Wild Things 2025: Grid

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.

Expand

Room 26	Room 27	Room 28	Room 29	Room 40	Room 41	Room 42	Room 43	Room 44	Room 45	Room 46	Room 47	Room 48	Room 49	Room 50	Room 51	Rooms 21-23 & 32-34	Rooms 21-25 & 30-34	Rooms 24, 25	Rooms 30, 31	Rooms 52, 53 - Avian Collective presented by Illinois Audubon Society	Rooms 54, 56, 58	Rooms 55, 57	Rooms 59, 60

8:45am
9:00am
9:15am
9:30am
9:45am
10:00am
10:15am
10:30am
10:45am
11:00am
11:15am
11:30am
11:45am
12:00pm
12:15pm
12:30pm
12:45pm
1:00pm
1:15pm
1:30pm
1:45pm
2:00pm
2:15pm
2:30pm
2:45pm
3:00pm
3:15pm
3:30pm
3:45pm
4:00pm
4:15pm
4:30pm
4:45pm
5:00pm
5:15pm
5:30pm
5:45pm
6:00pm

500 Species on 20 Acres: Re-Inventorying “The Is... 10:15am - 11:00am

Let it Burn!: The History and Practice of Prescr... 11:15am - 12:00pm

Shifts in timing of spring and f... 12:30pm - 1:00pm

Assessing Oak Woodland Ecological Integrity and... 1:15pm - 2:00pm

Nature's New Ally: Can AI (Artificial Intelligen... 2:15pm - 3:00pm

Red Gate Woods: The Forest Preserves of Cook Cou... 3:15pm - 4:00pm

The Dark Side of Habitat Restoration 4:15pm - 5:00pm

Nine Stories - that taught me and others 10:15am - 11:00am

Out In Nature: Creating Safe Spaces in Nature fo... 11:15am - 12:00pm

Snake Road: Reshaping Attitudes... 12:30pm - 1:00pm

Building Resilient Volunteer Communities 1:15pm - 2:00pm

Systemic Racism and Urban Ecology: Applications... 2:15pm - 3:00pm

A Decision Procedure to Minimize Impacts from Pr... 3:15pm - 4:00pm

Selecting Trees for Removal in Oak Savanna and W... 4:15pm - 5:00pm

Beavers As Ecosystem Engineers 10:15am - 11:00am

The Interdisciplinary Art of Nature Journaling 11:15am - 12:00pm

Launching the Illinois Native Pl... 12:30pm - 1:00pm

Insect Photography for Conservation: Going Beyon... 1:15pm - 2:00pm

Propagation of Hemi-parasitic Native Plants 2:15pm - 3:00pm

A nine-year experiment testing the ability of wo... 3:15pm - 4:00pm

Healthy Hedges: Buckthorn Removal and Getting Fo... 4:15pm - 5:00pm

Ecology of Oak Masting Cycles and Red-Headed Woo... 10:15am - 11:00am

Engaging with Elected Officials on the Environme... 11:15am - 12:00pm

Come for the Raptors, Stay for t... 12:30pm - 1:00pm

Speaking for Illinois Wetlands: A Grassroots Res... 1:15pm - 2:00pm

Inclusive Nature Programming, An Experiential Fl... 2:15pm - 3:00pm

Following Nature's Calendar: A Long-term Phenolo... 3:15pm - 4:00pm

Herping as the new birding: Connecting with our... 4:15pm - 5:00pm

Boats and Bladderworts: Modeling Plant Murderers 10:15am - 11:00am

The Enchantment of Light: How Earth’s Star Can B... 11:15am - 12:00pm

The Giant Puffball: Meet Illinois' first officia... 1:15pm - 2:00pm

The Art of Collecting Woody Seeds 3:15pm - 4:00pm

Coordinating Oak Ecosystem Restoration on Privat... 4:15pm - 5:00pm

Buffalo Grove Prairie: 35 years of TLC for a Sma... 10:15am - 11:00am

Updating the Illinois Big Tree Register (IBTR) 11:15am - 12:00pm

Community Engagement at Clark St... 12:30pm - 1:00pm

Working with Your Local Utility 2:15pm - 3:00pm

Scouting Grows Conservation Activity 3:15pm - 4:00pm

Community Roots: Bottom-up Approaches to Tree St... 4:15pm - 5:00pm

Climate VIP's: Increasing youth engagement in cl... 10:15am - 11:00am

Engaging the Public in Water Quality Monitoring 11:15am - 12:00pm

Looking in the wrong place: loca... 12:30pm - 1:00pm

Pembroke Preservation Alliance 1:15pm - 2:00pm

Natural Land Institute's Legacy Tree Project 2:15pm - 3:00pm

Preserving a Legacy: Conservation in Southern Il... 3:15pm - 4:00pm

Community Science as an Avenue for Mutually Bene... 4:15pm - 5:00pm

Engaging Refugees: The Power of Place-Based Educ... 10:15am - 11:00am

Becoming a Watershed Warrior 11:15am - 12:00pm

Restoring ecologically healthy s... 12:30pm - 1:00pm

Giant ants and butterflies bring nature and comm... 1:15pm - 2:00pm

Breaking Down Barriers to Nature: A Conversation... 2:15pm - 3:00pm

Chicago Purple Martin Program 3:15pm - 4:00pm

Seeding the future – developing the seed amplifi... 4:15pm - 5:00pm

The Humble Bumblebee: Pollinator Powerhouse 10:15am - 11:00am

Birds in the Garden: Creating & Enjoying a Bird... 11:15am - 12:00pm

