Lauren Umek, PhD
lglyndal.bsky.social
Lauren Umek, PhD
@lglyndal.bsky.social
Academic turned practitioner, building natural areas in Chicago, squeezing in research where I can. Queen of typos.
Reposted by Lauren Umek, PhD
some other familiar grocery store names that are brands for producer-owned agricultural co-ops:

Blue Diamond
Bob's Red Mill
Land O'Lakes
Tillamook
Welch's
My #SuperlativeCannedGoo tweet from the old place is making rounds again. Support co-op cranberry growers!
November 17, 2025 at 2:44 AM
It’s easy to complain about everything right now because, well, reasons. But these are some shots from work just this week, so that at least is awesome.
November 7, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Reposted by Lauren Umek, PhD
Science friends, life is difficult now, but please still try to peer review papers if you can.

I'm the editor handling a paper that just had it's 43rd person decline to review. We may have to reject it because no one is willing to review it, which sucks for the authors.
August 13, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Damn conscious. Had to take a few hours off my vacation to discover the local bird rescue folks in an attempt to get this little guy healthy and back out in the world or meeting a peaceful end instead of on the sidewalk in front of a parking garage.
August 4, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Reposted by Lauren Umek, PhD
Alright I have a question for *all of you*, esp for those of you who are not into environment stuff.

When you think about planting native plants in the area you control, what *prevents* you from taking that action? These could be emotional, financial, practical, anything.

RTs appreciated here.
June 24, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Overheard at Big Marsh today

“I realized I don’t need to go to all the way to Montrose [Point Bird Sanctuary] to see cool birds!”

❤️ doing our best to make awesome birding and nature spots near everyone in Chicago ❤️
June 3, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Just a spring beauty appreciation post. Imagine this mixed within your lawn….
April 30, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Today’s class started with a Canada goose walking out of a restaurant, then hissing at and chasing me away, then proceeded on the Wild Mile where a student told some fish-related dad jokes and another had custom fish nail art.
A+ day
April 29, 2025 at 3:29 AM
I made art! With soil!
Very cool “painting with soils” workshop at Society for Ecological Restoration meeting.
April 25, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Shout out to one of my favorite spring flowers-Pennsylvania Sedge. Spreading like a beauty in my urban clay & construction debris “soil”.
April 24, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by Lauren Umek, PhD
Nice shots here of the experimental grounds on The Morton Arboretum's west side, including our bur oak reciprocal transplant experiment (ACE, conceived by @cavenderg9.bsky.social and executed in collaboration with her group at UMN and Heather McCarthy at U of OK).

mortonarb.org/blog/a-place...
A Place for the Nitty-Gritty of Tree Science | The Morton Arboretum
Behind the scenes at The Morton Arboretum, trees and plants grow as research experiments to improve the future for trees and people.
mortonarb.org
April 3, 2025 at 1:10 AM
These geese rudely demonstrating how good the sod looks in our experiment comparing lawns to different native plant installations (post burn and some installation bumps in the road)
April 1, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Morning coworker
February 25, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Reposted by Lauren Umek, PhD
I gotta give it to the USGS. This is a really good timelapse of the beginning of the eruption at Kilauea today.
December 24, 2024 at 12:58 AM
Good morning from the steamy north branch of the Chicago River and its freshly burned banks.
December 13, 2024 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by Lauren Umek, PhD
It's graduate school application season, so here's your reminder that nobody should pay for a graduate degree in #ecoevo !

Here's a list of fully funded ecology, evolution, & organismal biology Masters' programs (please share!)!
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Funded Organismal Biology MS Programs
Funded Organismal Biology MS Programs List of Departments that have a fully-funded Masters program that includes Ecology, Evolution, or Organsimal Biology Background on this list: Some Masters progra...
docs.google.com
September 8, 2023 at 2:57 PM
“Oh look, scientists!”

While we were sampling soils and measuring water infiltration at Jackson Park. They were sociology majors at UIC and part of the convo was “You can be a scientist at the Park District?!”

My heart is so full with this very bright side to working in a Saturday.
November 17, 2024 at 12:50 AM