Sunset over the Kishwaukee River
Kishwaukee College will be hosting a presentation on the Stream Ecosystems of Northeastern Illinois on April 21 at 1:00p.m. in Room A1225 in the Kishwaukee College Conference Center. The presenter is Steve Pescitelli from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The presentation is free and open to the public. Visitors should park in Lot A (south lot) and enter through Doors #16 or #17.
Northeastern Illinois is a very unique area which contains some globally unique ecosystems as well as one of the largest urban areas in the U.S. The landscape includes a wide variety of aquatic habitat types including glacial lakes, low gradient headwater creeks, rocky mid-sized streams, and a range of larger river habitats. These diverse habitats historically supported a diverse assemblage of fishes, numbering over 100 species, in addition to a rich mussel fauna. Human beings have altered this natural landscape through pollution, agricultural drainage, dams, and the reversal of the Chicago River.
Steve Pescitelli’s presentation will outline past and current condition of our local river systems, review aquatic ecosystem fundamentals, describe how fish are used to gauge stream health, and review current Department of Natural Resources programs to monitor and improve our river ecosystems.
Steve Pescitelli has been a Stream Specialist with Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Division of Fisheries since 1994. He received his B.S. and M.S. from the University of Illinois and spent time working at the Illinois Natural History Survey. Steve’s area of responsibility includes the Fox, Des Plaines, DuPage, Kankakee, and Mazon Rivers, as well as the Chicago and Calumet River Systems, and several direct tributaries to the Illinois River. He has been very active in the area of dam removal and has been involved in a number of restoration projects throughout Northeastern Illinois.
He has recently appeared in the Friends of the Chicago River, discussing the reintroduction of Channel Catfish into the Chicago River. He is also president-elect of the American Fisheries Society.
For more information on Steve Pescitelli’s presentation, contact Tania Nezrick, Biology faculty, at 815-825-2086, ext. 4220 or at tania.nezrick@kishwaukeecollege.edu.
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