Touching Hearts to Inspire Actio... 12:30pm - 1:00pm

Plants of Concern: Community Science Rare Plant... 1:15pm - 2:00pm

Birds and Biodiversity: Protecting and Restoring... 2:15pm - 3:00pm

Oak woodland restoration at Somme Woods: summer... 3:15pm - 4:00pm

Monitoring Plant-Pollinator Networks to Inform R... 4:15pm - 5:00pm

Planting the Future: Teaching Kids to Appreciate... 10:15am - 11:00am

Illinois' State Wildlife Action Plan 11:15am - 12:00pm

Enhancing the benefits of commun... 12:30pm - 1:00pm

Illinois & Beyond! Herpetological research at th... 1:15pm - 2:00pm

Avoesis: Learning to listen in a noisy city 2:15pm - 3:00pm

Prairies in the city? Conservation, Community En... 3:15pm - 4:00pm

Lessons in Using Rope Dodder to Control Tall/Can... 4:15pm - 5:00pm

The Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis explaine... 10:15am - 11:00am

Stop Awareness-Raising and Start Behavior-Changi... 11:15am - 12:00pm

gROWing Chicago: How Rights-of-W... 12:30pm - 1:00pm

Surveying the Creeks of Cook County 1:15pm - 2:00pm

Lessons learned confronting predator killing con... 2:15pm - 3:00pm

The Chicago Region - A Critical Migratory Bird C... 3:15pm - 4:00pm

Recovering and establishing prairie and savanna... 4:15pm - 5:00pm

Ditch Your Ditch: The Village of Downers Grove B... 10:15am - 11:00am

Chicagoland Botany: A Perspective 11:15am - 12:00pm

The Chiwuakee Prairie - Illinois... 12:30pm - 1:00pm

It Takes a Village: Fighting Climate Impacts and... 1:15pm - 2:00pm

Bat Tracker Community Science: Insights after Se... 2:15pm - 3:00pm

Community Scientists and Fungal Conservation 3:15pm - 4:00pm

Local Advocacy 101: Overcoming Conservation Chal... 4:15pm - 5:00pm

Bat Conservation is Human Conservation. 10:15am - 11:00am

In Plain Site: Lessons from Working with Municip... 11:15am - 12:00pm

Conserving and restoring the thr... 12:30pm - 1:00pm

Conservation through time, in time?: Comments on... 1:15pm - 2:00pm

Stewardship Decisions: Balancing Risks & Rewards 2:15pm - 3:00pm

Raptors Adapting To The Human Environment 4:15pm - 5:00pm

Putting the Magic in Cicada: Findings from the M... 10:15am - 11:00am

Long-term monitoring of grassland bird populatio... 11:15am - 12:00pm

Inclusion Strategies for Early C... 12:30pm - 1:00pm

Environmental DNA: what land stewards want to kn... 1:15pm - 2:00pm

Engaging Volunteer Leaders to Shape the Future o... 2:15pm - 3:00pm

The Non-Filmmaker’s Guide to Filmmaking 3:15pm - 4:00pm

Empowering Preschoolers as Environmental Steward... 4:15pm - 5:00pm

Harnessing Passion and Collaboration: Elevating... 10:15am - 11:00am

Saving Aquatic Species: “Mussel Matters” Film Sc... 11:15am - 12:00pm

Roll call! Post-invasive cattail... 12:30pm - 1:00pm

TIERRA: Integrating Nature Based Solutions with... 1:15pm - 2:00pm

Natural History of Chicago Area Hunting Wasps an... 3:15pm - 4:00pm

Guiding Migratory Bird Stopover Habitat Conserva... 4:15pm - 5:00pm

Why You Need a Sustainability Group in Your Town 10:15am - 11:00am

Origin Stories: How We Get Hooked on Stewardship 11:15am - 12:00pm

Biodiversity Surveys & Zines 1:15pm - 2:00pm

Return of the Prairie Cicadas 4:15pm - 5:00pm

Lunch Break 12:00pm - 12:30pm

The impact of competition with pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata)... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Using LiDAR as a method to detecting invasive shrubs in southern... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Capture Rates of Four Species of Snakes Utilizing Plywood vs Rub... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Before and After: Through Soil 5:00pm - 6:00pm

The effects of salinity levels on Invasive plant species 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Seeing the whole pitcher: understanding the relationship between... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Deciphering Invasion Patterns: Familial Analysis of Non-Native P... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

The effect of urbanization intensity on bumblebee-plant network... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Seasonal Variations in Urban Wetlands 5:00pm - 6:00pm

