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Natural History Survey

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  • INHS macro-invertebratologist Steve Taylor illuminates the unique world of caves

    Dec 2, 2010 2:45 pm

    INHS Macro-Invertebrate Scientist and cave maggot namesake, Steve Taylor was featured in an article from the Illinois News Bureau. Read about his "more than two decades plumbing the mysteries of cave life," in articles by the U of I News Bureau and Physorg.com.

  • Sarah Douglass

    INHS malacologist Sarah Douglass among the sixteen employees honored with Chancellor's Staff Excellence Award

    Apr 18, 2024 8:00 am

    Sixteen academic professionals and civil service staff members have received the 2024 Chancellor’s Staff Excellence Award. 

  • INHS mycology herbarium receives Alan D. Parker Collection

    Aug 7, 2008 3:00 pm

  • INHS ornithologists participate in Christmas Bird Count

    Jan 4, 2011 8:15 am

    Les Winkeler, the outdoors writer for The Southern Illinoisan, accompanied Jeff Hoover, Dave Thomas and Matt McKim-Louder on the Cypress Creek Christmas Bird Count. With 64 species identified by their team, Jeff Hoover said, "This is the birdiest Christmas bird count I can ever remember." Winkeler also wrote a side piece about his adventure with the three INHS ornithologists, likening it to "playing in a foursome with Tiger, Jack and Arnie. It's like taking batting practice with George Brett, Rod Carew and Ichiro Suzuki."

  • INHS partnership offers undergraduates research experiences in ecology

    Mar 3, 2017 8:00 am

    The Illinois Natural History Survey will partner with Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on a three-year grant providing immersive research experiences to undergraduates in the areas of archaeology and ecology. Research opportunities will begin this summer.

  • INHS plant ecologist finds that many retailers sell mislabeled invasive vines

    Jan 8, 2018 9:45 am

    Gardeners hoping to celebrate the beauty of American bittersweet — a native vine that produces orange berries in the fall and is used for wreaths — may be unwittingly buying an invasive bittersweet instead. That’s because many Midwestern retailers are selling oriental bittersweet with labels misidentifying it as the native plant, researchers report.

  • INHS Reports: Angler survey on Lake Michigan fishing

    Jun 15, 2017 12:00 pm

    INHS researchers examined Lake Michigan fishing from social and economic perspectives. They surveyed anglers to collect information about angler expectations and needs in the Lake Michigan fishery and to ascertain the economic importance of fishing as a recreational activity. 

  • Be A Hero: Release Zero

    INHS Reports: Fighting the spread of aquatic invasive species in the marketplace

    Jul 14, 2017 8:00 am

    Aquatic invasive species are non-native organisms that harm the environment, economy, or human and livestock health. Illinois is especially vulnerable to aquatic invaders. Harmful effects of aquatic invasive species that reside in the lake include the multimillion dollar annual cost to industry and water utilities, reduced recreational activities, and degrading native habitats. One way that aquatic invaders are introduced to the Great Lakes region is through the buying and selling of species.

  • INHS researcher awarded Distinguished Service Award

    Aug 15, 2014 8:00 am

    Mark Wetzel, research scientist and oligochaetologist at the Illinois Natural History Survey (Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), was awarded the 2014 Distinguished Service Award in May by the Society for Freshwater Science, an international scientific organization with over 1,800 members in over 40 countries that promotes understanding of freshwater ecosystems.

  • INHS researchers address vector borne diseases through CDC Center of Excellence

    Mar 2, 2017 8:00 am

    INHS Scientists Nohra Mateus-Pinilla and Richard Lampman will partner with the College of Veterinary Medicine to conduct research for the new Upper Midwestern Center for Excellence in Vector Borne Diseases, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The center is headquartered at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The Illinois team will develop forecasting models and statistical spatial risk maps of regionally important mosquitoes and ticks and the diseases that they cause. Using optimization algorithms, historical data on field trapping of mosquitoes and ticks, and other ecological methods, the Illinois team will also help determine the level of surveillance data required to make effective control decisions.

  • INHS researchers collaborate with U of I Vet Med to detect fungus in snakes

    Jul 16, 2014 8:00 am

    INHS Research Affiliate Matt Allender (a professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine) has developed a way to detect the presence of a deadly fungus with less impact on the infected snake. INHS Mycologist Andrew Miller and his graduate student Dan Raudabaugh are working to understand the fungus itself. This work is being done in conjunction with the long-term INHS research project on the critically endangered Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake. INHS Herpetologists Chris Phillips and Mike Dreslik have been studying the ecology of the snakes for over 15 years.

