The chapter holds monthly programs on various topics related to native plants. The chapter also sponsors and organizes a variety of other events throughout the year. These include volunteer opportunities and social events. For full details about all of the chapter’s events, view the programs and events listed below. The Volunteer page lists the various activities where we need help from members.
Programs & Events are free and open to the public (unless otherwise designated as a members-only program). Some of our programs are being held online via Zoom. To register for a specific virtual program, visit the individual program links below.
Recordings of some of our past programs can be found on our YouTube Channel.
Events Archive: 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Upcoming Events
April 2024
Board Meeting Members Only
Mennonite Church of Normal, 805 S Cottage Ave, Normal, IL, 61761 Map
Members Only Free Event Chapter Board Meeting Wheelchair Accessible Public Restroom Free Public Parking
Regular monthly board meeting
Plants of Concern: A Rare Plant Monitoring Program
Mennonite Church of Normal, 805 S Cottage Ave, Normal, IL, 61761 Map
Live Stream Available
Public Welcome Will be Recorded Free Event Program/Speaker Presentation Wheelchair Accessible Public Restroom Free Public Parking Drinking Fountains
Note: This program will also be live-streamed and recorded. Check back here closer to the program date for the link to join the livestream.
The unglaciated terrain of extreme southern Illinois is home to a variety of plant species not found in the rest of the state, making many of them rare in Illinois. Yet the resources available to monitor and protect them are more limited. To alleviate this, the Plants of Concern (POC) program based out of the Chicago Botanic Garden seeks volunteers to help monitor rare plants. Housed in the Gibson lab at Southern Illinois University, coordinator Chris Benda organizes volunteer community scientists to monitor rare plants and report population data to POC, and ultimately, the natural heritage division at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Join us as Chris explains the goals of the program and hopes for the future of the effort.
Presenter Bio:
Chris Benda is a botanist and past president of the Illinois Native Plant Society (2015-2016). Currently, he works as a Researcher at Southern Illinois University, where he coordinates the Plants of Concern Southern Illinois Program and teaches The Flora of Southern Illinois. Besides working at SIU, he conducts botanical fieldwork around the world, teaches a variety of classes at The Morton Arboretum and leads nature tours for Camp Ondessonk. He has research appointments with the University of Illinois and Argonne National Laboratory, and is an accomplished photographer and author of several publications about natural areas in Illinois. He is also known as Illinois Botanizer and can be reached by email at [email protected].
Chris plans on having some of his native plant-related merchandise for sale after this program.
May 2024
Board Meeting Members Only
Mennonite Church of Normal, 805 S Cottage Ave, Normal, IL, 61761 Map
Members Only Free Event Chapter Board Meeting Wheelchair Accessible Public Restroom Free Public Parking
Regular Monthly Board Meeting
Flower Bugs
Mennonite Church of Normal, 805 S Cottage Ave, Normal, IL, 61761 Map
Live Stream Available
Public Welcome Will be Recorded Program/Speaker Presentation Wheelchair Accessible Public Restroom Free Public Parking Drinking Fountains
Note: This program will also be live-streamed and recorded. Check back here closer to the program date for the link to join the livestream
Extensive field surveys of flower-visiting insects over the past 6 years have revealed that many true bugs show preferences for one or more native plants. Using her background in plant ecology Angella Moorehouse has put together a book on “Flower Bugs” with hundreds of photos to aid in field identification along with information on the plant associations and how to find these bugs. Learn more about this book and highlights from it in this presentation.
Presenter Bio:
Angella received a master's degree in avian and plant ecology from Western Illinois University in Macomb. For the past 27 years she has worked as a field representative for the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission in west-central Illinois where she works with landowners to protect and manage high quality natural areas through permanent conservation easements. She was mentored in the field by several entomology professionals and acquired the skill of butterfly identification in the late 1990s. This passion later expanded to include other groups of insects with a focus on pollinators. Angella is an avid photographer and uses her photographs to document natural diversity and shares her enthusiasm for nature through educational outreach.
Angella hopes to have a limited number of copies of her book "Flower Bugs" available for purchase after the program.
Native Plant Sale
White Oak Township Community Buidling, 202 Lincoln St N, Carlock, IL, 61725 Map
Public Welcome Seed/Plant Sale Wheelchair Accessible Public Restroom Free Public Parking Drinking Fountains
For more information, please visit https://illinoisprairie.wildones.org/nativeplantsale/
June 2024
Donovan Park: Program and Tour Members Only
Members Only Free Event Program/Speaker Presentation Nature Walk/Hike Free Public Parking
Chapter members will be emailed information about this program.
