Extinction of Experience: The Future of Urban Biodiversity

JWP Audubon and the Illinois Wesleyan University Biology and Environmental Studies programs are happy to sponsor a presentation by Dr. Emily Minor, a Professor of Biology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who will give a talk on “noticing nature” or “the extinction of experience” – the future of urban biodiversity.

Living in cities can lead to the “extinction of experience,” a feedback loop in which people who have little interaction with nature are less likely to protect it. This cycle could result in a continual erosion of biodiversity over time. Although this concept was first introduced 45 years ago, we still know little about the hypothesized feedback loop, if or how it plays out on the ground, and how it might be reversed. More recently, researchers have hypothesized that an alternate version of this loop may occur that incorporates environmental engagement, or “noticing nature,” leading to better outcomes for biodiversity. In this talk, Dr. Minor will describe the first empirical test of these feedback loops, using ecological and social data collected from residential neighborhoods in the Chicago suburbs. She will describe the connections between suburban residents, their yards, and the birds in their neighborhoods and talk about how these connections can benefit people and birds alike.

The presentation will be held in room C101 at the Center for Natural Science (CNS), 201 Beecher Street, Illinois Wesleyan University (IWU), Bloomington. Parking is available in the lot just north of the CNS on Beecher Street.