  • INHS researchers described more than 100 new species in 2013

    Feb 21, 2014 8:00 am

    Last year, INHS researchers described over 100 species new to science. The Prairie Research Institute Library wrote a nice summary of the papers published by INHS scientists in 2013. Prairie Research Institute Library Blog

  • INHS researchers discover 4 new species in Illinois caves

    Oct 1, 2013 2:00 pm

    Scientists from the Illinois Natural History Survey at the Prairie Research Institute at University of Illinois have discovered four new species of springtails—minute ancient relatives of the insects—in the caves of the Salem Plateau in southern Illinois.

  • American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) egg (parthenogen) showing banding pattern indicative of potential viability.

    INHS researchers reveal “virgin birth” in a crocodile

    Jun 12, 2023 9:30 am

    In a recent study published in the journal Biology Letters, this is the first known instance of a crocodile virgin birth, but virgin births (parthenogenesis) have been recorded in fish, birds, lizards, and snakes. Parthenogenesis is a natural form of asexual reproduction in some animals where viable offspring are produced from an otherwise unfertilized egg. Mark Davis, a conservation biologist at the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) at the Prairie Research Institute (PRI) and co-author on the study helped examine the crocodile fetus' genomic makeup, ultimately discovering that the fetal genome resulted from reproduction without a male crocodile’s genetic contribution. 

  • INHS researching snakes at Allerton Park

    Oct 15, 2008 3:30 pm

    Jon Griesbaum, a student in Dr. Christopher Phillips lab, is studying the movements of Fox Snakes at Allerton Park using radio telemetry. The snakes that are captured and marked are then tracked for a year. Griesbaum hopes that learning more about the snakes range and behavior will enable policy makers to make informed and better choices about wild areas. Articles about Griesbaum's study appeared in the 7 September issue of the News-Gazette, the 4 September issue of Environmental Almanac, and can be found archived.

  • Joseph Parkos

    INHS scientist comments on rebranding of invasive fish as 'copi'

    Jun 27, 2022 8:45 am

    Illinois officials this month announced that "Asian carp" would now be called “copi” in an attempt to make the fish more desirable for eating. Joseph Parkos, the director of the Illinois Natural History Survey’s Kaskaskia, Ridge Lake and Sam Parr biological stations, spoke with News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates about scientific initiatives to study and control carp/copi fish populations and the potential for rebranding to aid those efforts.

  • INHS Scientist Mark J. Wetzel appointed Associate Editor of Megadrilogica

    May 2, 2007 8:00 am

  • INHS scientists continue fish monitoring begun over a century ago

    Nov 1, 2012 8:00 am

    INHS fisheries biologist Josh Sherwood was featured in a recent Environmental Almanac about the Fishes of Champaign County surveys. Sherwood is conducting the fifth iteration of the surveys that began in 1885. The original Fishes of Champaign County survey was conducted by Stephen A. Forbes between 1885 and 1901 and found 65 species of fishes. A second version of the Fishes of Champaign County was conducted by Forbes and Robert E. Richardson, and added 14 species to the list. R. Weldon Larimore and Phillip W. Smith conducted the third survey in the 1950s and added 9 more species to the list. Larimore and Peter Bayley conducted the fourth survey in 1987 and brought the species list to 94 species of fishes.

  • INHS Scientists Drs. Joseph Spencer and Rich Lampman quoted in article on minute pirate bugs

    Oct 16, 2008 2:30 pm

    Dr. Joseph Spencer and Dr. Rich Lampman were quoted in the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette article talking about minute pirate bugs. The article described why the insects bite humans, and describes the insects as, ultimately, beneficial. Illinois Natural History Survey affiliate May Berenbaum was also interviewed for the article. A copy of the article, which was published in the News-Gazette on October 3, 2008, can be found on the NewsBank site.

  • INHS scientists help reconstruct prairie on U of I campus

    Aug 8, 2012 8:00 am

    INHS Botanists have been involved in prairie reconstructions on the U of I campus. Currently, the area along Florida Ave and Orchard is being reconstructed, after having been designated a "No-Mow-Zone." According to Botanist Jamie Ellis, their approach to ecological restoration "is evolving and emerging" as they adapt to new challenges. One of the big challenges is that it's a large area that was lawn grass for a long time. Additionally, prairie plants can be slow to take hold in a new area.

