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Join Friends of the Chicago River on a journey along the Chicago River system for an exploration of our river, natural areas, local wildlife and history, and meet people locally and nationally who are helping bring these amazing places to life. Complemented by programming which can be found on Friends’ website at chicagoriver.org, Inside, Out & About includes a myriad of experiences, art, music, interviews, tours, family activities at home and outside— and we hope it will inspire your sense ...
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In this episode of Inside, Out & About we explore the confluence of nature and art with acclaimed artist Ben Miller and Friends of the Chicago River Executive Director Margaret Frisbie. Miller works in a unique painting style with a rod and reel in a process he calls "fly cast painting." In the spring of 2022 Friends of the Chicago River hosted Mil…
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In this episode we speak with Ashley Wislon the director of conservation for the International Dark Sky Association (IDA). In 2021, the IDA named Forest Preserves of Cook County’s Palos Preserves, in partnership with the Adler Planetarium, as the largest Urban Night Sky Place in the world. The Palos Preserves is part of the largest area of protecte…
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In this episode of Inside, Out & About we are joined by Mary Pat McGuire, associate professor of landscape architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and director of Water Lab. McGuire talks about the relationship between water and pavement, and the vital need to rethink our overreliance on impervious paved surfaces. She details…
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Our Inside, Out & About series is expanding in its second year to feature people whose work inspires action and advocacy for the natural world; advancing ideas and strategies of how we can all work together to and improve and protect the river system for people, plants, and animals. The featured guests on the first episode of this year’s series are…
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Solorio Academy High School chemistry and environmental science teacher Greta Kringle - the 2019 recipient of our Educator of the Year award - successfully uses the Chicago River as a teaching tool to help her students learn science develop a sense of stewardship for the river and its wildlife. In this episode, Kringle discusses her passion for tea…
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Traversing through the Palos Preserves of southwest Cook County, Illinois – the largest concentration of preserved land in the Forest Preserves of the county– is beautiful Crooked Creek. A winding tributary to the Cal-Sag Channel, which is a part of the Chicago River system, Crooked Creek and the surrounding land are fertile habitat for dragonflies…
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In this episode we take you on a journey to Whistler Woods in south suburban Riverdale, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. The 137-acre forest preserve along the Little Calumet River is an excellent site to see a wide diversity of bird species and to explore the historic Major Taylor Trail named for Marshall “Major” Taylor, who was an African-Ameri…
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Wampum Lake forest preserve is located in south suburban Cook County near Thornton, Illinois. At 412-acres it includes the Wampum Lake Nature Preserve, a mosaic of sand seep, freshwater marsh, dry-mesic upland forest, wet floodplain forest and an eroding bluff community located along Thorn Creek which runs through the west side of the preserve and …
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Hosted by Friends’ Executive Director Margaret Frisbie, this episode includes interviews with Stephen Bell, park supervisor for Big Marsh Park, who discusses the history and restoration efforts at Big Marsh as well as upcoming plans. Chicago sound artist, designer and composer Norman Long, also discusses sound art production using field recording, …
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One of Chicago's wildest places, LaBagh Woods in located on the Upper North Branch of the Chicago River on city's Northwest Side. In this episode Liza Lehrer, Assistant Director, Urban Wildlife Institute and Chicago Lead at the Urban Wildlife Information Network, discusses the Chicago region's native bats species that like the river-edge places suc…
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In this episode Chris Anchor, senior wildlife biologist for the Forest Preserves of Cook County, discusses how osprey are increasing along the Chicago River system due to a FPCC program that has installed about 20 constructed osprey nesting platforms so far. From Openlands, Aquatic Ecologist Laura Barghusen, and Education and Community Outreach Coo…
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Hosted by Friends’ Executive Director Margaret Frisbie, this episode includes interviews with Emmy Award-winning public television writer, producer, and program host Geoffrey Baer; Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History; and James Burns, president of the South Branch Park Advisory Council. Bae…
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Join Friends of the Chicago River’s Executive Director Margaret Frisbie on a journey to the Kickapoo Woods Forest Preserve on the banks of the Little Calumet River in the Chicago suburb of Riverdale. Get to know Bridgehouse Museum Director Josh Coles and volunteer site steward and former Chicago Public School teacher June Webb as they explore the s…
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In this episode Friends of the Chicago River's Executive Director Margaret Frisbie explores the history and natural history of the Chicago Portage National Historic Site which was a critical transit point between the Mississippi and the Great Lakes. Joining Frisbie are Gary Mechanic, founder of Friends of the Chicago Portage; Ben Goldfarb, author o…
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