ecology

Fermilab Natural Areas received a $12,000 grant through DuPage Foundation’s Community Impact grant program support for the restoration of the Sparrow Hedge Shrublands.

Naperville News 17 reports on the new baby bison that arrived this spring at Fermilab. Just outside of Naperville, Fermilab has a growing herd of over 40 bison and two bulls that roam the campus’ prairie land.

Spring brings new life to Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory as calving season begins for the lab’s herd of American bison. Today, two bison calves were born at Fermilab. The lab has a long tradition of providing habitat for bison, connecting particle physics research to the Midwestern prairie. This season, 20 baby bison are expected.

The Fermilab Natural Areas was one of three organizations who were recently recognized for their outstanding contributions to pollinator conservation. FNA received the Pat Miller Community Engagement Award for their comprehensive outreach and public engagement about ecology, native plants and land stewardship.

The Bird Conservation Network recently shared its findings from 22 years of surveying bird populations throughout the Chicago area and compared their data to Fermilab’s decades-long bird monitoring data.

Fermilab’s Roads and Grounds team use prescribed burns to restore land around the lab.

Levernier shares his passion for the environment, birding and prairie restoration at Fermilab.

The bison population is growing as the birth ushers in spring.

From National Geographic (Spain), April 29, 2021: Fermilab houses some of the last remnants of small populations of historical plants as told by Fermilab ecologist, Walter Levernier.

From Daily Herald, Nov. 27, 2020: Fermilab Natural Areas is restoring 500 acres of grassland near Eola Road at Fermilab to serve as a breeding habitat for several endangered and threatened bird species that do not use tallgrass prairies or woodlands, such as the upland sandpiper, bobolink and Henslow’s sparrow.