“Rainbow Prairie,” Sugar Grove Prairie, Funks Grove. Photograph by Robert Shaw, Wild Perceptions.
Faculty from the School of Biological Sciences are part of an organizing group bringing the 24th North American Prairie Conference to Illinois State University next summer.
The ISU faculty organizers are Roger Anderson, Victoria Borowicz, Charles Thompson, Scott Sakaluk, and Diane Byers. The conference on July 17–20, 2016, will bring together scientists, managers, and prairie enthusiasts for sharing of research and exchange of ideas.
Featured speakers include:
- Michael Jeffords, co-author of Butterflies of Illinois
- Jeff Walk, co-author of Illinois Birds a Century of Change
- Chris Helzer, author of The Ecology and Management of Prairies in the Central United States
- Rich Henderson, recipient of the John T. Curtis Award for Career Excellence in Ecological Restoration
- Sara Baer, whose research combines ecological theory with restoration ecology
There will be more than 70 oral papers on many aspects of prairie ecology, restoration, management and some innovative ideas on working lands.
This year we will be honoring Pete Schramm, the individual responsible for organizing the first North American Prairie Conference hosted at Knox College in Galesburg in 1968.
Field trips are planned to large-scale high diversity restorations at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie (19,000 acres & Bison), Nachusa Grassland (3,000 acres & Bison), and Efroymson Restoration at Kankakee Sands (7,000 acres) as well as a diversity of other locations throughout the region.
For more information please visit the conference website.
Registration will be available February 1. Early registration deadline is May 1.
Information about submission dates, abstract formatting for oral presentations, posters, and manuscripts for the conference proceedings and sponsor and exhibitor information are available on the conference website. You may submit abstracts for oral papers and posters, and manuscripts for proceedings February 1.
