FIELD NOTES BLOG

Meet Bryce

Bryce Messer
January 30, 2024

Salutations Everybody! My name is Bryce Messer and I am happy to be serving Severson Dells, for the first time, as an AmeriCorps Environmental Educator. I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia but moved to Illinois a little over 1 year ago, so I am excited to learn everything I can about the natural wonders of the area.


I graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in Biology with minors in Geology and History of Science. Then I received my master’s degree from Southern Illinois University majoring in Zoology. As a requirement for graduation, I developed a habitat management plan for the American Pronghorn across a 140,000-acre ranch in New Mexico.


Before my time at Severson Dells, I worked in wildlife rehabilitation with WildCare Oklahoma to nurture sick, injured, and orphaned animals back to health. Following leaving Oklahoma I served as a natural resource technician at Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico then traveled to Trinidad & Tobago to study the evolutionary histories of guppies.




I have had a lifelong love for wildlife and the outdoors which means I spend most of my time outside hiking, fishing, birding, and hunting. When not outside I enjoy playing video games, live-action role-playing, and watching movies & anime.

RECENT ARTICLES

June Climate News: 2026 Fire Season Is Becoming a Fire Year

By Emma Zimmerman • June 4, 2026
Experts are warning that 2026 may bring a record wildfire season to the United States, so severe that many researchers and fire agencies are no longer calling it a “fire season” at all. We are off to such a start that experts are now referring to it as a fire year. Traditionally, the wildfire season in the United States peaks between May and October, but we have seen many fires throughout the southern and western United States already this spring. Most major fires occur in western states. However, impacts from wildfires can be felt across the entire country, including here in northern Illinois. Wildfire smoke can travel hundreds or even thousands of miles, affecting our air quality here in Rockford. Maybe you recall the hazy skies and dangerous air quality alerts from the last few summers caused by fires burning far away in Canada. Unfortunately, these days are not going away, and if anything, we should expect more of them in the future. So why is this year a “fire year”, and why are experts concerned? Let’s dig into it.

From Prairies to Skyscrapers: Nature and Architecture in Northeastern Illinois

By Olivia Price • May 28, 2026
Nature and Architecture in Northeastern Illinois

Science Literacy In the Rockford Region

By Emma Zimmerman • May 19, 2026
Science literacy may not be a term you hear every day, but it is something that shapes your life and the community around you in more ways than you might realize. Science literacy is the ability to understand, evaluate, and apply scientific concepts to make informed decisions regarding the world around us. Science is intertwined in nearly every part of our lives, but it can still feel intimidating and inaccessible at times, and that is largely because our society has a science literacy gap . Science can be complicated and challenging to understand, and this feeling is more common than we often admit. By making science more accessible through environmental education, we work to break down these barriers and build a more scientifically literate society. A scientifically literate society is a resilient society that is better prepared to solve climate problems, advocate for change, and build a more sustainable future.