Wild Ones, Gibson Woods Chapter Business Meetings are held via Zoom
on the first or second Wednesday evening of each month (unless otherwise noted).
Educational Presentations are at 10:00 a.m. the first Saturday of the Month
(unless otherwise noted).
Typically held at Gibson Woods Environmental Awareness Center
6201 Parrish Avenue, Hammond, IN 46323.
Phone 219-844-3188
Visit our Symposium page for information about our
10 Biennial Native Plant Symposium – Oct 17th 2026
| October Chapter Board Meeting |
| In-person & via Zoom **Members Only** Saturday, October 3rd, 202610:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.Gibson Woods, 6201 Parrish Ave, Hammond, IN 46323 This is a business meeting that is open to all members. |
| In-person RSVP Register via Zoom |
| Advancing Outdoor Recreation in the Grand Calumet River – Encouraging Community Involvement – with Margot Bronec |
| Wednesday, October 7th, 20266:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. CT Zoom Presentation – Open to the Public **Please Register Below** This meeting will be recorded, and will besent to all who registered. |
| In this brief presentation and Q&A, Margot Bronec, Community Planning Fellow at the National Park Service, will share how community members can get involved in the ongoing recreation planning efforts in the Grand Calumet River Area of Concern (AOC). As part of the Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program within the National Park Service, our team is working with communities to advance outdoor recreation and conservation in the Grand Calumet River AOC. Members may be interested in learning about the AOC because Gibson Woods is within the borders of the AOC. Margot Bronec is an Urban Planner who recently received her master’s degree from the University of Illinois Chicago. During her masters, she focused on research and work in the Calumet Region, spanning from the Far South Side of Chicago to Northwest Indiana. She is a lifelong Chicagoan, passionate about environmental planning and recreation. |
| Register via Zoom |
| November Chapter Board Meeting |
Wednesday, November 4th, 20266:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. via Zoom **Members Only** This is a business meeting that is open to all members. |
| Register via Zoom |
| Detecting and Experiencing Old Growth Forests in NW Indiana and SW Michigan, Let’s Go Exploring! – with Dr. Spencer Cortwright, Professor at IUN |
| Saturday, November 7th, 202610:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Gibson Woods – 6201 Parrish Ave, Hammond IN In-Person & online via Zoom Open to the Public **Please RSVP or Register Below** This meeting will be recorded, and will be sent to all who registered. |
How can we detect that we are in an old growth forest or one very similar to old growth? How much old growth is left in the eastern half of the U. S.? We will explore the idea of old growth forests. We will visually interpret and visit candidate old growth forests in NW Indiana and SW Michigan! Spencer Cortwright grew up in Riverside, Illinois—near, but not in, Brookfield Zoo—with the zoo and Cook County Forest Preserves serving as his earliest nature stomping grounds. He earned a biology degree from Washington University in St. Louis, then sharpened his ecological expertise at Indiana University (at the time, not exactly known for football). Following a postdoctoral stint in ecology research and teaching at the University of Michigan (very much a football powerhouse), Dr. Cortwright joined the faculty at Indiana University Northwest, where he has taught since 1992. He has studied amphibian ecology for more than a quarter-century and restoration ecology for nearly as long, with plenty of overlap between the two. Otherwise, he jokes he’d be far too decrepit to be doing much of anything at all! |
| In-person RSVP Register via Zoom |