In an effort to safeguard migratory birds in the Illinois Coastal region, Audubon Great Lakes launched the new Illinois Coastal Stopover Tool that will help to identify areas with high quality habitats for migratory landbirds, threats they face, and opportunities for restoration within the Illinois Coastal Region. Additionally, Audubon provides migratory habitat management recommendations to support the dedicated land managers working to improve habitat and support migratory bird conservation in the region. The tool includes maps, priority locations, priority species and management resources and recommendations for land managers at the landscape-scale, local-scale, and for specific habitat types including woodland, grassland and shrubland within the Illinois Coastal Region.

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Stephanie Beilke is the Senior Manager of Conservation Science at Audubon Great Lakes. Witnessing a diverse migratory flock of warblers visit the yard of her childhood home in Green Bay inspired her to become a passionate birder and conservationist. Since joining Audubon in 2017, Stephanie has followed her passion by leading marsh bird monitoring projects to inform coastal wetland restoration across the Great Lakes states, while engaging community scientists and Audubon chapters. In her free time, Stephanie can be found birding the rich natural areas of the Chicago region. Stephanie has a B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and an M.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay.

Join the Urban Night Heron Conservation Program's Henry Adams (they/them), University of Illinois' Sarah Slayton (she/her), Chicago Black-crowned Night Heron Project's Amy Lardner (she/her), and Illinois Audubon Society's Jo Fesset (she/her) for a panel discussing their collaborative efforts to conserve the Illinois state endangered Black-crowned Night Heron. They will discuss the history of this species in Illinois, research related to the habitat selection, movement, and health of these birds, and outreach efforts to involve communities in the conservation of night herons and wildlife at large in the Chicagoland area.

Henry Adams (they/them) is a wildlife health ecologist, science educator, and illustrator currently living in Chicago, Illinois, the traditional homelands of the Ojibwe, Odawa, Potawatomi and many other Indigenous peoples. Henry leads the Urban Night Heron Conservation Program, a collaborative research team that investigates the habitat selection, movement and health of urban Black-crowned Night Herons in Chicago, and spearheads various urban biodiversity monitoring and education initiatives through their work at the Lincoln Park Zoo and in the community. They seek to use education, art, and intersectional ecological research to empower and create space for Queer joy and community in nature.

Jo Fessett has worked for the Illinois Audubon Society since 2006 and has been Executive Director since 2022. Jo’s history with Illinois Audubon Society began as an At-Large member of the Board of Directors from 2000 to 2006. Her experience with the Society has included administration, marketing, grant writing, volunteer management, event planning and coordination as well as designing and conducting the annual Adventures Field Trip program for members and nonmembers. Jo’s past employment includes Argonne National Laboratory near her hometown of Lemont, Illinois, and The Nature Conservancy. She received a B.A. from Lewis University (Business Administration).

Amy Lardner launched the Chicago Black-crowned Night Heron project in 2022 to raise awareness and support for this species and its conservation. Upon returning to Chicago after a post MBA-career spent working in international automotive finance based in Detroit, New York and Madrid, Amy reconnected with her Midwestern childhood roots. Her extended family of conservationists and nature lovers always preferred a walk in the woods, a splash in a stream, a hike through a prairie to just about anything else, anytime of year. Through voluntarism, current and past, including with Openlands Treekeepers, Urban Rivers, Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, Cook County Master Naturalists and Chicago Piping Plovers, Amy is enthusiastic about helping people connect with nature and each other through, and out in, nature. An unexpected outcome of her heron advocacy, Amy was elected to the board of Gold Coast Neighbors Association, where she’s co-chairing the planning committee for a park framework planning project with Chicago Park District and Lincoln Park Conservancy and also launched a new community engagement program in a beloved historic playlot this year.

Sarah Slayton is a M.S. student in Dr. Michael Ward's lab at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She is broadly interested in applied conservation research with specific interests in urban ecology and conservation, habitat selection and use, and wildlife management planning. Her current research focuses on the movement ecology and conservation of Black-crowned Night-herons breeding in the Great Lakes region, utilizing satellite tracking technology to better understand the habitat use and full annual cycle of night-herons breeding at the Lincoln Park Zoo. She hopes this work will help inform management efforts for urban wading birds and connect members of the public to the amazing wildlife in their backyard.

Vic’s presentation will discuss how some raptor species are acclimating to an urban and suburban environment. He will show examples of raptors using a human dominated landscape and how some species are thriving and becoming more dependent on humans.

Vic Berardi is the founder of the all-volunteer Illinois Beach State Park Hawk Watch which has conducted twenty-four complete seasons of full time hawk migration monitoring which began in the fall of the year 2000.

Vic is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Hawk Migration Association of North America (HMANA) and serves on several HMANA Committees including being the Chair of the Winter Raptor Survey Committee. He also served for several years as the Central Continental Flyway Editor for Hawk Migration Studies which is HMANA’s biannual publication. In 2014 he was the recipient of HMANA’s Appreciation Award for his outstanding service to further hawk migration studies and conservation. In 2009 he was awarded the Service to Chicago Area Birders by the Chicago Audubon Society. And in 2007 he was awarded the Grassroots Conservation Leadership Award for his leadership in raptor education and research.