Chapter Events

Board meeting

NOTE: This virtual program will take place on Zoom and requires advance registration.  Please click the "Register" button at the bottom of this program description to register for this program. 

Caring for nursery trees is much different than those grown in the wild. In this talk we’ll look at how nursery practices, planting and pruning can affect the health of a tree and how better to select and cultivate them. We’ll also discuss older (veteran) trees and the special techniques used to care for them.

Presenter Bio:

Christopher Roddick is an Arborist specializing in mature tree preservation. For over 25 years he was the head Arborist at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and now consults with landscape architects, designers, and others on tree health, protection in construction, and specialized pruning. He is also the author of the Tree Care Primer, a guide to caring for young, mature, and veteran trees. His website is www.sweetbirchtree.com.

Board meeting

NOTE:  This virtual program will take place on Zoom and requires advance registration.  Please click the "Register" button at the bottom of this program description to register for this program. 

In 2003 Fred Delcomyn imagined his central Illinois backyard of two and half acres, farmed many years for corn and soybeans, restored to tallgrass prairie. Over the next seventeen years, Delcomyn, with the help of his friend James Ellis planned, prepared, planted seeds, photographed, and burned these acres to reconstruct a prairie. In this program, Delcomyn and Ellis will recount the journey of and lessons learned about prairie restoration through photographs and stories that they chronicle in their 2021 book, A Backyard Prairie: The Hidden Beauty of Tallgrass and Wildflowers, published by Southern Illinois University Press. More information about this book can be found at http://siupress.com/books/978-0-8093-3819-1

Presenter Bio’s:

Fred Delcomyn us a professor emeritus of the School of Integrative Biology at the University of Illinois, is the author of more than 100 popular and scientific articles. Since 2009, he has served on the board of directors of Grand Prairie Friends, a not-for-profit conservation organization and land trust involved with natural areas protection and restoration in east-central Illinois.  He completed training as a Master Naturalist in 2017, and his writing and photography are often featured in Field Notes, the quarterly newsletter of the East Central Illinois Master Naturalist program.

James L. Ellis works as the Natural Areas Coordinator for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and is a botanist with the Illinois Natural History Survey. He has published articles on prairie ecology, conservation, and management for both academic and general audiences. He is a long-time member and volunteer with Grand Prairie Friends where he served on the board of directors from 2000-2021.

Board meeting

NOTE:  This virtual program will take place on Zoom and requires advance registration.  Please click the "Register" button at the bottom of this program description to register for this program. THIS PROGRAM WILL NOT BE RECORDED. PLEASE CANCEL YOUR REGISTRATION IF YOU ARE NOLONGER ABLE TO ATTEND.

Countless pollinator species have suffered dramatic declines in recent years. It’s a serious problem for all of us since pollinators are responsible for the reproduction of 80% of all flowering plants, and at least 30% of the food that we eat.  Unfortunately, most of our landscapes offer little in the way of appropriate habitat and forage for these essential animals. With simple strategies, you can attract and support not just bees, but an array of pollinators that have different requirements. Learn best practices for pollinators from the author of The Pollinator Victory Garden: Win the War on Pollinator Decline with Ecological Gardening.

Presenter Bio:

Kim Eierman is the Founder of EcoBeneficial LLC. She is an environmental horticulturist and ecological landscape designer specializing in native plants. Based in New York, Kim teaches at the New York Botanical Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, The Native Plant Center, Rutgers Home Gardeners School and several other institutions.

Kim is an active speaker nationwide on many ecological landscape topics. presenting for industry conferences, sustainability events, corporate events, environmental organizations, and other groups interested in environmental improvements.  Kim also provides horticultural consulting and native landscape design to homeowners and commercial clients, including landscape architects and engineers.

In addition to being a Certified Horticulturist through the American Society for Horticultural Science, Kim is an Accredited Organic Landcare Professional, a Steering Committee member of The Native Plant Center, and a member of The Ecological Landscape Alliance and Garden Communicators International.

