Environmental Almanac

You may or may not remember it, but in a commentary last December spoke about my family’s plan to have solar panels installed on our Champaign home in 2016. I’m happy to report we followed through on that, and since late July have had 25 Hanwha Q-Cells up on our south facing, second-floor roof.  The system includes an online monitoring program, so I am able to say that up until now, our best day for energy production was August 6, when it generated 28...

Never in many years of fishing have I heard a better report than this, which came from an enthusiastic young man at the counter of St. Peter’s Fly shop in Fort Collins, Colorado: “Everybody’s catching fish everywhere,” he said. “Everywhere,” in this case, meant the 40-some miles of the Cache la Poudre River above Ft. Collins. And within 24 hours, “everyone” included me...

The hour before sunrise on the first Saturday in May finds me in the same place most years. That’s standing on a bridge over the Sangamon River north of Mahomet with my friend Greg Lambeth, playing a recording of a Whippoorwill’s call in hopes we’ll get one to call back. In 15 years of trying (for me—more for Greg) that has never happened...

Thanks to a friend who’s more observant than me, I recently discovered a new species of reptile in my own backyard, a plains garter snake. Maybe I should clarify by saying I mean the plains garter snake was “new” to me, not new to science or the wider world...

Have you noticed friends or coworkers looking a little sleep-deprived lately? Perhaps these same people complain of a sore neck, and look past you into the trees while you’re talking. You may be encountering birders caught up in the excitement of spring migration. Sure, a variety of birds have been migrating through central Illinois since February. During the late winter and early spring something like 240 species of birds belonging to 39 families pass this way...

Does the warm spring weather prompt you to wonder about riding your bike to work? If so, let me offer some words of encouragement.  Bicycling is good for the planet. It requires no fossil fuel, and so alleviates all of the environmental damage caused by drilling for, transporting, and processing oil. It uses no biofuel, and so exists outside the complicated push and pull over using crops for energy...

This week Environmental Almanac concludes its series featuring students from the School of Earth, Society, and Environment who are developing their skills to communicate about environmental topics. Lauren: The University of Illinois’ campus always appears to come back to life in the Spring after hibernating in the winter, reminding students that there actually are tens of thousands of other students attending school with them...

Elena: Have you ever counted the number of plastic bags you use each shopping trip? That number is likely around 1,500 bags per year if you’re the average American. More than a hundred billion plastic bags are produced each year worldwide--that requires about 12 million barrels of oil.  Is this practice sustainable?   Students for Environmental Concerns, the University of Illinois’ oldest environmental group, doesn’t think so...

This week Environmental Almanac continues its series featuring students from the School of Earth, Society, and Environment who are developing their skills to communicate about environmental topics. Jess: Hear that? It’s the sound of combs being used as musical instruments...

For the next couple of weeks of Environmental Almanacs, Rob Kanter will be joined by students from the School of Earth, Society, and Environment who are developing their skills to communicate about environmental topics. Most residents of central Illinois are familiar with Busey Woods in Urbana, but for some U of I students, it’s new territory. Hi I’m Chloe, I’m Katie, and I’m Christina...