John Chick, an aquatic ecologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey – University of Illinois, and the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center, will be the guest speaker during a session of the Piasa Palisades Group of the Sierra Club Speaker Series at 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 8, at the First Unitarian Church of Alton, which is located at 110 East Third Street.

Chick’s presentation, entitled “What’s Up with the Upper Mississippi River System?,” will give an overview of ongoing long-term monitoring and research activities that focus on this river system, which is a nationally significant ecosystem.  

Chick will discuss the role of the Clean Water Act in the recovery of fish communities in the Illinois River, challenges in addressing habitat degradation in the floodplain, climate change and the Upper Mississippi River System, and the effects of Asian carp on native fishes in the Mississippi and Illinois rivers.

The importance of partnerships among government agencies, academic institutions and non-government organizations, for increasing our understanding of the ecology of large-floodplain rivers and effective management of these ecosystems will also be discussed.

The National Great Rivers Research and Education Center is a partnership of Lewis and Clark Community College and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.