September 2024 (Click the title to view the program YouTube video)
Join us as we welcome Amy Doll and Daniel Pohl to speak about their work to engage the community in stewarding nature preserves and other endangered ecosystems in the wake of Bell Bowl Prairie. Daniel Pohl is the lead volunteer steward at Harlem Hills Nature Preserve. He, along with Field Rep Jessie Crow Mermel, offers a state of the Harlem Hills prairie after nine months of working with Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves, IDNR staff, and Natural Land Institute to steward the largest remaining gravel prairie in the Midwest at Harlem Hills.
Amy Doll addresses the larger picture of the work of Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves, including addressing herbicide drift damage in natural areas and launching the pilot program Illinois Endangered Ecosystems in Winnebago County. This program measures risks and identifies solutions to stewarding at-risk natural sites. She’ll talk about how the work of engaging the community in stewardship is essential in the larger picture of protecting Illinois’ many plants, animals, and natural areas. Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves is grateful to have received a grant from Wild Ones of Rock River Valley to aid in the ecological restoration being done at Harlem Hills.
About the speakers:
Amy Doll is the Executive Director of Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves. Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves helped lead the efforts to save Bell Bowl Prairie. Amy Doll became the first Director of Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves in 2021. Before Friends, Amy had more than 15 years of Illinois public lands experience, most recently leading the DeKalb Park District for the past 5 years. She is passionate about biodiversity conservation and natural lands protection, and is enthusiastic about developing collaborative partnerships. She is the parent of two great boys and lives in DeKalb.
Daniel Pohl currently works for the Illinois Natural History Survey in a position with IDNR Forestry. He lives in Rockford, loves plants and has a really cute cat.
Jessie Crow Mermel is a Field Representative with Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves and is dedicated to helping people restore their relationship with the wild world.