July 2024
Board Meeting Members Only
Mennonite Church of Normal, 805 S Cottage Ave, Normal, IL, 61761 Map
Members Only Free Event Chapter Board Meeting Wheelchair Accessible Public Restroom Free Public Parking
Regular Monthly Board Meeting
What You Should Know About Herbicide Drift
Mennonite Church of Normal, 805 S Cottage Ave, Normal, IL, 61761 Map
Public Welcome Limited Access Recording Free Event Program/Speaker Presentation Wheelchair Accessible Public Restroom Free Public Parking
Herbicide drift is a major threat to health and integrity of our forest and prairie ecosystems. Prairie Rivers Network has been monitoring and documenting herbicide injuries to broadleaf plants on both public and private lands for 6 years. This presentation will provide background on the issue of herbicide drift, discuss the monitoring data and tissue analysis results, as well as provide insight into ecological consequences of chronic exposure to herbicide drift, especially to our trees, and discuss possible solutions to the issue.
Presenter Bio:
Kim Erndt-Pitcher is Prairie Rivers Network’s (PRN) Director of Ecological Health. She works with numerous partners around the state to protect the integrity of our ecological systems. She also leads PRN’s pesticide and pollinator habitat conservation programs.
She has worked for Prairie Rivers Network for over 12 years. Before coming to PRN she was a crew member and environmental educator at Living Lands and Waters based in Moline, Illinois, and she also worked as a technician with the USGS in Kansas City, Missouri. She has spent most of her career working to promote and advocate for the protection of biodiversity and the integrity of natural systems.
Kim has a B.A. in Biology and M.S. in Biology with a focus on Ecotoxicology from the University of Central Missouri and was a NSF IGERT Fellow - Watershed Science and Technology, Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
August 2024
Board Meeting Members Only
Mennonite Church of Normal, 805 S Cottage Ave, Normal, IL, 61761 Map
Members Only Free Event Chapter Board Meeting Wheelchair Accessible Public Restroom Free Public Parking
Regular Monthly Board Meeting
Volunteer Stewards - Preserving Our Natural Areas
Mennonite Church of Normal, 805 S Cottage Ave, Normal, IL, 61761 Map
Public Welcome Program/Speaker Presentation Wheelchair Accessible Public Restroom Free Public Parking
Details TBA
September 2024
Board Meeting Members Only
Mennonite Church of Normal, 805 S Cottage Ave, Normal, IL, 61761 Map
Members Only Free Event Chapter Board Meeting Wheelchair Accessible Public Restroom Free Public Parking
Regular Monthly Board Meeting
Bats of Illinois
Mennonite Church of Normal, 805 S Cottage Ave, Normal, IL, 61761 Map
Public Welcome Will be Recorded Free Event Program/Speaker Presentation Wheelchair Accessible Public Restroom Free Public Parking Drinking Fountains
Learn about the bats of Illinois in this presentation by Dr. Joy O'Keefe, including steps you can take to provide habitat for bats in your backyard or neighborhood. Understand threats to bats and simple ways you can help to protect your local bat populations. Hear about the international effort to count and monitor bats across North America and how to get involved with this program.
Presenter Bio:
Dr. O’Keefe is an assistant professor and wildlife extension specialist in natural resources and environmental sciences at UIUC. She has been studying bats for 23 years. Her research program tackles applied questions and yields solutions to conservation challenges facing imperiled bat populations.
October 2024
Board Meeting Members Only
Mennonite Church of Normal, 805 S Cottage Ave, Normal, IL, 61761 Map
Members Only Free Event Chapter Board Meeting Wheelchair Accessible Public Restroom Free Public Parking
Regular Monthly Board Meeting
Monarchs vs Milkweeds
Mennonite Church of Normal, 805 S Cottage Ave, Normal, IL, 61761 Map
Public Welcome Program/Speaker Presentation Wheelchair Accessible Public Restroom Free Public Parking Drinking Fountains
Details TBA
November 2024
Annual Meeting and Native Seed Exchange Members Only
Mennonite Church of Normal, 805 S Cottage Ave, Normal, IL, 61761 Map
Members Only Wheelchair Accessible Public Restroom Free Public Parking Drinking Fountains
Details will be emailed to chapter members.