Wild Things 2025

In the dynamic landscape of social media, the convergence of passion, expertise, and creativity can result in powerful collaboration to transform public engagement and education from ordinary to extraordinary. This session explores how organizations can effectively leverage social media to share information, enhance learning, and meaningfully engage communities. A case-study of a viral series created by The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County will share ways individuals from multiple disciplines came together to harness their passion, technical and creative skills, and knowledge to develop compelling, fun, and educational social media content that increased awareness of the District’s conservation mission.

The session includes a screening of the original short film “Mussel Matters: Saving Critical Species in DuPage County”, created in partnership between North Central College, The Conservation Foundation, and Forest Preserve District of DuPage County. The film highlights local efforts to conserve the freshwater mussel population in Illinois. After the film, staff from the Urban Stream Research Center will share more insight into their work with freshwater mussels as well as other regional aquatic species in need of conservation.

Hybrid invasive cattail (Typha × glauca) establishes dense monocultures throughout eutrophic Great Lakes wetlands. Large-scale restoration research at Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge [Saginaw County, MI] is currently assessing repeat harvesting treatments and cattail-derived-biochar application to reduce Typha dominance and address nutrient loading. Loyola University Chicago graduate researchers are exploring reintroduction of dominant wetland plants (hardstem bulrush & tussock sedge) post-cattail management in a greenhouse experiment. A second graduate study is investigating the impact of cattail management on waterbird occupancy, utilizing machine-learning technology and wildlife recorders. Results will inform land managers on potential solutions to address cattail monocultures to improve biodiversity.

TIERRA is a pilot project from the Brushwood Center’s Health, Equity, and Nature Accelerator program. This project aims to equip Community Health Workers in Lake County with the knowledge, skills, and tools for implementing nature-based, culturally competent, and trauma-informed interventions that improve mental health for communities impacted by environmental injustice and cultural trauma. The Brushwood Center in collaboration with community partners are working together to cocreate an 8 week intervention program focused on cultivating well being by building connections to the self, one’s community and nature by Transforming painful Internal Experiences for greater Resilience and Restoration through the practice of Acceptance (TIERRA).

This is an informal natural history discussion of the various hunting wasps and parasitoids you might encounter on flowers, fences, trails, and other habitats in the Chicago Area.

The coastal region of Illinois, a five-mile band hugging the shore of Lake Michigan is tremendously important for millions of birds that migrate through our area every spring and fall, stopping over at important stopover natural habitats that many people and partners manage, to rest and refuel on their migration journey. Audubon Great Lakes is excited to share a new interactive web tool to inform the enhancement of coastal habitat for birds during this critical migratory stopover period.