Learn about Illinois Monarch Project at Green Drinks meeting
Iris Caldwell, a research engineer at Energy Resources Center, will speak on the Illinois Monarch Project and Rights-of-Way as Habitat Working Group at the next McHenry County Green Drinks meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 6. She will provide an overview of both programs and discuss how these efforts relate to broader regional and national strategies to improve pollinator health and habitat.
On the first Wednesday of each month, environmentally minded people gather from 5 to 7 p.m. at Duke's Alehouse & Kitchen, 110 N. Main St. in Crystal Lake, to network and talk about "greening" the future. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Caldwell is program manager for sustainable landscapes at the Energy Resources Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
She facilitates the Rights-of-Way as Habitat Working Group and other efforts to engage industries in pollinator habitat conservation.
She also provides technical assistance in the development of greenhouse gas offset projects and protocols, evaluation of renewable fuel production technologies, and mobile combustion emissions modeling.
With monarch butterfly and other pollinator populations in decline, multiple efforts have emerged to build cross-sector, collaborative conservation strategies. In Illinois, leaders from across the agricultural, urban, rights-of-way, and natural lands sectors formed the Illinois Monarch Project in 2016 to develop a statewide conservation strategy that aligns with other state and regional plans.
The Rights-of-Way as Habitat Working Group is a separate initiative that is helping to drive conservation action among public and private organizations in the transportation and utility sectors and throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Additional parking is available at the train station. To be added to the Green Drinks email list, send a note to GreenDrinksMC@gmail.com or "like" www.FaceBook.com/GreenDrinksMcHenryCounty.
The Green Drinks network was founded in North London, England in 1989 and now is active in over 600 cities worldwide. Interested public is always welcome to attend the McHenry County Green Drinks monthly event.
Each month there is social time and presentation on a different eco-topic, plus displays and/or demonstrations. Also, information about upcoming eco-events and green products and services is made available. Nonalcoholic and alcoholic drinks are available plus a featured "green drink" selected by Chef Zak.
Green Drinks McHenry County is sponsored by the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County and Duke's Alehouse and Kitchen.