ANNUAL REPORT 2002 To Our Friends: If we’ve learned one thing this year, it is that the world can change rapidly. The Field Museum is keeping up with these changes by actively understanding and affecting the world in which they take place. The Field Museum continues its mission of scientific research and conservation. We race to save endangered species and environments and teach others to do the same. Our ornithologists help students in the Congo track its threatened bird populations. Our paleontologists study early climate changes to understand what is happening with the climate today. And many of our scientists are studying the DNA of plants, animals, and fungi to prevent extinction and promote recovery. With our exhibitions we interpret the world in which we live, helping 1.6 million visitors a year understand the changes taking place around them. Teams of designers and developers produce exhibitions on a range of subject matters that teach about the past, present, and future. Our educators are training teachers to use the Museum as an essential learning tool. Our technologists are producing websites that relay scientific breakthroughs and discoveries as they happen. As you explore the 2002 annual report, we hope you’ll share our enthusiasm for The Field Museums discovery and research occurring within our walls and around the world. We look forward to your continued support. Ron Gidwitz Chairman John W. McCarter, Jr. President 2 Ruffling Feathers: Finding the Link between Dinos and Birds Paleontologists and ornitholo¬ gists have long debated whether birds evolved from dinosaurs. Thanks to the work of scientists such as paleontologist Peter Makovicky, this debate might be coming to an end. Makovicky helped interpret the remains of a feathered dinosaur uncovered in China. Sinovenator changii underscores the anatomical similarities of birds to their nearest relatives among dinosaurs, while helping scientists better understand modern birds. ► Dino reconstruction, Sinovenator changii In the field with The Field! If you’ve ever dreamed of joining us on a scientific expe¬ dition, you can — through the Internet Using interactive maps, online video reports, and email, Field Museum sci¬ entists share the excitement of fieldwork as it happens all over the world. Led by Jennifer Eagleton and Allyson Meyer, expeditions@fieldmuseum™ allows audiences to join archaeological excavations in China and Mexico, hunt dinosaurs in Wyoming, and explore hydrothermal vents in the Pacific Ocean. Not only does this program give the public up-to-the-minute information on these ground¬ breaking expeditions, but it might also inspire the future generation of Field Museum scientists. A www.fieldmuseum.org/expeditions Undiscovered Territory Cuba’s political isolation has under¬ standably meant biological isolation. But that is changing, and quite rapidly. Conservation biologist Debra Moskovits was recently granted permission to lead one of the first systematic environmental surveys in Cuba. This rapid biological inventory provided information on the remaining wilderness and biodiversity of the country and encouraged Cuba’s government to act quickly to preserve its resources. « 4 Cuba wilderness 4 5 Missing Land, Missing History - 7 — VY As manager of botany collections, one might imagine that Robert Luecking spends his days hidden among the storage cabinets, recording, labeling, and catalogu¬ ing specimens. That couldn’lM>£ further from the truth. Luecking is actively dispelling that image by conducting biogeography expeditions, creating ecology inventories, and building scientific websites. Luecking also conducts academic research and has dis¬ covered more than 200 new lichen species. ► Ecuadorian wet paramo EL ANGEL ▼ Sticta tiumboldtiana Tools of Yesterday Technology of Tomorrow Botanist Sabine Huhndorf bases much of her research on the traditional practices of gathering specimens and examining them under a microscope. But Huhndorf puts a modern twist on her work by using DNA analysis. By combining these methods of study, Huhndorf can unlock the secrets of genetic informa¬ tion unobtainable through observation alone. This combi¬ nation of practices reveals new worlds of biodiversity and gives scientists even more opportunity for discovery. 1,400 years ago in the Peruvian Andes, two empires competed for access to the water on which their survival depended. Today, no written record of these cultures or their feud remains, and erosion has degraded the landscape. To understand Cerro Baul, Moquegua, Peru, its people, and its history, anthropologist Ryan Williams uses satellite imagery and computer modeling to rebuild the ancient terrain. This gives Williams insight into this lost history and provides a better understanding for the modern inhabitants, who still vie for water today. ▲ 3-D model of the Wari enclave at Cerro Baul, Moquegua, Peru T History of precipitation data from paleoclimate data in the South-Central Andes .'-vvrV';: '*^'^0' k f . ^uc% » • y. : ;v ^ ^ •* ;.i"> y § ^ ^r> 0T'/O ;> />• -O *Sc / / i /* ^ o /V 1 fV .Q.^ vsiT c rv te « < m\ + * €>•* to 3 £ • /OS (£?<$ -* - v i >{ *v ;