The Museum has played a leadership role in helping launch Chicago Wilderness, a groundbreaking partnership of over 70 diverse and determined organizations in the region, dedicated to the preservation of the globally endangered natural communities in our own backyards. In the vision of Chicago Wilderness, Chicago will be known as a place whose people have a passion for wilderness, and the foresight and ingenuity to save their piece of it. But there is much to feel upbeat about. People are changing. Governments are changing.
Conservation is increasingly at the forefront of people's minds.
It's up to us to reverse the damaging trends. But I don't think that affected me too much. In conservation biology I believe that the sex ratio is more even than in other sciences. In conservation biology, that is a major plus. But my grandmother, an animal and nature-lover herself, encouraged me by sharing with me her love of the outdoors and memories of nature in her youth.