  • INHS Scientists participate in BioBlitz

    Aug 6, 2012 8:00 am

    INHS scientists gathered with colleagues to document as many species as possible in a 24 hour period in a Bio-blitz at Salt Lick Point Soil and Water Reserve. A videographer documented the event for WSIU.

  • INHS scientists seek new sites for mussel relocation

    Apr 5, 2013 8:00 am

    INHS researcher Jeremy Tiemann is part of a team working to relocate endangered mussels from a bridge construction site in Pennsylvania to Illinois rivers. The first mussels (relocated in 2010) were given PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) tags to allow monitoring and after a year and a half, approximately 80% of the relocated mussels had survived. An additional 1200 were transplanted in 2012, and now, new locations are being sought for additional transplants.

  • INHS Scientists survey for Invasive Species

    Oct 3, 2012 8:00 am

    The Illinois Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey (CAPS) program is a joint effort between several state and federal agencies to safeguard our nations food and environmental security from invasive pests that threaten our production and ecological systems. This program focuses on state surveys of harmful or economically significant exotic plant pests, diseases, and weeds that have eluded first-line of defense inspections.Illinois CAPS coordinator Kelly Estes discusses the current and upcoming surveys, including new techniques for monitoring.

  • INHS scientists teach students about conservation

    May 12, 2011 9:00 am

    Moultrie County 4th graders learned about Conservation at the Moultrie County 4-H Fairgrounds, with the help of INHS scientists. Tara Beveroth taught about birds and research techniques, Jean Mengelkoch taught about bats and endangered species, while Jen Mui and Patty Dickerson brought the Traveling Science Center with its display about Biodiversity and Exotic Invasive Species.

  • INHS seeks principal research scientist and director

    Sep 21, 2017 8:15 am

    The Illinois Natural History Survey seeks a principal research scientist who will develop and manage a research program, while also serving as director of INHS, providing leadership, direction, and overall administration for the development, coordination, and implementation of scientific research and service programs undertaken and provided by INHS.

  • INHS staff attend 5th North American Duck Symposium

    Sep 1, 2009 3:30 pm

    Illinois Natural History Survey staff and students were well represented at the 5th North American Duck Symposium held in Toronto, August 17-21. This prestigious symposium is held every three years and is attended by hundreds of scientists from Europe and North America. Forbes Biological Station director Joshua Stafford was a member of the Scientific and Student Awards committees, co-organizer of a special session on Duck Foods and Foraging Habitats in North America, and co-author of two plenary talks, two student talks, and one student poster. Randy Smith and Aaron Yetter each provided poster presentations based on recent work conducted at the Forbes Lab. University of Illinois Ph.D. candidate (NRES) Ben O'Neal received one of only five travel awards from the Delta Waterfowl Foundation to attend the conference. Ben also garnered the award for "Best Ph.D. Presentation" for his presentation titled Waterfowl on Weather Radar: A New View of Dabbling Duck Migration (co-authored by Stafford and Ron Larkin). The Web site of the symposium, with photos and conference proceedings, may be viewed at: http://www.northamericanducksymposium.org.

  • INHS staffer makes massive contribution to species name index

    Nov 22, 2019 2:30 pm

    In a project to build an index containing the names of all biological species found on earth, Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) informatician Dmitry Mozzherin and the HathiTrust team scanned one-tenth of all published human knowledge on occurrences of scientific names in less than a day.

  • Deer from Cook County

    INHS survey studies Illinois hunters’ beliefs about controlling disease in deer populations

    Apr 3, 2024 11:15 am

    Despite the increase in cases of chronic wasting disease in Illinois deer, hunters in recent years have gained trust in agency actions and are more positive about the use of sharpshooting to control the disease, according to a survey of hunters conducted at the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) at the Prairie Research Institute.

  • INHS team discovers new invasive clam species

    May 1, 2017 8:00 am

    They found it in the Illinois River near the city of Marseilles, Illinois, about 80 miles west of Lake Michigan—a strange entry point for an invasive Asian clam. The scientists who found it have no idea how it got there. But the discovery—along with genetic tests that confirm its uniqueness—means that a new species or “form” of invasive clam has made its official debut in North America. This is only the latest invasive aquatic species to settle in North America, said Illinois Natural History Survey aquatic ecologist Jeremy Tiemann, who discovered the new clam with INHS mussel field biologist Sarah Douglass in late 2015.

