Rare Tour Offers Glimpse Into DuPage Co. Urban Stream Research Center

WARRENVILLE, IL — Residents can get a rare peek into how the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County cultivates dragonflies, mussels, fish and other wildlife with a rare tour of its Urban Stream Research Center. Tours will be held on Nov. 19 at the center, which is located inside Blackwell Forest Preserve in Warrenville.

Environmental interpreters will be on hand to conduct the tours, answer questions and demonstrate how they use lab equipment in their daily work. Information about the district's conservation initiatives will also be shared during the event.

The cost to take a tour of the Urban Stream Research Center is $5 per person. The first tour will be held at 10 a.m. and tours will be conducted every half hour until 2 p.m. Click the link to reserve a spot to tour the research center.

Alternatively, interested parties can call 630-933-7248.

The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County opened its Urban Stream Research Center in 2012. Since 2016, the center has helped the forest preserve district's staff raise and release over 27,000 mussels into nearby Illinois rivers and Lake Michigan.

A representative from the forest preserve district did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Patch Thursday morning.