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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

Planting the Future: Teaching Kids to Appreciate and Protect Native Ecosystems Room 45Michelle Bolander

11:15am CST

Engaging with Elected Officials on the Environment Room 29Bridget Degnen • Ann Williams • Laura Fine • Patricia Theresa Flynn Stop Awareness-Raising and Start Behavior-Changing! Room 46Stephanie Foerster

12:30pm CST

Expanding and democratizing science through teen-created research projects Rooms 54, 56, 58David Bild Snake Road: Reshaping Attitudes Towards Snakes Through Landscape Management Room 27Johnny Baakliny

1:15pm CST

The Giant Puffball: Meet Illinois' first official state mushroom and the students who made it happen Room 40Erin Hemmer • Laura McCoy Pollen Specialist Bees: Host Plants, Threats, Conservation Rooms 30, 31Heather Holm

2:15pm CST

Lessons learned confronting predator killing contests Room 46Jane McBride • David Parsons, MS

3:15pm CST

The Non-Filmmaker’s Guide to Filmmaking Room 49Bob Dolgan Community Scientists and Fungal Conservation Room 47Gregory M. Mueller Examining Coyote Behavioral Tendencies Via Novel Object Testing Rooms 24, 25Katie Baughman

4:15pm CST

Empowering Preschoolers as Environmental Stewards Room 49Megan Gessler • Lisa Gaynor Community Science as an Avenue for Mutually Beneficial Relationships Between People, Plants and Pollinators Room 42Nicole Machuca • Mario Longoni Mushrooms of Illinois Rooms 30, 31Andrew Miller Rethinking Lawns: lawn alternative plantings in natural areas and at home Rooms 24, 25Rebecca Barak • Lauren Umek • Liz Anna Kozik Herping as the new birding: Connecting with our scaly friends, responsibly. Room 29Regina Witherell-Poe

5:00pm CST

Closing Plenary/Social Hour/Poster Session Rooms 21-23 & 32-34Joey Santore
 
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