  • INHS to host 100th Annual Meeting of the Illinois Academy of Science

    Dec 5, 2007 8:00 am

    INHS will host the 100th Annual Meeting of the Illinois State Academy of Science to be held on April 4-5, 2008. Academy members are invited to submit abstract abstracts of papers and posters for presentation in any of the recognized ISAS divisions. For more information on the event and submissions, please visit this website.

  • INHS waterfowl data used to set hunting seasons

    Jun 20, 2011 8:00 am

    Aerial surveys conducted by INHS Waterfowl Ecologist Aaron Yetter are being used to help determine the waterfowl hunting seasons for the next 5 years. "Aerial waterfowl surveys conducted by Aaron Yetter of the Illinois Natural History Survey show limited numbers of ducks in the Upper and Lower Mississippi Area near the proposed start date of the North Zone season. The Upper Mississippi area, which includes Keokuk, Iowa, Nauvoo and the Keithsburg Refuge, showed 1,160 ducks on Oct. 11 and 2,335 ducks on Oct. 18, according to the 2010 survey. On Nov. 2, just days after the Central Zone opener, surveys showed 22,470 ducks in the area. The same movements are reflected in the Lower Mississippi region, which includes Swan Lake, Cannon Refuge and Shanks Refuge. On Oct. 11, there were 10,280 ducks counted. On Oct. 18, there were 35,555 ducks. On Nov. 2 there were 81,765 birds. On Nov. 16, there were 171,970. One reason hunters would favor an earlier start to the season would be to avoid the late-season freeze that often negates the final week or two of hunting."

  • Jim Lamer

    INHS welcomes Jim Lamer as director of the Illinois River Biological Station

    Mar 11, 2019 12:30 pm

    Jim Lamer joined the Illinois Natural History Survey as a large river ecologist and director of the Illinois River Biological Station in Havana. 

  • INRS Naturally Illinois Expo attracts thousands

    Mar 14, 2011 6:00 pm

    The Naturally Illinois Expo, held March 11th and 12th, was attended by a record 1700 students from 22 Illinois schools on Friday. On Saturday, many of these students returned to share the Expo with their families. There were 54 exhibits from the 5 surveys. INHS scientists provided exhibits on plants, backyard insects, fossil insects, turtles, mammals, birds, aquatic pollutants, mosquitoes and their diseases, crayfish, fish, mussels and exotic invasive species. Other favorites included Kids' Fossil Dig, Archaeological Dig, Weather on Your Birthday and Biofuels.

  • Invasive Plants from Water Gardens and Aquariums Must be Disposed of Properly

    Aug 26, 2016 8:00 am

    When clearing out the foliage from an aquarium or backyard water garden this fall, keep water hyacinth and other invasive plants out of streams, rivers, and other waterways.

  • Invasive Species Workshop Trains First Detectors in Illinois

    Nov 11, 2016 8:00 am

    The 2017 Illinois First Detector Workshop on invasive plants, diseases, and insects will be offered at eight Illinois sites beginning in January 2017.

  • InvertNet conference merges systematics and technology

    May 14, 2012 8:00 am

    INHS Bioinformatician Matt Yoder was interviewed about the InvertNet Spring 2012 Conference held in April at University of Illinois.  Yoder said that the conference merged systematists with computer programers and engineers. InvertNet is funded by the National Science Foundations Advancing Digitization of Biological Collections (ADBC) program to provide unprecedented access to specimen images and data from invertebrate collections.

  • Is there enough food in the Great Lakes to support Asian Carp?

    Nov 3, 2010 9:00 am

    In a press release issued by Illinois Indiana SeaGrant, INHS Aquatic Ecologists Walter Hill and Sandra Cooke suggest that due to other invasive species in the Great Lakes, Asian Carp may not find enough food to thrive. However, Hill does not see their results as a reason to relent on efforts to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes. "Given the potential consequences to Great Lakes ecosystems if these filter feeders do prove capable of establishing reproducing populations, efforts to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes must not be lessened." Another story discusses some of the methods being used to keep Asian Carp out of the Great Lakes, including an experiment being led by Blake Ruebush and Greg Sass on a Sound-Bubble-Strobe-Light-Barrier.

  • It's mussel time!

