World Wildlife Fund And The Field Museum To Honor Marshall Field

5/7/2002

From: Kerry Green Zobor of the World Wildlife Fund, 202-778-9509 or 847-853-1384

WASHINGTON, May 7 -- World Wildlife Fund and Chicago's Field Museum will honor Marshall Field for his decades of leadership and commitment to World Wildlife Fund and The Field Museum at an event to be held at The Field Museum this evening.

The event will pay tribute to Marshall Field's years of service to both conservation and cultural programs in Chicago and around the world. Through Marshall Field's vision, World Wildlife Fund and The Field Museum were brought together to collaborate on projects which protect the Earth's biodiversity and steward our planet's magnificent natural heritage.

The Field Museum is a collection-based research and cultural institution devoted to natural and cultural diversity. Regarded as one of the greatest natural history museums in the world, The Field Museum attracts over a million visitors a year. Its collections, exhibitions, research, conservation, and educational initiatives provide a vital resource for a worldwide community of scientists and researchers.

World Wildlife Fund, known worldwide by its panda logo, has led international efforts to conserve the abundance and diversity of life on Earth for over four decades. Using the best available science and working with local partners, WWF strives to conserve nature in more than 100 countries around the world. Its ambitious agenda includes saving the Global 200, the most outstanding array of the Earth's diverse habitats; rescuing the world's most endangered species; and curtailing global threats from timber trade to overfishing.

Most recently, Marshall Field's encouragement and support led to a new partnership between the two organizations with the government of Bhutan. This new collaboration will inventory Bhutan's extensive wildlife, support training programs for Bhutanese conservationists, and develop the country's first biodiversity research center and natural history museum. Conservationists from WWF and The Field Museum will work with colleagues in Bhutan on the first comprehensive field inventory of the kingdom's wildlife in a project that could continue for 5 to 10 years.

Tonight's event will be hosted by television journalist Bill Kurtis. All proceeds will benefit the ongoing conservation programs of each organization. Further information can be obtained by contacting Kristen Jacobs at The Field Museum at 312-665-7773.

------ World Wildlife Fund, known worldwide by its panda logo, leads international efforts to protect the diversity of life on earth. Now in its fourth decade, WWF works in more than 100 countries around the globe.