Kim is the author of the book, The Pollinator Victory Garden: Win the War on Pollinator Decline with Ecological Gardening.

Earth Day is April 22, 2023.  Earth Day, now an annual event, started in 1970 with the purpose of increasing awareness of ways to protect our environment.  To celebrate Earth Day 2023, the Illinois Prairie chapter of Wild Ones is sponsoring an opportunity for our young environmentalists to share their Earth Day ideas by creating an original Earth Day poster. Encourage the child in your life to create a poster about their favorite environmental cause. Posters will be shared online for all to see.  Maybe their poster will be the spark that someone needs to help save our environment. To learn more about this opportunity visit https://illinoisprairie.wildones.org/earth-day/

Board meeting

Note:  This program will also be live-streamed.  Please use this link to join the livestream https://youtube.com/live/mCZbRQn9M2I .

In recent decades, there has been a worrying decline of many insect pollinators, which provide critical services to natural and agricultural ecosystems. This presentation will highlight the importance of the over 4,000 native bee species of North America, showing bees are much more than just honeybees. The proposed threats to bee pollinator health, and hence the services they provide, will then be discussed. We will finish with some potential ways that we can help. Following a question-and-answer session, the program will conclude with a tour of a colony of a native bumble bee and its inhabitants, along with the availability of printed information on native bees and their conservation.

About the speaker:

Dr. Ben Sadd is currently an Associate Professor of Infectious Disease Ecology in the School of Biological Sciences at Illinois State University, after joining ISU in the Fall of 2013. He received his M.Sc. from the University of Sheffield, U.K., in 2004 and his Ph.D. in 2008 from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland. Subsequently, he was a Postdoctoral researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, a Junior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies, Berlin, Germany, and returning to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology a Senior Research Associate. Ben is an evolutionary ecologist with a particular fascination with infectious diseases and what influences how an organism is able to defend itself against the threat of infection. He focuses on insects as a model system, and has studied bumble bee immunity, health, and disease since 2004. He has published over 60 peer reviewed papers in international journals, including a recent comprehensive review entitled, “Global Trends in Bumble Bee Health.” His work has been cited over 4,200 times. Since being at ISU, Ben has also received funding from the US Department of Agriculture, National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. His research team at ISU is currently made up of 2 PhD students, 3 MS students, 4 undergraduates, and 2 post docs. Ben and his team believe that broad communication of science is critical, and regularly take part in outreach events, including with local schools and conservation organizations.

Hikers visited this area to see the local flora and fauna.

Hikers visited this area to see the local flora and fauna.

Board meeting

Use this LINK if you would like to join the livestream of this program.

While small in size, backyard native plant gardens can provide important habitat. Wildflower gardens also provide living classrooms, providing opportunities to learn plant, bird and butterfly identification at all life stages. There also are many ways native gardens help conserve wildlife, water, reduce chemical use and add beauty to your home. Please come prepared to share tips and ideas.

About the Speaker:

Chris Young is Director of IDNR’s Office of Resource Conservation, overseeing the divisions of Wildlife, Fisheries, Forestry, Natural Heritage, Private Lands, and Contaminant Assessment. He has a Master's Degree in Environmental Science from the University of Illinois Springfield. He also is an accomplished nature photographer and writer.

Hike to observe flora and fauna

Please visit our plant sale page for the most up to date information and a tentative list of plants we hope to have available for purchase.

https://illinoisprairie.wildones.org/nativeplantsale/

Hike to see flora and fauna and prairie restoration

Chapter members will be emailed information on this event.

Board meeeting

Note: This program will also be livestreamed.  Join the livestream HERE.

True to its Grand Prairie Division roots, Grand Prairie Friends (GPF) Land Trust, a non-profit conservation land trust began in 1984 through the effort of six volunteers banding together to save a six-acre prairie remnant in Champaign County. Fast forward almost forty years and this organization now preserves, protects and promotes over 1,200-acres of natural spaces across 130-miles of east-Central IL. Join us for a visual field trip to GPF’s unique spaces including the only protected sand prairie pond in east-central Illinois; five cemetery prairies and a Coles County forest dedicated to endangered bats.

