to $99,999The Crown and Kunkler Family

D & R FundJ.B.* and M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation

$10,000 to $24,999Mr. and Mrs. Camillo Ghiron, Christina and Ron* Gidwitz

$1,500 to $9,99995% Share Marketing, Inc., Charles Adams Nature Research Foundation, Helen V. Brach Foundation, Barbara^ and Roger Brown, Mr. and Mrs. Byram E. Dickes, Marshall B. Front Family Charitable Foundation/ Laura De Ferrari and Marshall B.* Front, Mr. and Mrs. Gregory L. Guyett, Mr. Richard* M. Jones, Mr. and Mrs. Martin Jesse Koldyke/ Koldyke Family Foundation, Dr. Anthony G. Montag and Dr. Katherine L. Griem, Mr.* and Mrs. Leo F. Mullin, Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Nebenzahl, Mr.* and Mrs. James J. O’Connor, The Warwick Foundation, David Weinberg and Jerry Newton

up to $1,499Mr. and Mrs. Michael P. Cole, The Donnelley Foundation and Mr.* and Mrs. Thomas E. Donnelley II, Ms. Margot Getman, Mr. and Mrs. W. Bruce Johnson, Mr. Robert Salm, Table XI Partners LLC

GANTZ FAMILY COLLECTIONSCENTER

This list reflects gifts and pledges received between January 1 and December 31, 2014

* Trustee or Committee Member ^ Museum Staff

S C I E N C E & E D U C A T I O N

2014 by the numbers

27,000,000approximate number of

objects/specimens in our collections

351,913objects/specimens databased

224,869images added to the database

91,087objects/specimens loaned

726scientific and cultural heritage visitors

to our collections

A destination for study

Field Museum collections are a “must-see” for scientists seeking the hard evidence on the development of Earth’s life and cultures. The stream of researchers from around the world who studied in our collections last year included an ichthyologist from the Congo, a fern specialist from Vietnam, an archaeologist from Argentina, mammalogists from Kenya

and Rwanda, a botanist from Brazil, and a snake expert from Germany—not to mention graduate students and colleagues from universities and museums around the world. The collections hosted more than 700 on-site researchers, and logged more than 90,000 online visits.

A site of discovery

Our collections yielded notable discoveries in 2014. A new species of monkey from Peru was identified in our mammal collections by a researcher from the Global Conservation Institute. A study of fossil sharks from our Mazon Creek collection by a team of scientists from the University of Chicago and the University of Michigan proposed that Illinois was a nursery for these sharks 300 million years ago. A team of German researchers publishing in Science used Field Museum meteorites to establish the most accurate chronology of planetary core formation to date. Specimens from our collections were instrumental to these and thousands of other publications during the year. An opportunity for learning

Our very successful Meet a Scientist program continued to bring our collections and our science to tens of thousands of visitors in the public museum in 2014, while Virtual Visits connected K-12 classes to our collections and labs through live video broadcasts. The popular Brain Scoop series on YouTube has given millions of on-line visitors a peek into our collections to learn about everything from fossil meteorites to Pacific island spears. Our vast collections contain limitless stories that inspire the imagination and spark learning at all levels.

FIELD MUSEUM COLLECTIONS

Enhancing access to our collections for science and public learning

We made dramatic progress on collections digitization, with more than 350,000 data records and 200,000 images added to databases. We also made significant advances in opening access to our unique and most important collections. A joint effort of Collections and technology staff made our Vertebrate Paleontology collection—more than 100,000 records—web-accessible, and high-resolution scanning of South American plants exceeded 100,000 specimens. We also initiated an NSF-funded project aimed at digitizing some 80,000 invasive plants and 25,000 invasive fishes from the Great Lakes watershed, linking them to a national database that will help document species invasions and restoration efforts.

Besides enhancing research and conservation, digitization opens our collections to educators and volunteers. In 2014 the Collections and Action centers collaborated to create an on-line Chicagoland butterfly gallery (www.fieldmuseum.org/science/blog/chicagoland-butterfly-gallery), with photographs of 131 species of butterflies. A new app, The Art & Science of Birds (available on iTunes) draws on Museum collections to explore artistic and scientific perspectives on birds that connect Artist-in-Residence Peggy Macnamara’s watercolors with the Museum’s collections. Our anthropological collections team and co-curators from Chicago’s Filipino-American community created a “StoryMap” website highlighting selected objects from the Philippines collection (maps.fieldmuseum.org/apps/philippines/#)—part of an effort that will make 80% of the collection accessible on-line.

ADVANCING PRIORITIES COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Bill Gantz, ChairCharles BentonSue BentonTom BernardinTerry BoudreauxJudy BlockPeter CraneLouis Delgado

Sue Benton, ChairTom CampbellLouis Delgado Rob Gordon

Janet DiederichsRuth Ann GillisLew GruberMarsha CruzanNeil NovichDavid ParryPatricia SchnadigBob and Charlene Shaw

Lewis GruberPatricia SchnadigEverett Ward

Collections Committee

Deaccession Committee

2014 GANTZ FAMILY COLLECTION CENTER EXPENDITURES*

Total for Anthropological, Botanical, Geological, Zoological and Library Collections, and Repatriation: $4,044,189

21%

47%

18%14%

Endowments

Museum Operations

Foundations, Corporations and Individuals

Public Funds

Funding Sources

*Unaudited