environment

DOE announced nearly $150 million in funding for dozens of energy conservation and clean energy projects at federal facilities, including Argonne and Fermilab. The funds will support the Fermilab Resilience and Efficiency Project, an initiative that works toward achieving net-zero facilities at the lab by implementing energy conservation measures across 23 buildings and developing renewable energy generation.

Samantha Panock, an environmental specialist at Fermilab, talks about the role she plays in the ongoing scientific efforts at Fermilab within the Environment, Health and Safety Division, some of her daily tasks, her passion for martial arts, and much more.

From FOX 32 Chicago, April 19, 2022: Fox News Chicago’s Tim McGill visited Fermilab yesterday for a first-hand look at the lab’s newest bison calves and the well-known herd. Herdsman Cleo Garcia shared with McGill his experiences and the behaviors he has observed in caring for the bison for the past 11 years.

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.

If you live in the Chicago suburbs and have ever taken a walk on the Fermilab hike-and-bike trail along Batavia Road, you’ve probably noticed large trees with long, slender bean pods, which — even after they fall to the ground — are ignored by wildlife. Not that long ago, mammoths, mastodons and giant ground sloths roamed the Fermilab grounds and feasted on these bean pods, along with the fruit of two additional species that still can be found growing on site.

From Daily Herald, May 15, 2018: In honor of Arbor Day, Fermilab in Batavia recently held a volunteer workday with the goal of creating a shrub land habitat for rare birds.

On Wednesday, April 18, baby bison season officially began at Fermilab. The first calf of the year was born in the early morning hours, with a second appearing before noon. Neighbors are welcome to visit with the newborns.

Astronomers are at the forefront of the fight against light pollution, which can obscure our view of the cosmos.

From Nation News, April 9, 2017: Arden Warner is attracting attention to himself and his work as a physicist at Fermilab and to his private exploit developing a nontoxic way to clean up oil spills.

Fermilab’s popularity as a birding site is its diversity of species, a measure of the quality of the habitat. Birders have found 287 bird species at Fermilab.