CHICAGO — Best known for impressive displays such as Sue, the towering Tyrannosaurus rex, the Field Museum of Natural History's larger mission always has been behind-the-scenes research on its 25 million-piece — and growing — collection of birds, mammals, fish, plants, fossils and artifacts.
Field scientists travel the globe to retrieve specimens that could produce medicines, document the effects of climate change or explain the secrets of genetics.
But the 120-year-old museum now is setting the scientific world abuzz for another reason.
Faced with almost $170 million in debt, the museum is cutting next year's research budget 20 percent, including by shrinking its science staff and merging departments. While natural history museums across the U.S. are under pressure to stay relevant to the public, the Field stands out for its financial woes, experts say, and for speculation about whether the problems will affect its future as a pre-eminent research center.
"It's one of the great natural history museums of the world and has been for a very long time ... but it's on the verge of not being so important," said Michael Donoghue, curator of the botany department at Yale University's Peabody Museum.
Since the beginning of the year, the museum's anthropology, botany, geology and zoology departments have been merged into a single unit. By the end of the year, its science staff likely will have been cut to 152, down from 170. That includes the loss of six of 27 curators, with two others still considering whether to leave.
The museum's financial problems stem from a decision more than a decade ago to issue $90 million in bonds for construction projects that included a subterranean storage center for much of its collection. The museum's board assumed it could raise enough money through a capital campaign to keep the museum on solid footing.
But when that didn't happen, it had to begin dipping into its endowment. Finally, in December, the museum announced that it would cut $5 million from its budget — $3 million of that from the science program — and would try to raise its endowment by $100 million.
Richard Lariviere, who took over as Field president in October, said the museum's troubles, though real, are overstated, and the museum will emerge stronger within two years.
"We have financial challenges, but ... we're in very good shape," he said.
Others say it is doubtful the institution can sustain the same level of scientific inquiry or stage the most innovative exhibits.
"A good reputation and a good, quality program take decades to build, but it's taken just six months" to damage both, said Mark Westneat, a 22-year Field veteran.