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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. 
Saturday, March 1
 

9:00am CST

Opening Plenary: Ode to Joy - A life with dragonflies Rooms 21-25 & 30-34Marla Garrison

10:15am CST

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 Why You Need a Sustainability Group in Your Town Room 51Beth Drucker • Kim Stone • KT Petersen Planting the Future: Teaching Kids to Appreciate and Protect Native Ecosystems Room 45Michelle Bolander Putting the Magic in Cicada: Findings from the Magicicada Soundmap Project Room 49Negin Almassi

11:15am CST

The Interdisciplinary Art of Nature Journaling Room 28Carrie Carlson Updating the Illinois Big Tree Register (IBTR) Room 41Christopher David Benda Extent and consequences of chemical trespass in Illinois ecosystems Rooms 54, 56, 58David Zaya • Kim Erndt-Pitcher • Marty Kemper Long-term monitoring of grassland bird populations at Springbrook Prairie Forest Preserve, DuPage County Room 49Joe Suchecki

12:00pm CST

Lunch Break Rooms 21-23 & 32-34

12:30pm CST

Native plant migrations and contemporary range boundaries in relation to ecoregions and climate change Rooms 30, 31Will Overbeck Cook County Birding Big Year: A Story of Passion, Disappearing Birds, and How We Save What's Left Rooms 52, 53 - Avian Collective presented by Illinois Audubon SocietyTarik Shahzad

1:15pm CST

Insect Photography for Conservation: Going Beyond the Pretty Photo Room 28Susan Kirt Pollen Specialist Bees: Host Plants, Threats, Conservation Rooms 30, 31Heather Holm

2:15pm CST

Engaging Volunteer Leaders to Shape the Future of the Volunteer Stewardship Network Room 49Brooke Thurau • Caleb Grantham Natural Land Institute's Legacy Tree Project Room 42Kim Johnsen • Alan Branhagen Birds and Biodiversity: Protecting and Restoring Habitat for Grassland Birds in the Tallgrass Prairie Region Room 44Jaron Cook

3:15pm CST

Natural History of Chicago Area Hunting Wasps and Parasitoids Room 50Terry Miesle • alan molumby The Chicago Region - A Critical Migratory Bird Corridor: Habitat Management Needs Room 46Eric Secker • BOB FISHER 2024 Brood XIII Periodical Cicadas Rooms 55, 57Carl Strang

4:15pm CST

Healthy Hedges: Buckthorn Removal and Getting Folks to Care Room 28Brett Peto • Matthew Ueltzen Empowering Preschoolers as Environmental Stewards Room 49Megan Gessler • Lisa Gaynor Mushrooms of Illinois Rooms 30, 31Andrew Miller

5:00pm CST

Closing Plenary/Social Hour/Poster Session Rooms 21-23 & 32-34Joey Santore Darien Garden Club supports Wild Things TOO! Rooms 21-23 & 32-34Cathy Streett • Christine Bosacki
 
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