Morgan Greene

A broad-billed hummingbird, that usually doesn't go beyond Mexico and southern Arizona and New Mexico, is spotted May 5, 2021, at LaBagh Woods in Chicago.

Rare hummingbird’s stop in LaBagh Woods is a once-in-a-lifetime sight for Chicago birders

May 6, 2021 at 6:59 p.m.

In recent days, the scene at LaBagh Woods on Chicago's Northwest Side has been humming. A broad-billed hummingbird, a species that generally hangs out in Mexico, has made it all...

Shirley Davis, 72, who is a TreeKeeper in Chicago, stands with a linden tree she cares for in her neighborhood on April 30, 2021. The TreeKeeper program from the conservation group Openlands trains volunteers to care for trees.

In the past 10 years, millions more ash trees have died, and the invasive buckthorn now makes up 36% of the Chicago region’s trees, census shows

May 3, 2021 at 10:31 p.m.

When Shirley Rounds Davis moved to her home on the Far South Side decades ago, she could see a maple tree through the window. Over the years, she watched it...

A black-crowned night heron joins another in the Indian Ridge Marsh near Lake Calumet on the Southeast Side of Chicago in 2008.

Researchers hope this weekend’s nature challenge inspires Chicago’s citizen scientists: ‘More people out there is just more ears to listen, more eyes to see’

April 28, 2021 at 9:44 p.m.

This weekend, Chicagoans can participate in a rare activity that encourages screen time and appreciation of the outdoors — the global City Nature Challenge, a chance to log as many...

Beachgoers enjoy themselves at Montrose Beach on June 8, 2019. Some community groups do not want the summer music fest Mamby on the Beach to take place, while the promotors are pushing back.

Return of piping plovers Monty and Rose makes a great comeback and conservation story. ‘But I got to tell you — it’s a love story.’

April 27, 2021 at 5:48 p.m.

Chicago's preeminent plovers are together again, settling in for their third summer of saving their species at Montrose Beach along the Lake Michigan coast. Monty and Rose, the endangered Great...

Jeff Kirwan, a corn and soybean farmer, injects ammonia into the soil of his fields in New Windsor, Illinois.

‘If you want a scary story:’ Agriculture, human health and ecosystems at risk as Illinois’ climate is quickly changing, report shows.

April 21, 2021 at 9:32 p.m.

Illinois' climate is swiftly changing, becoming warmer and wetter and signaling long-term shifts that could push people, cities and ecosystems to the brink. If the planet fails to curb greenhouse...

Kentaro Inoue, a research biologist with Shedd Aquarium, empties out a bag of mussels collected from Poplar Creek on Sept. 23, 2020 in Elgin. According to Shedd scientists, "some of Illinois' most rare mussel species can only be found in this particular creek in Cook County, including Ellipse which is a mussel species of greatest conservation concern in Illinois."

What might be ahead for birds, fish and trees facing Illinois’ changing climate

April 20, 2021 at 10:14 p.m.

Climate change is reshaping life in Illinois, and with warmer winters, increasing precipitation and hotter, drier summers forecast ahead, the natural world will face its own adaptation challenges. A climate...

An aerial of the Skokie Lagoons on Aug. 27, 2010. The lagoons were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, part of the New Deal.

A century ago, a New Deal program left a lasting mark on Illinois and the country. Now, a Civilian Climate Corps could tackle joblessness and global warming.

April 20, 2021 at 5:05 p.m.

They built limestone aqueducts in the Dan Ryan Woods and dug out the Skokie Lagoons one shovel at a time. At Starved Rock State Park, they raised lodges, and along...

Damaged trees caused by local beavers stand along the edge of a retention pond in Concord at the Glen subdivision on April 12, 2021, in Glenview.

Residents are protesting the possible trapping and drowning of Glenview beavers

April 13, 2021 at 9:58 p.m.

They're making protest signs. They're signing petitions. They're holding rallies. And they're doing it all to save the beavers. Residents are protesting the possible trapping and killing of a couple...

A jogger runs along the thawing Chicago Riverwalk on Feb. 22, 2021.

Severe weather ‘off to an unusually slow start’ in the Chicago area, but this is the time of year when flash flooding and tornadoes can ramp up quickly

April 12, 2021 at 5:34 p.m.

If it seems like Chicago's spring weather is off to a calm start, that's because it is — zero days of severe weather have struck northern Illinois so far this...

Final preparations are underway for the United Center COVID-19 vaccination site March 8, 2021, in Chicago.

United Center will offer Johnson & Johnson vaccine starting next week

April 12, 2021 at 12:17 a.m.

The United Center will switch to the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine beginning next week, officials said Sunday. Starting April 20, those with walk-in appointments will receive the Johnson &...

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