Students enjoyed a variety of delicious and healthy foods at the 2008 Environmental Studies Picnic, held in the barn of a nearby farm.

Upcoming Events and Speakers

"Illinois Birds: A Century of Change"  by Dr. Jeff Walk

Thursday, February 9th

7:00pm

CNS C101

This talk is based on the book of the same name that Dr. Walk and his ornithologist colleagues published in 2010.  From 1906-1909, Stephen Forbes, Alfred Gross and Howard Ray conducted the first quantitative bird survey in North America, documenting the numbers of all species they observed in all habitats across Illinois with a specific, repeatable method.  Richard and Jean Graber repeated the study from 1956-1958, and Dr. Walk and his colleagues replicated their efforts from 2006-2008.  

“Tom Ulrich, Nature Photographer”

Monday, February 27^th  

7:00 pm

CNS C101  

Originally from Illinois, Tom now resides outside of Glacier National Park in Montana, but returns to Illinois each year on his photo tour.  He will take us on a photographic journey of the year 2011 in the life of a wildlife photographer.  This year’s focus will include the Nature of New Zealand and Glacier National Park, with a special feature on warblers and the hummingbirds of Ecuador.

Dr. Stanley A. Temple, Senior Fellow at the Aldo Leopold Foundation,

Wednesday, March 21^st

11:00 am and 7:00pm

CNS C101

At 11am, Dr. Temple will talk on “Aldo Leopold and "the Oldest Task in Human History"which Leopold defined as "living on a piece of land without spoiling it," or in conservation biology parlance, “living sustainably”). Later that same day, Dr. Temple will speak at 7pm on "Aldo Leopold, Phenology and Climate Change."  Aldo Leopold, the father of wildlife management who was best known as the author of A Sand County Almanac, was a keen observer of the natural world.  Throughout his life he kept daily journals recording observations of seasonal events, especially those occurring at his beloved "shack" on the Leopold farm, which was the setting for many essays in A Sand County Almanac. Leopold's meticulous phenological observations have provided us with an unparalleled record of when plants bloomed, birds migrated and other natural events. Comparing his observations of hundreds of natural events to recent records helps us understand how climate change is affecting the ecological community.  

Selected Past Events and Speakers

"Protecting Illinois Wilderness: New Horizons"
Tuesday September 29
Terri Treacy, Conservation Field Representative with the Sierra Club Illinois Chapter.

"Aeroecology of Flying Animals Encountering Wind Turbines"
Tuesday, March 31
Dr. Ron Larkin,  Illinois Natural History Survey and the Center for Wildlife Ecology at the University of Illinois.

"Alaska Conservation Issues"
Thursday, March 12
Lauren Hierl, the Alaska Policy Associate for the National Audubon Society

“NatureScaping”
Thursday, February 19
Angela Smith, Director of the Sugar Grove Nature Center in Funks Grove

"Nature Photography"
Monday, March 9
Tom Ulrich, renowned nature photographer

The Heat is On WEEK
Feb 2-6, 2009
The heat is on during the First 100 Days Challenge for universities across the country to green our own actions. What can YOU do?
IWU’s GREENetwork  and the SSC sponsored an Action Week  called “The Heat is On” from Feb 2-6 with daily events, including:

Blackout Monday –  Option to go one hour without electricity, with activities for those who chose to do so.  Community members and students also attended a town hall meeting to learn about climate change, green energy, and green legislation.

Take-No-Tray (TNT) Tuesday – Encouragement to go tray-less at meals to trim eco-costs and waistlines

Water Wednesday – Take the “Think-Outside the Bottle” Pledge to get the oil out of your water.    Think Outside the Bottle Pledge and Taste Test from 11-1:30 in the Dugout    Showing of "Flow: For the Love of Water", 8pm, Minor Meyer Welcome Center Auditorium

Hot Thursday – Showing of the Frontline film HEAT (a global investigation into one of the greatest challenges mankind has ever faced- combating climate change) and a panel discussion,

The Area de Conservacion Guanacaste: Inventing New Modes of  Conservation, Research, and Education in a Costa Rican Wildland
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Dr. Jeff Klemens, Research Fellow at the University of Minnesota and IWU alumnus

Putting Lipstick on a Corpse: Appalachia and the local costs of U.S. energy policy
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Johanna Haas, Assistant Professor of Geography and Geology,  Illinois State University

Climate Tipping Points:  The Threat to the Planet
February 19, 2008
Dr. James Hansen, Director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Institute for Space Studies

Slide show and talk by Tom Ulrich on his Nature Photography
Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Focus the Nation: A Day of Teach-in on Global Climate Change
Thursday, January 3, 2008

The Future of Utah's Red Rock Wilderness
April 19, 2007
Clayton Daughenbaugh, Southern Utah Wilderness

"Leopold's Legacy and the Conservation Crises in Today's Political Climate
"March 13, 2006
Wellington Buddy Hufacker, Executive Director of the Aldo Leopold Foundation

"Cougars in the Midwest"
February 16, 2006
Dr. Clay Neilsen, Southern Illinois University

"Treating Sewage: Science, Technology and Labor in an Industrial Ecosystem: 1914 to Present"
February 3, 2006
Dr. Daniel Schnieder, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

"The Age of Nuclear Terrorism"
October 7, 2004
Dr. Helen Caldicott

Johannesburg World Summit Discussion
April 8, 2003
Michael Dorsey, National Director of the Sierra Club