THE FIELD MUSEUM 2002 ANNUAL REPORT TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES ACADEMIC AFFAIRS Office of Academic Affairs, The Field Museum 1400 South Lake Shore Drive Chicago, IL 60605-2496 USA Phone (312) 665-7811 Fax (312) 665-7806 WWW address: http://www.fieldmuseum.org - This Report Printed on Recycled Paper - -1- Revised May 2003 -2- CONTENTS 2002 Annual Report....................................................................................................................................................3 Collections and Research Committee.....................................................................................................................12 Academic Affairs Staff List......................................................................................................................................13 Publications, 2002 .....................................................................................................................................................19 Active Grants, 2002...................................................................................................................................................38 Conferences, Symposia, Workshops and Invited Lectures, 2002 .......................................................................46 Museum and Public Service, 2002 ..........................................................................................................................55 Fieldwork and Research Travel, 2002 ....................................................................................................................65 Public Education and Outreach, 2002 ....................................................................................................................71 Higher Education, 2002............................................................................................................................................83 Training Programs, 2002 .........................................................................................................................................92 Academic Affairs Interns, 2002...............................................................................................................................98 Resident Graduate Students, 2002........................................................................................................................100 Academic Affairs Volunteers, 2002 ......................................................................................................................101 Honorary Appointments, 2002 .............................................................................................................................103 Collection Statistics, 2002.......................................................................................................................................110 Field Museum Press ..............................................................................................................................................114 The Pritzker Laboratory for Molecular Systematics and Evolution.................................................................115 Scanning Electron Microscope .............................................................................................................................116 Scholarship Committee..........................................................................................................................................117 -3- ACADEMIC AFFAIRS – 2002 ANNUAL REPORT 2002 was the first full year for the new Vice President for Academic Affairs. It proved to be a successful transition for the new administrative system, combining skilled support from the members of the Academic Affairs office with the input of the Academic Affairs Management Group (AAMG), which includes the Chairs of Anthropology, Botany, Geology and Zoology, the Directors of ECP and CCUC, the Chair of the Science Advisory Council (SAC), a member of the Pritzker Molecular Lab Management Committee, and two representatives of the Professional Staff. The AAMG proved its value in dealing with numerous practical and strategic issues while fostering enhanced inter-departmental cooperation. The effectiveness of AAMG meetings was further increased by regular presentations on key topics made by representatives from other areas of the museum. Once again, the Museum was obliged to respond to adverse economic conditions with very careful budgeting. Despite the financial constraints, Academic Affairs maintained a strikingly high level of activity and proceeded to launch new initiatives in carefully selected areas. The continued need for economic stringency has further delayed implementation of the Strategic Plan, but plans are being developed for a return to this carefully considered and much-needed initiative as soon as conditions allow. Academic Affairs can look back on an impressive overall list of achievements in 2002. Detailed accounts of individual key activities are provided in the department-by-department reviews in this Annual Report, so this introduction will emphasize certain highlights. Staff promotions and honors Several members of the curatorial faculty were promoted during 2002. John Bates (Zoology/Birds) and Peter Wagner (Geology/Fossil Invertebrates) were both promoted to the rank of Associate Curator with effect from April 1. John has particular interests in the evolution of tropical birds and implications for conservation. Much of his research, supported by NSF, has focused on genetic structure in Amazonian antbirds, and is undertaking current projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Bhutan. Peter’s research focuses on early (Cambrian through Devonian) gastropod snails, emphasizing rates of change and trends in shell evolution as well as relationships among species, and also tackles general methodological aspects of systematics. Larry Heaney (Zoology/Mammals) was promoted to the rank of Curator as of June 22. His specialty is the evolution and ecology of mammalian biodiversity patterns in island ecosystems. Most of his fieldwork has been conducted in the Philippines, where he and his colleagues have discovered 16 previously unknown species of mammals; but he has also worked in Malaysia, Bhutan, Panama, and widely in the United States. Sabine Huhndorf was promoted to Assistant Curator in Botany effective July 1. Her research on fungi focuses on Ascomycetes, specifically Loculoascomycetes and Pyrenomycetes, organisms that are plant pathogens and agents of decomposition. Huhndorf has the distinction of securing two NSF PEET awards, totaling more than $1.4 million. Alaka Wali was promoted to Curator in Anthropology effective November 1. Alaka is the Director of the Center for Cultural Understanding and Change, responsible for coordination of a range of programs designed to enhance interdisciplinary work at the Museum, strengthen public programming on cultural issues, and promote efforts to link the Museum closer to the Chicago community. Alaka's research program has continued to explore themes of how changing social contexts influence identity and forms of activism within the urban context. The search for two new Botany curators was concluded successfully with the appointment, effective in 2003, of Thorsten Lumbsch as Assistant Curator of Mycology/Lichenized Fungi, and Rick Ree as Assistant Curator of Flowering Plants. John Bates took up the post of Chair of the Department of Zoology on October 1, succeeding Associate Curator Rüdiger Bieler. Rüdiger was an active and able administrator during his five years as Zoology -4- Chair, playing a key role in the 1999 Strategic Planning process, and serving actively on the Management Group that ran Academic Affairs during its two years without a Vice President. He was also intensively involved in the creation of the Pearls exhibit as co-curator. Rüdiger has eagerly set his sights back on research—mainly the phylogenetic systematics of mollusks, specifically marine snails and bivalves, and his active field program in the Florida Keys. An important addition to the staff was made in November with the arrival of Helen Robbins as the Museum's Repatriation Specialist. Working in an interface between the Center for Cultural Understanding and Change and the Department of Anthropology, Helen will oversee the anthropological aspects of the Museum's repatriation program, such as reviewing the cultural affiliation of artifacts and interactions with native groups. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in 2001, writing her dissertation on land, law and custom in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Other notable accomplishments and receipts of honors by our academic staff in 2002 covered a wide spectrum and include the following: MacArthur Curator John Flynn (Geology) continued his Guggenheim-supported sabbatical in Chile, ending in 2002. He was actively involved in paleontological work during his leave and also worked intensively on an impressive number of publications. ECP Director Debby Moskovits and Peruvian collaborator Lily Rodriguez were selected as joint recipients of the 2002 Biodiversity Leadership Awards by the Bay and Paul Foundations for their work in the creation of the Parque Nacional Cordillera Azul. Curator Michael Dillon (Botany) was named Honorary Professor at the Universidad Nacional de Tumbes, Peru in June, and at the Universidad Nacional de San Agustin, Arequipa, Peru in October. This makes a total of four adjunct appointments in Peru in recognition