A Ticket to Ride…or Otherwise Actively Commute Remember how much you longed for your first car? Whether it was a hot rod or a hot mess, it didn’t much matter—a car meant freedom, a passport to the endless road. Today, though, there’s a growing movement away from the car culture, with close to 30 percent … Read more
You’ve probably heard that wind turbines result in epic bird kills. But ornithologist Caleb Gordon, PhD, believes that’s one epic misconception. With 20+ years studying migrant avian ecology, including creating the Shaw Woods Avian Monitoring Project at Lake Forest College and serving as a federally licensed master bird bander, Gordon now studies the ecological impact … Read more
Flight Club: Bird vs. City The average bird can cruise between three-inch openings in dense woodlands at upwards of 20-30 mph. So they should have no problem maneuvering their way around giant urban buildings, right? The answer is…not so much. Experts say that between 100 million and 1 billion birds die each year in North … Read more
—Written by Liam Heneghan, PhD, professor in the EcoMyths Alliance partner DePaul University Department of Environmental Science. A short note in which I conjecture on a potentially vast local extinction event of Midwestern soil organisms especially of those inhabiting the leaf litter of woodlands. In our evolutionary progression humans scrambled from the leafy treetops about … Read more
So You Think You Can Plant: The Native Gardening Routine When it comes to plant shopping, competition is stiff. Thousands of varieties vie for your attention, wooing you with color, texture, hardiness—whatever it takes to please the judge, aka, you. These plants have to be both visually pleasing and succeed in your space, be it … Read more
Feeling inspired by all the good buzz around native plants? (For more on that, read the myth!) We’ve rounded up your best bets to pick up new seeds and seedlings now, from plant sales through the spring, to actual stores specializing in native plants open year-round. Arbor Day Plant Sale at Morton Arboretum April 27-29 … Read more
With close to 2,000 species native to the Chicago region alone, choosing the best ones for your garden can seem overwhelming at best. A few pieces of good news: Gerould Wilhelm, author of Plants of the Chicago Region, says only about 100 of those will actually do well in the typical garden (for more on … Read more
With spring gardening season in full effect, we thought we’d dive into the topic of native plants. During the first EcoMyths segment on Worldview, Kate Sackman and Jerome McDonnell get the dirt from DePaul University ecologist Dr. Liam Heneghan, and Dr. Andrew Hipp, curator of the Morton Arboretum. And for more fun-filled info, read the … Read more
Hunger Games: Bird Feeding Edition We all know we’re not supposed to feed wild animals (for those who don’t, here’s why)…but do the same rules apply to birds in our backyards? We chatted with a couple of Chicagoland’s foremost ornithologists for their take on using bird feeders, and turns out, they both give them a … Read more
The Bright Stuff: Keeping Your Cool in the Lightbulb Aisle These days, walking into the lightbulb section at a home goods store is like entering an alternate reality, one filled with strange futuristic shapes and a head-reeling supply of options. How do you navigate the extreme selection without mental overload? Allow us to light the … Read more
