Photos from our Collections

We are a nation built on the ideals of many, and Native North American contributions to our collective culture and society are immeasurable. The founders who wrote our U.S. Read more about Democracy and the Iroquois Constitution

February 12 is Darwin’s birthday. To celebrate, check out some of the coolest things we have in our collections with a link to the Granddaddy of Biology himself. Read more about 5 Behind-the-Scenes Specimens with Links to Darwin

Invertebrate paleontologists aren’t afraid of anything, so when Collections Manager Paul Mayer was offered a chance to add hundreds of monsters to The Field’s collections, he jumped at the opportunity. The monsters in question, Tully monsters, are just a small part of the enormous donation of Thomas V. Testa’s collection of Mazon Creek fossils that The Field Museum just received from Field Associate Jack Wittry.   Read more about Monsters Storm The Field

These days, “digitization” is a frequently heard word around the museum.  Through the years, there have been some interesting projects that bring natural history specimens to more people through pictures (see for example the on-line archive of the Berlin negatives of type plant specimens).  We are doing a project in the Bird Division we call “The Egg Book.”  It is a project that is being done with Ivy Press as part of a series of books they have completed in collaboration with the University of Chicago Press which includes The Book of Leaves and The Book of Fungi.  Our book is progressing on a rapid schedule.  It will showcase the eggs of 600 species of birds, most of which will come from our collection, but not all as I talk about below. Read more about The Egg Book cometh

Let's cut straight to the chase: there's just one owl. It's great to know that it has survived for over a week in the Montrose Beach Dunes (a state-designated natural area) on the city's north side, despite many potential predators in the area and many eager birders trying to add it to their state lists. The last time a Burrowing Owl that showed up there--in 2008--it only survived for a morning before falling prey to a Cooper's Hawk. Read more about BURROWING OWL at Montrose!

As a graduate student from the Buffalo State College Art Conservation Department, I am completing my summer internship at the Field Museum. I’m working in the Regenstein Conservation Lab with J.P. Brown, the Regenstein Conservator for Pacific Anthropology.  Our main project for the summer has been rehousing the Field Museum’s collection of Sulka dance masks from New Britain, Papua New Guinea Read more about Rehousing Sulka Masks