This week on Everyday Environment we chat with Rebekah Wallace out of the University of Georgia. Rebekah is the coordinator for EDDMapS, a platform used by the general public and professionals alike for invasive, pest, and biocontrol species reporting and distribution monitoring. For 20 years, this platform has worked with partners across the US and Canada to develop tools to help aggregate distribution data, educate the public on invasive species, document management efforts, anticipate spread, and more. Learn about the fascinating ways that this tool can help with invasive species management on the ground.

Resources

• EDDMapS
• Learn more about Erin's everyday observation: Right outside your window blog

Share your own Everyday Observation

Was there something about this topic we didn’t cover? See something cool in nature? Let us know! Send us your question or share your everyday nature observation with us at go.illinois.edu/EEconnect, and we may share it in a future blog or podcast.

Questions? We'd love to hear from you!
Abigail Garofalo aeg9@illinois.edu, Erin Garrett emedvecz@illinois.edu, Amy Lefringhouse heberlei@illinois.edu

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Join us as we chat with Michelle about the invasive plant early detection efforts of the Midwest Invasive Plant Network. We take a special focus on the Public Gardens as Sentinels against Invasive Plants initiative, a program focused on sharing information and creating a network to detect potential invasive species.

Resources:

• MIPN Website
• Printed Resources from MIPN
• MIPN Webinars
• Early Detection Plant Species
• Report sightings of Invasive Plants
• PGSIP Data Dashboard
• PGSIP Plant Alerts

Share your own Everyday Observation

Was there something about this topic we didn’t cover? See something cool in nature? Let us know! Send us your question or share your everyday nature observation with us at go.illinois.edu/EEconnect, and we may share it in a future blog or podcast.

Questions? We'd love to hear from you!
Abigail Garofalo aeg9@illinois.edu, Erin Garrett emedvecz@illinois.edu, Amy Lefringhouse heberlei@illinois.edu

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In this episode of Everyday Environment, hosts Erin and Amy sit down with Chris Evans to break down how invasive species are regulated in Illinois—and why it matters to you. Illinois recently added nine species to the Illinois Exotic Weed Act, making it illegal to buy, sell, or transport them. From the Exotic Weed Act to the Noxious Weed Law, these regulations are designed to slow the spread of invasive species by limiting movement, guiding management priorities, and protecting ecosystems and economies. Tune in to learn what’s changed, how the process works, and what it means for landowners and communities.

Resources

• IL Invasives website
• New invasive species regulated in 2025
• IL Invasive Species Council
• IL Exotic Weed Act

Share your own Everyday Observation

Was there something about this topic we didn’t cover? See something cool in nature? Let us know! Send us your question or share your everyday nature observation with us at go.illinois.edu/EEconnect, and we may share it in a future blog or podcast.

Questions? We'd love to hear from you!
Abigail Garofalo aeg9@illinois.edu, Erin Garrett emedvecz@illinois.edu, Amy Lefringhouse heberlei@illinois.edu

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This week we're joined by our marketing and communications manager Emily Steele! We chat with Emily about how our words matter when we talk about invasive species and how we can encourage people to manage invasive species through value-based communication and engagement approaches. We also hear from Phil Anderson, a biology professor at University of Illinois, who shares his experience using cosplay and tabletop role-playing game themes to create inclusive and effective outreach events that teach non-scientists concepts from invasion biology through roleplay activities.

Resources

• Learn more about cosplay for science at www.cosplayforscience.com

Share your own Everyday Observation

Was there something about this topic we didn’t cover? See something cool in nature? Let us know! Send us your question or share your everyday nature observation with us at go.illinois.edu/EEconnect, and we may share it in a future blog or podcast.

Questions? We'd love to hear from you!
Abigail Garofalo aeg9@illinois.edu, Erin Garrett emedvecz@illinois.edu, Amy Lefringhouse heberlei@illinois.edu

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The Everyday Environment team is back for a new season this spring to discuss Invasive species. Get a preview of what is in store as well as a primer on Invasive Species from everyone's favorite Extension person: Chris Evans.

Invasives Species 101 starts at 20:30

Original Episode from the archives: Invasive Alert: Spotted Lanternfly

Share your own Everyday Observation

Was there something about this topic we didn’t cover? See something cool in nature? Let us know! Send us your question or share your everyday nature observation with us at go.illinois.edu/EEconnect, and we may share it in a future blog or podcast.

Questions? We'd love to hear from you!
Abigail Garofalo aeg9@illinois.edu, Erin Garrett emedvecz@illinois.edu, Amy Lefringhouse heberlei@illinois.edu

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In this episode of the Everyday Environment Podcast, hosts Amy Lefringhouse and Karla Griesbaum talk with Allen Lawrance, Curator of Entomology at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, to discuss the power of community science and how volunteers contribute valuable data to wildlife monitoring programs across Illinois. Allen highlights initiatives like the Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network, the Illinois Odonate Survey, and the Calling Frog Survey. These programs help track species abundance and distribution and are crucial for understanding environmental change, including the impacts of habitat loss and climate change. Allen emphasizes that anyone can participate with basic training—no science background is needed.

