Prospect Heights Natural Resources Commission
Nature Speaks is a part of our Education and Outreach programs and is a collaboration with our partner, the Prospect Heights Public Library.
The series will feature four speakers annually, one each season and is designed to bring important national and regional speakers to Prospect Heights to discuss important, informative and entertaining topics affecting our city, our state and our planet.
All programs take place at the Prospect Heights Public Library's AB meeting room and on Zoom. Talks start promptly at 7:00. Nature Speaks is free admission but registration is necessary. Please register using the link on the speakers page.
November 11, 2026 - 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Live and in-person, Wally Levernier & Erin Haase
In this presentation, Wally and Erin will give a brief description and history of prairies in Illinois, and how their decline led to an ambitious project that started in 1975 to restore tallgrass prairie at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, at that time the largest restoration of its kind.
With the collaboration of lab staff, community experts, and volunteers, the prairie restoration grew to a patchwork of over 1110 acres at its maximum extent, setting an example for similar restoration projects across the region.
Next up for Winter 2027
Sarah Holmes Bookbinder
Paul Bookbinder
January 14th, 2027 - 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Sarah Holmes Bookbinder and Paul Bookbinder
"Where the Wild Things Grow - The Charles N. Gordon Wildlife Rehabilitation Center" - A film by Jay Lurie.
Please join us for the Midwest premier of the newly released documentary film "Where the Wild Things Grow - The Charles N. Gordon Wildlife Rehabilitation Center" - A film by Jay Lurie. Founded in 2018 by the husband and wife team of Sarah Holmes Bookbinder, a certified wildlife rehabilitator and Paul Bookbinder a veterinary surgeon. The Gordon Wildlife Center is their life's work, specializing in raccoons. This a Zoom presentation in the library meeting room or on line.
Who on earth is crazy (some might say inspired) enough to dedicate their lives to hand-raising and rehabilitating hundreds of orphaned raccoons? What happens behind the scenes at a wildlife rehabilitation center during orphaned “baby season” – caring for the orphaned, injured, needy and sick? How do wildlife rehabilitators prepare these clever, mischievous, and magical animals for a second chance at life in the wild?
