GRANTS: Field Museum receives $5 million grant from the Grainger Foundation

2 views

Skip to first unread message

EcoPolis

unread,

Sep 21, 2006, 6:06:50 AM9/21/06

to EcoPolis

=============================================================
Field Museum receives $5 million grant from the Grainger Foundation
=============================================================
Grant to support scientific research and exhibit space

CHICAGO -- The Grainger Foundation has granted The Field Museum $5
million to enhance the Museum's scientific research capacity and public
exhibition areas. The grant reflects the growing role innovative
natural science research plays in helping humans better understand the
Earth and its people. Two new funds will be created to support the work
of the Museum's scientific staff and allow for the purchase of
scientific instrumentation.

The Field Museum's scientific staff forms one of the world's strongest
faculties for specimen-based research. Museum scientists conduct
research in more than 64 countries aimed at addressing basic scientific
issues, including: evolution from both morphological and molecular
perspectives, the origin and development of complex societies, climate
change and biogeography. The Fund for Science will support novel,
exploratory research programs to uncover new fields of scientific
endeavor and test hypotheses new to science.

The research programs of The Field Museum are increasingly dependent on
state-of-art scientific equipment. Scanning electron microscopes,
isotopic mass spectrometers, gene sequencers and digital radiography
units are critical tools for the conduct of modern evolutionary
studies. The Science Equipment Fund will help bring the latest
technology to Chicago and ensure that cutting-edge research continues
at the Museum.

Support for the Grainger Hall of Gems, one of the most popular
permanent exhibitions at The Field Museum, will enable the
establishment of the Field as a major venue for the display of
minerals, gems and jewels through both temporary exhibitions and the
enhancement of the Museum's permanent collection.

Funding will also provide for the installation of a state-of-the-art
audio system to improve public presentations and educational programs
in Stanley Field Hall. Each year, more than 1.5 million people are
introduced to The Field Museum through Stanley Field Hall, which hosts
lectures, presentations and special performances throughout the year.

###

The Field Museum, founded in 1893, is one of the world's premier
natural history museums, housing more than 23 million specimens. It is
also a major center for scientific research, with a presence in 64
countries and more than 200 scientists working around the world in
anthropology, botany, conservation, cultural understanding, geology and
zoology.