Urban Stream Research Center Visit

A group of Accelerate Climate Solutions Interns, Volunteers, and friends got to visit the Urban Stream Research Center (USRC) at Blackwell Forest Preserve last week. The USRC specializes in propagating native mussels. 

This vital work protects and restores threatened and endangered mussel species to our local streams and rivers. Mussels are important to ecosystem health and water quality since they filter out pollutants and excess nutrients. 

Fun fact: The mussels start out smaller than a grain of sand, and to grow they have to attach onto fish and feed off their blood!

One thing that really affects mussels is water quality and human interference in natural bodies of water. 

Andres Ortega (Aquatic Resources Supervisor) explained that “we can help this problem by being more aware of how we interact with our environment.” This means don’t flush medications or chemicals, read labels on how to safely handle and discard household and lawn chemicals, and try to use less toxic ingredients (especially for fertilizer, cleaning supplies, etc). 

Although they focus on mussels, this center also works with other threatened animals in the ecosystem like the Hine's Emerald Dragonfly and Blanding's Turtle. They work to help all these species recover and to restore habitats. 

Learn more by visiting the Urban Stream Research Center. https://www.dupageforest.org/what-we-do/species-recovery

And remember to always be careful of how you interact with the environment!