Everyday Environment 2025

It’s July 19, 2023. Standing at a trailhead within Skokie Lagoons, I was armed with close-focus binoculars and a clipboard, about to embark on a leisurely walk. It was a pleasant summer day at 79°F, the sun brightly shining with just a couple of clouds dotting the sky, and feeling only the...

When the Everyday Environment team started brainstorming wildlife as our season three topic, we got excited to talk to experts about different cool species that can be found across our state, like armadillos and bison. But when we started reaching out to invite folks to be guests, we learned that...

In the underground world of any prairie, root systems crisscross and extend downward to create an underground maze. As the roots of grasses and flowers grow and search for nutrients, they may find themselves exposed and no longer surrounded by soil, but rather growing into an underground opening....

In late May, I toured an urban central Illinois woodland alongside my colleagues. Many of them have birding experience and noted birds as they appeared along the trail. We saw a red-tailed hawk, European starling, brown thrasher, northern cardinal, American robin, and house finch.Something I often...

For 25 years, the Urban Coyote Research Project has been studying the ecology of urban coyotes in the Chicago area. Researchers monitor and examine coyote behavior, health, and genetics through live capture and radio-collaring, led by Dr. Stanley Gehrt from Ohio State University and Chris...

In the past decade, people living in southern Illinois have seen armadillos in their backyards, in the field, or, in most cases, as roadkill. Sightings of armadillos are becoming common as they continue what appears to be a northward expansion. Armadillos have become established in the region, and...

Tallgrass prairie is one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world, and yet there is hope for the future of the ecosystem that defines Illinois, aka the prairie state. Tallgrass prairie is an open grassland ecosystem characterized by abundant tall grasses like big bluestem, Indian grass, and...

The world is teeming with biodiversity: Fungi, plants, insects, animals, and all of the living things. Often, these things exist unknowingly right alongside us. In our woods, in our streams, in our skies, and in our soil. It’s understandable that we don’t see the biodiversity around us. Sometimes,...

Sports enthusiasts and data lovers go hand in hand — just like hot dogs and mustard at Wrigley Field. Recently, I took a deep dive into the Illinois Department of Natural Resources database, exploring historical trends in hunting and fishing license sales, as...

A public fish hatchery is a facility that raises fish from an early life stage, such as an egg or freshly hatched fry, to a larger size, with the intention of stocking them into a body of water where they could eventually be caught by a recreational angler or commercial fisher. In Illinois, public...

While commuting to work in southernmost Illinois, I regularly lament seeing crushed eastern box turtles and other roadkill along the mostly rural roads. I sometimes see as many as 5-10 living eastern box turtles on the road in the morning. Unfortunately, I do not always have time or feel that it is...

The diversity of forms of wildlife in Illinois is astonishing. There are hundreds of species of fish and birds, and thousands of species of plants and insects. Illinois is home to over 400 species of bees alone! How do you define wildlife? I think wildlife includes any living organism...

Not very long ago, you couldn’t walk a fencerow or open field in Illinois without your heart skipping a beat as a covey of quail flushed beneath your feet. After a long day in the fields, through all the noise of the world, their iconic two-beat whistle stuck in your head as you try to fall asleep...

Nitrates in drinking water can be a concern in Illinois. In June, nitrate levels of 11.9 mg/L, higher than the federal standard of 10mg/L set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, were discovered in the northern Illinois community of University Park, where bottled water is now being...

When the Everyday Environment team first looked at water as our season two topic, we brainstormed a lot of different approaches. Unlike our first season, where we covered climate change, water is an overarching part of our environment. Yes, water can be a challenge, flooding for example, but it can...

Over a decade ago, I was sitting in a city council meeting in Illinois and on the agenda was a water rate increase. Over-pumping deep groundwater aquifers had degraded water quality, forcing the community to choose between upgrading infrastructure to meet standards or switching to a new water...

Do you know where your drinking water comes from? If you are like most people, the answer is no. While the City of Chicago and many of its surrounding communities access water from Lake Michigan, the rest of northeast Illinois relies primarily on groundwater aquifers for its drinking...

Community systems to manage water were built a long time ago and since then, historical hydrological patterns, or how water moves through the landscape, have changed. Changes in rainfall distribution is increasing the risk of flooding in some regions and leading to water scarcity in others. These...

Urbanization has not historically been too kind to the health and well-being of rivers. It’s a rough irony that something so important to the foundation of human society – rivers flowing through major population centers – has been negatively impacted by the very groups that rely so heavily on them...