Meet Guest Panelists: Urban Rivers
The staff of the Chicago-based nonprofit Urban Rivers. Front row-Research Director, Phil Nicodemus, Executive Director and Co-Founder Nick Wesley. Back row-Programs Manager Sage Rossman, Bubba Tucker (dog and Head of Goose Relations), and Business Operations Manager Maya Kelly.
Meet the staff of the nonprofit URBAN RIVERS ( @urbanrivers ) in Chicago, who participated as guest panelists for our Autumn issue of Nature Book Guide. (To access your own copy, use the “Download - Issues and Extras” tab above.) The issue celebrates volunteers, and as a nonprofit organization, Urban Rivers relies on engaged, good-hearted individuals to contribute to their work.
Urban Rivers’ mission is to transform urban waterways into urban wildlife sanctuaries. They are bringing back habitat for native wildlife by building artificial floating gardens in historically industrialized sections of the Chicago River. The gardens are full of native wetland plants that grow hydroponically down through the garden modules into the water – providing high-quality, diverse habitat both above and below the water’s surface. The floating wetlands provide shelter and food for a diverse range of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. The root network of the plants, hanging below the gardens, provides critical habitat for fish as well as smaller members of the aquatic ecosystem, such as macroinvertebrates.
Co-Founder and Executive Director, Nick Wesley, recommended THE CHICAGO RIVER: A NATURAL AND UNNATURAL HISTORY by Libby Hill, Southern Illinois Press, 2019 (revised).
At first glance, readers might mistake Hill’s The Chicago River: A Natural and Unnatural History for a slog of an academic book, as it is chock full of tables and graphs, maps, historical documents, and photographs. They’d be wrong. A thoroughly readable and engaging history, this is for anyone with a fondness for urban waterways, engineering, habitat restoration, and the evolution of public spaces. We loved this geeky dive into civil engineering history and modern restoration and rewilding efforts.
Programs Manager, Sage Rossman, recommended SAM THAYER'S FIELD GUIDE TO EDIBLE PLANTS: OF EASTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH AMERICA, SamThayer, Foragers Harvest Press, 2023.
“I have been following Sam Thayer on TikTok for years now and was delighted to see this guide released. He is a well-respected member of the foraging community and has a deep gratitude for the land and its gifts, which shows in every piece of media he produces. It's rare to find a field guide that is so purposeful and personal and yet so meticulously detailed.” --Sage Rossman, Programs Manager, Urban Rivers
The gardens are full of native wetland plants that grow hydroponically down through the garden modules into the water – providing high-quality, diverse habitat both above and below the water’s surface.
“We call our team of wonderful, dedicated volunteers River Rangers. They kayak the river to remove trash buildup; report on plant health and wildlife sightings; remove weeds and invasive species and perform other maintenance on the gardens; contribute to ongoing research into macro-invertebrates, freshwater mussels, or water quality; and have a great time helping the community and local wildlife!”
--Nick Wesley, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Urban Rivers
Read more about Urban Rivers and our all-volunteer Book Recommendation Panel members on our website's About page.