About the Speaker:

As a central-Illinois native, Sarah Livesay graduated from Eastern Illinois University and pursued a career in field biology and environmental education. For the past 20 years, Sarah’s focus has been the development and capacity building of conservation non-profit entities. Sarah has provided services to state, national and international non-profits including the Environmental Education Assn of Illinois, National Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and Japan Parks & Recreation, among others.

In 2017, Sarah was hired as the first Executive Director for Grand Prairie Friends. Since 1984, Grand Prairie Friends has served as a conservation land trust which preserves, protects and restores over 1,200 acres of natural areas across East-Central Illinois.

In her personal time, Sarah is in her ninth year as a Commissioner for the Champaign County Forest Preserve District and, along with her husband Jeff, are fledging her two sons as they leave the nest for college.

Hike to see flora and fauna

Board meeting

Join Illinois Prairie Chapter of Wild Ones in a presentation and discussion of various experiences with growing native plants. We want this to be a learning experience for all who attend. A PowerPoint presentation will accompany the interactive discussion. Come share your experiences with us.

Note: Due to the interactive nature of this program we will not be livestreaming  this program. However, this program will be recorded and available to our chapter members.

Hike to identify native trees

Board meeting

Note:  This program will also be live-streamed. To join the livestream use this LINK .

Come learn about the wild world of moths and how to find them.  The diversity of moths is incredible and once you open your eyes to their presences you will notice them everywhere.  In Illinois alone there are several thousand different species you may encounter.  We will explore the various shapes, sizes, colors, and how moths are important to local ecosystems.  

About the Speaker:

Trevor Edmonson lives in Kankakee County, IL and is site manager for the Kankakee Sands Preserve for the Nature Conservancy in Indiana.  He also has been writing about nature regularly since 2016 for the Kankakee Daily Journal.   He serves on the Midwest Board for the Society of Ecological Restoration and is also a life member of the Illinois Native Plant Society.  He enjoys macro photography, hiking, insects and much more.

Evening hike to see the remnant cemetery prairie

Board meeting

Note:  This program will also be recorded.  The recording will be available on our YouTube channel soon after the program.

Andy Stahr will present basic information on the importance of using native plants in the landscape and how native plants are grown, harvested, and processed at their native seed nursery in LaSalle County, IL for sale to the public. Participants will learn about how the native seed nursery was established, the challenges faced during start-up and current operations, and how individuals can help preserve and promote the genetics of Illinois’ remnant landscape through partnership with the nursery.

About the Speaker:

Andy Stahr is a University of Illinois graduate with a degree in Landscape Architecture. In addition to being Co-Owner of The Prairie State Nursery, he currently works for IDOT as a Roadside Management Specialist maintaining and establishing native vegetation along Illinois roadsides. For over 15 years prior to joining IDOT, Andy worked for an ecological restoration firm designing, installing, and maintaining natural areas throughout the Chicago Region.

Join Wild Ones Honorary Director Heather Holm as she explores the nesting habitats, life cycles, pollen collection, brood rearing, and general characteristics of some of the most common native bees in eastern North America, while highlighting the pollination of native plants and the mutualism between native plants and native bees.

When creating and managing thriving habitats for native bees, many factors such as seasonal phenology, nesting strategies, and flower preferences must be considered—and with approximately 3,600 species in North America (north of Mexico), there are many unique aspects to keep in mind when managing successful landscapes for bees. 

Chapter members will be provided additional details closer to the event date.

Join us for an enlightening webinar featuring authors, Neil Diboll and Hilary Cox, as they present their latest book, "The Gardener’s Guide to Prairie Plants." This comprehensive compendium is a treasure trove of knowledge for gardeners looking to incorporate native prairie plants into their landscapes. Neil and Hilary will delve into the making and application of this essential guide, sharing rich historical and ecological insights about prairie ecosystems, all while showcasing stunning images of prairie flora. 

Board meeting