This is a co-sponsored Zoom program in collaboration with Lake County Forest Preserves and the History Center

Every year the advances in climate change science increase our understanding not only of the consequences to our world, but to the nature that surrounds us. Efforts to proactively react include managing our natural areas in Lake County to increase their resilience. The Lake County Forest Preserve District undertakes this work using evidence-based management and tests new approaches to seed sourcing for climate resiliency. This Zoom program, featuring guest speaker Pati Vitt, will highlight the demonstration project at Grant Woods Forest Preserve, and explore how our changing climate is already challenging our work.

Pati Vitt, Director of Natural Resources at the Lake County Forest Preserve District, earned her Ph.D. at the University of Connecticut in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and her Master's at the University of Maine in Botany & Plant Pathology. She served as Senior Scientist and Curator of the Dixon National Tallgrass Prairie Seed Bank at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Joining the Lake County Forest Preserves provided her an opportunity to apply her experience in restoration and to work towards increasing the climate resilience of our local area.