How to be a good neighbor: An investigation of associational res... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Population health and demographics of semi-urban snake communiti... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Promoting bog conservation through botanical illustration 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Remote sensing to evaluate environmental damage in inaccessible... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

The How to: Creating a BIPOC Conservation based Fellowship (FUEG... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Building Resilience in the River's Shallows Using the Power of P... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Celebrating 50 Years of Restoration at the College of DuPage 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Darien Garden Club supports Wild Things TOO! 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Ditch Maintenance With a Conscience 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Closing Plenary/Social Hour/Poster Session 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Interactions between Midwest flora & fauna 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Effects of interannual variation in climate on breeding bird dem... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Seasonal Use of DuPage County Savanna Preserves by Red-Headed Wo... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Springtails: The Ancient Key to Boosting Global Biodiversity 5:00pm - 6:00pm

A Race Against Typha: Evaluating the Impacts of Typha angustifol... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

The Effect of Urban Native Landscaping on Species Abundance, Ric... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Anthropogenic impacts on painted turtles (Chrysemys picta): Effe... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Invasional Meltdown of Plant Communities in Illinois Wetlands 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Supporting Monarch Population Growth in an Urban Environment 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Glacial topography of the Chicago Region 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Photograms of native plants 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Effects of Small-Scale Burning and Mowing on Restored Prairie Pl... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Tiny Remnants 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Determining the correlation between phenotype and carotenoids co... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

The influence of canopy loss on understory plant invasions acros... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Comparison of Assessing High Versus Low Effort Sampling Protocol... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Orchid Appreciation Society 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Avian Acorn Herbivory in a Midwestern Oak Savanna 5:00pm - 6:00pm

The Environmental Beauty of the Calumet Region 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Unearthed: Art and Transformation 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Urban Salt Marshes, Novel Ecosystem 5:00pm - 6:00pm

The Power of Adaptive Management: Floristic Quality Trends at Ba... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Enhancing Monitoring and Management with Geospatial Technology a... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Native plants and pollinators in Chicagoland 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Integrative Strategies for Remediating Allelopathy: Physicochemi... 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Stewardship and Creating 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Opening Plenary: Ode to Joy - A life with dragonflies 9:00am - 10:00am

Cemetery Prairies: A Matter of Life and Death 11:15am - 12:00pm

Lessons From The Reintroduction... 12:30pm - 1:00pm

Bats: Why we need to conserve them and how you c... 1:15pm - 2:00pm

Exploring floral networks for bees, beetles, fli... 2:15pm - 3:00pm

Examining Coyote Behavioral Tendencies Via Novel... 3:15pm - 4:00pm

Rethinking Lawns: lawn alternative plantings in... 4:15pm - 5:00pm

Restoring oak ecosystems: goals and techniques 11:15am - 12:00pm

Native plant migrations and cont... 12:30pm - 1:00pm

Pollen Specialist Bees: Host Plants, Threats, Co... 1:15pm - 2:00pm

Quit Herbiciding Thistles (in Natural Area Resto... 2:15pm - 3:00pm

Brush pile burn scar recovery trajectories and t... 3:15pm - 4:00pm

Mushrooms of Illinois 4:15pm - 5:00pm

Arena Birds: Saving the Uncommon Nighthawk 10:15am - 11:00am

Sharing our Shore and the Successful Return of t... 11:15am - 12:00pm

Cook County Birding Big Year: A... 12:30pm - 1:00pm

Chicago Black-crowned Night Heron Panel Discussi... 1:15pm - 2:00pm

Northern Saw-whet Owls: Our Secretive Winter Nei... 2:15pm - 3:00pm

Factors impacting the decline of eastern Whip-po... 3:15pm - 4:00pm

Bird migration through urban landscapes: challen... 4:15pm - 5:00pm

Neurodiversity and Birding 10:15am - 11:00am

Extent and consequences of chemical trespass in... 11:15am - 12:00pm

Expanding and democratizing scie... 12:30pm - 1:00pm

Nature Talks: Turning Words into Action 1:15pm - 2:00pm

Eco-restoration in Chicagoland and Southern Indi... 2:15pm - 3:00pm

Making River Restoration Work for Migratory Bird... 3:15pm - 4:00pm

EJ-ucation through the Arts: Teaching the next g... 4:15pm - 5:00pm

Busting Bubbly Barriers on the Chicago River's S... 10:15am - 11:00am

Just Add Water – Restoring Shallow Wetlands for... 11:15am - 12:00pm

Active Golf Course Turned Nature... 12:30pm - 1:00pm

Death By A Thousand Cuts - Encroachment! 1:15pm - 2:00pm

Muirhead Springs: A Mitigation Bank & Migratory... 2:15pm - 3:00pm

2024 Brood XIII Periodical Cicadas 3:15pm - 4:00pm

20 years in the flatwoods: challenges, changes,... 4:15pm - 5:00pm

Community Leader Model: Community-Informed Engag... 11:15am - 12:00pm

Where do we begin; Impactful stories for social... 1:15pm - 2:00pm

24 years of sand hill prairie restoration result... 4:15pm - 5:00pm