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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Terrestrial ecosystem functioning is reliant on animal pollinators to facilitate plant reproduction, though these pollination services face threats due to declining pollinator populations. Bumblebees, key pollinators for many plants, are affected by landscape fragmentation and homogenization, impacting their distribution, abundance, and dietary breadth. Our study (2022–2024) examines bumblebee-plant networks across northern Illinois, focusing on urbanization's influence on bumblebee biodiversity. Preliminary results reveal that bumblebee diets and plant composition differ across urbanization levels, with high-developed sites showing lower interaction complexity. Modularity analysis highlights key plant species supporting bumblebee networks, with urbanization explaining 48% of dietary variation, indicating vulnerability in highly developed areas.