Resources

• Federal Community Science Opportunities
• Illinois Odonate Survey
• Calling Frog Survey
• Peggy Notebaert Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network
• East Central Illinois FrogWatch
• North American Butterfly Association Butterfly Counts

Share your own Everyday Observation

Was there something about this topic we didn’t cover? See something cool in nature? Let us know! Send us your question or share your everyday nature observation with us at go.illinois.edu/EEconnect, and we may share it in a future blog or podcast.

Questions? We'd love to hear from you!
Abigail Garofalo aeg9@illinois.edu, Erin Garrett emedvecz@illinois.edu, Amy Lefringhouse heberlei@illinois.edu

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If you learn to listen for wildlife, you’ll start finding it everywhere. Learning a bird’s song or an insect’s call means you can sense them even when they are out of sight or pick out their call from a chaotic audio background that the brain normally filters out. There are side benefits too; sometimes an animal’s call is the only way to identify it, and it’s often the easiest way to share nature with friends. Learn more about wildlife sounds from Voice of the Wild's Brodie Dunn.

Check out Brodie's Voice of the Wild Podcast
See the Everyday Environment Periodical Cicadas episode

Community Science Resources:

• iNaturalist
• Calling Frog Survey
• Frog Watch
• Breeding Bird Survey (INHS)

Identification Resources:

• Merlin Bird ID
• Voice of the Wild
• iNaturalist
• Guide to Night Singing Insects of the Northeast by John Himmelman and Michael DiGiorgio
• Birding by Ear East and Centrl by Richard K Walton and Rober Lawson
• More Birding by Ear by Richard K Walton and Rober Lawson
• Field Guide to Bird Songs Eastern and Central North America by Cornell Lab
• Songsofinsects.com
• Birdsong ear training guide : Who Cooks for Poor Sam Peabody?
• McAuley Library
• Cornell’s All About Birds

Sounds heard throughout the episode:

• Common raccoon sound by iNaturalist user Aleksandr Berdnikov
• Wood duck chick sound by iNaturalist user Danasasso
• American toad sound by USGS
• Eastern Gray Squirrel sound by iNaturalist user k2018lena
• Common nighthawk sound by iNaturalist user Ben Johnson
• Lyric cicada sound by iNaturalist user Gabriel Diggs
• Walker's cicada sound by iNaturalist user Brian Wulker
• Dickcissel south by iNaturalist user Christopher Hensel
• Chimney swift sound by iNaturalist user Chris Harrison
• Least flycatcher sound by iNaturalist user Ty Smith
• Gray catbird sound by iNaturalist user Megan Hanson
• Eastern chipmunk sound by iNaturalist user Christopher Hensel
• Brown thrasher sound by iNaturalist user Christopher Hensel
• Indigo bunting sound by iNaturalist user Christopher Hensel
• Brown thrahser sound by iNaturalist user Christopher Hensel
• Northern mockingbird sound by iNaturalist user Christopher Hensel
• Blue jay sound by iNaturalist user Christopher Hensel
• House finch sound by iNaturalist user Christopher Hensel
• Red-eyed vireo sound by iNaturalist user Christopher Hensel

Share your own Everyday Observation

Was there something about this topic we didn’t cover? See something cool in nature? Let us know! Send us your question or share your everyday nature observation with us at go.illinois.edu/EEconnect, and we may share it in a future blog or podcast.

Questions? We'd love to hear from you!
Abigail Garofalo aeg9@illinois.edu, Erin Garrett emedvecz@illinois.edu, Amy Lefringhouse heberlei@illinois.edu

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Beneath Illinois’ soil lives a little-known but ecologically important animal — the plains pocket gopher. In this episode, hosts Amy Lefringhouse and Darci Webber talk with Nathan Alexander, postdoctoral researcher at the Illinois Natural History Survey, about what makes this gopher unique to Illinois. Nathan shares how this “angry potato” of the prairie shapes soil health, how agriculture has influenced its habitat over time, and why this subspecies has a fascinating Ice Age origin story. Listeners will also learn how community science can help researchers better understand and protect this elusive species.

Share your own Everyday Observation

Was there something about this topic we didn’t cover? See something cool in nature? Let us know! Send us your question or share your everyday nature observation with us at go.illinois.edu/EEconnect, and we may share it in a future blog or podcast.

Questions? We'd love to hear from you!
Abigail Garofalo aeg9@illinois.edu, Erin Garrett emedvecz@illinois.edu, Amy Lefringhouse heberlei@illinois.edu

Subscribe to our Newsletter
Check out our Blog
See the Everyday Environment Archives