Stories by Patty Wetli

A 3.3 magnitude earthquake struck Illinois shortly before midnight Monday, with an epicenter roughly 75 miles southeast of Springfield.

As part of its commitment to conserve the endangered southern California sea otter, Shedd Aquarium is a partner in a groundbreaking surrogate mom program.

Officials are asking for help identifying the body of a person pulled from Lake Michigan along the Indiana Dunes shore over the weekend.

Sea Rocket, who mated with Imani in 2024, has landed at Montrose Beach. Blaze and Pepper, who raised three chicks last summer, are also back on a Waukegan beach.

Chicago was once a swamp. In some places, it still is. But will climate change undo wetland restoration efforts?

The community science program Plants of Concern is designed to keep Illinois’ rare plants from going extinct.

Bits and pieces of Halley’s Comet, which last swung by Earth in 1986, will be visible as meteors in upcoming days. The Aquarid meteor shower will peak in the pre-dawn hours of May 5 and 6.

Chicago Vocational High School led Landmarks Illinois’ annual list of the state’s most endangered historic places.

A proposed change to the United States’ Endangered Species Act could threaten not only to reverse decades of progress but accelerate the pace of loss, experts said.

The latest tactic in Chicago's ongoing war against rats is to attack the problem at the source — with birth control instead of poison.

The Forest Preserve District of Cook County has mapped the largest specimen of each tree species identified in the preserves and has made it easier for people to find these “champions.”

Double-crested cormorants have been thrilling Chicagoans lucky enough to witness thousands of the birds streaming along the Lake Michigan shoreline — wave after wave, lasting for several minutes — as they migrate further north.

The City Nature Challenge is a friendly global competition designed to showcase the biodiversity in urban yards, parks and nature preserves.

Monarchs left Mexico in late March and have now crossed into Illinois, according to reports.

The visitor center reopened Monday after closing for repairs in November 2023 following damage from a fire.

The first meteor shower of the year is here, with the Lyrids peaking late tonight into the pre-dawn hours on Tuesday.

The Chicago Park District said the best viewing will likely run through April 27.

Imani hatched at Montrose Beach in 2021. He has faithfully returned every year since, and last year he finally made a love connection.

Skunk cabbage is the first native wildflower to emerge in Chicago’s woodlands in spring. Other ephemerals will follow, blooming briefly on the forest floor before disappearing for another year.

Analog communication is having a moment, ironically thanks to digital platforms where people share product info and connect over their shared love of stationery.

The wait is on to see whether at least one, or possibly two, pairs of plovers will nest at Montrose Beach this year.

Poisonous plants are having a moment, courtesy of the “White Lotus.” The Field Museum has a whole collection of toxic specimens, and the public can get a rare look next week.

Newly published research suggests that despite all the pampering corpse flower plants receive from their curators, conservation efforts have fallen short in one key area that threatens the species’ survival in captivity as much as in the wild.

Waves of rainstorms are expected to move through Chicago Wednesday, prompting an “overflow action day” alert from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District.

The Chicago Fair Trade Museum is hosting what it's billing as “Chicago's biggest community clothing swap,” Friday through Sunday.

Participating vendors at Saturday’s Trash Bash will be accepting everything from electronics and expired prescription drugs to musical instruments and eyeglasses.