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.
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Community gardens provide resources for pollinators and people, but little research has explored how to enhance their mutual benefits. Our goals are to identify garden characteristics associated with higher pollinator diversity and mutually beneficial relationships among gardeners and pollinators. We observed >23 genera of bees, wasps, and butterflies at 21 gardens. Among survey respondents (n=171), the minority (24%) correctly identified native pollinators but most (64%) took action to promote pollinators such as choosing specific plants. Further, more frequent butterfly sightings were associated with improved psychological well-being (e.g. relaxation) in the garden. We will discuss the implications of our results for garden management and One Health in cities.