    Aug 30, 2018 8:30 am

  • It's ok to feed birds in the winter

    Jan 23, 2015 5:00 am

    INHS Avian Ecologist Jeff Hoover was interviewed by The Southern about the ongoing debate of whether or not to fill bird feeders in the winter. “By and large feeding can have a positive effect on birds, particularly in hard winters," Hoover said.

  • Japanese beetles spreading westward

    Aug 1, 2011 8:00 am

    INHS Entomologist and Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey coordinator Kelly Estes was interviewed about the spread of Japanese Beetles westward. Their ability to spread in a given year is dependent on fluctuating populations, which can be affected by rainfall. The best way to get rid of them is collecting them in a bucket of hot soapy water.

  • Japanese beetles thrive in human landscapes

    Jul 18, 2011 8:00 am

    According to INHS entomologist Chris Dietrich, Japanese beetles are generalists and will eat approximately 300 different types of plants, which is not unusual for an introduced species. Human lawns make perfect habitat for the grubs which feed on the roots of grass, but killing the grubs will do little, as adults will fly in from other yards.

  • Japanese Stilt Grass alert

    Oct 16, 2013 8:00 am

    Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum) was recently discovered in DuPage County in Northeast Illinois.

  • Junior high students add to our knowledge of biodiversity in Illinois

    Nov 26, 2013 12:00 pm

    Junior High students are once again adding to our knowledge of biodiversity in Illinois. Prairie Central Junior High Science teacher Scott Saffer and his seventh grade students conduct herpetological field surveys each year in Livingston County. After catching and identifying reptiles and amphibians, the students have their finds confirmed by INHS Herpetologists Andrew Kuhns and Chris Phillips. This year the students found three more species not previously documented in Livingston County.

  • Juvenile Bighead Carp more vulnerable to predation

    Feb 24, 2015 8:00 am

    INHS graduate student Eric Sanft, presented "Vulnerability of Juvenile Asian Carp to Predation by Largemouth Bass" at the recent Midwest Fish and Wildlife meetings. His research found that bighead carp are more susceptible than other carp species to predation by largemouth bass. Read more about Asian Carp research from our Kaskaskia River Biological Station.

  • Juvenile cowbirds sneak out of the nest at night

    Nov 4, 2015 8:00 am

    INHS Ornithologists Matt Louder, Mike Ward, Wendy Schelsky, and Jeff Hoover published a new paper about the behavior of juvenile cowbirds, a nest parasite. They found that juvenile cowbirds leave the host's nest at night and return in the morning. This may be part of their strategy involved in avoiding imprinting on their host species.

  • Kevin Johnson and colleagues find Passenger Pigeon a place in the family tree

    Oct 7, 2010 10:30 am

    INHS Ornithologist Kevin Johnson and his colleagues published a paper on the phylogenetics of the extinct Passenger Pigeon. They found that its closest living relative is not the mourning dove, but actually other large pigeons found in Central and South America, but even those are distant relatives. “The passenger pigeon is in a monotypic genus, which means there is only one species in that genus: Ectopistes migratorius,” [Johnson] said. “This bird is pretty diverged from its nearest relatives, meaning it had a unique place in the world. It represented a unique lineage that’s now gone.” For more information, read the press release or an article published by Science 2.0.

  • Land purchase to benefit subterranean ecosystem and endangered species

    Jan 28, 2014 8:00 am

    On 25 January 2014, INHS Biologist Steve Taylor gave a presentation at a ceremony announcing the purchase of 535 acres of land over Illinois' largest and most biologically diverse cave. Fogelpole Cave is home to several protected species including the endangered Illinois Cave Amphipod and Indiana Bat. Taylor serves as science advisor for the project, which is being managed by Clifftop, a non-profit organization.

  • Largemouth Bass behavior inherited from parents, but also learned

    Apr 10, 2012 8:00 am

    INHS Fisheries Geneticist Dave Phillipp and his lab have studied Largemouth Bass for decades. His findings, including that vulnerability to being caught by anglers is inherited and that bass can learn from negative experiences, were featured in a news story picked up by media across the country.

  • Learning by listening to the people who live it

    Mar 19, 2024 8:30 am

  • Learn to Hunt Program bases hunter recruitment on science

    Mar 26, 2020 8:45 am

    Today’s hunters are more diverse and more likely to hunt for the meat than for the camaraderie of fellow hunters than in generations past. Understanding these motivations and constraints with scientific data helps staff of the Illinois Natural History Survey’s (INHS) Learn to Hunt Program draw new hunters to the activity.