The Wild Things Conference Returns Saturday, March 1, 2025 - SOLD OUT

We’re thrilled to welcome you again to learn and share your expertise with our community. We’ve put together an exciting lineup of workshops and sessions from regional and national experts, plus meet & greets, video content, exhibitors, and sponsors. With over 140 presentations and discussion panels to choose from, the in-person program engages a diverse range of topics, research, and skills, and plenty of opportunities to meet with friends, old and new.

Thank you as well to our sponsors, scholarship supporters, and exhibitors who are all helping to make this another tremendously successful Wild Things.

Tickets for Wild Things 2025 are sold out. For additional information on the 2025 conference, visit wildthingscommunity.org.

**PLEASE NOTE: Some details are subject to change.**

NOTICE: Please be advised that photos and videos will be taken during Wild Things 2025. By attending, you consent to be photographed, filmed, and/or otherwise recorded. Your attendance on this event constitutes your agreement to the use of any resulting media by Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves for promotional, marketing, or any other purpose in perpetuity, without further approval or any compensation.

10:15am CST

Bat Conservation is Human Conservation. Room 48Lara Sviatko Busting Bubbly Barriers on the Chicago River's South Branch Rooms 55, 57Krystyna Kurth • Sage Rossman Ditch Your Ditch: The Village of Downers Grove Bioswale Program Bioswale Program Room 47Kristin Dumoulin Engaging Refugees: The Power of Place-Based Education for Newcomer Populations Room 43Shana Wills • Jacqui Ulrich • Lina Al Maeeni • Payman Rajaie • Wagdi Abdelmouli Harnessing Passion and Collaboration: Elevating Community Engagement and Education to New Heights through Social Media Room 50Jennifer Rydzewski • Anamari Dorgan • Ashley Chex • Jonathan Mullen • Rianna Schwartz Neurodiversity and Birding Rooms 54, 56, 58Jim Giocomo • Ashley Hendee Why You Need a Sustainability Group in Your Town Room 51Beth Drucker • Kim Stone • KT Petersen Climate VIP's: Increasing youth engagement in climate education by making it personal Room 42Jessica Stevens Planting the Future: Teaching Kids to Appreciate and Protect Native Ecosystems Room 45Michelle Bolander 500 Species on 20 Acres: Re-Inventorying “The Island of Rare Plants” Room 26Ryan Sorrells Boats and Bladderworts: Modeling Plant Murderers Room 40Alex Risdal • Spencer Dzyacky The Humble Bumblebee: Pollinator Powerhouse Room 44Robert Sullivan Nine Stories - that taught me and others Room 27Stephen Packard The Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis explained: ecosystem dynamics with applied science for progress in the practice of ecological restoration. Room 46Will Overbeck Arena Birds: Saving the Uncommon Nighthawk Rooms 52, 53 - Avian Collective presented by Illinois Audubon SocietyStephanie Beilke • Mason Fidino • Edward Warden Beavers As Ecosystem Engineers Room 28Rachel Schick Siegel • Jeff Boland-Prom Ecology of Oak Masting Cycles and Red-Headed Woodpecker Behavior: How Weather Drives Acorn Production and Wildlife Dynamics Room 29Anastasia Rahlin • Addy Yoder Putting the Magic in Cicada: Findings from the Magicicada Soundmap Project Room 49Negin Almassi