Sharon M. Donovan is a professor of nutritional sciences and the Melissa M. Noel Endowed Chair in Nutrition and Health, whose work centers on childhood obesity prevention and optimizing health throughout the lifespan.

Bill Tarter likes to say he grew up a Southern Illinois farm boy. The oldest of nine in a tight-knit Irish Catholic family, he found money was scarce, but opportunity was not.

His parents, both high school graduates, fostered an environment that encouraged their children to participate in 4-H, FFA, school plays, band and anything else that expanded their world.

Dakoda Maguire, a senior in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Illinois may be famous for being the Land of Lincoln and home of “Da Bears,” but few are familiar with one of its lesser claims to fame, which lies underground.

The commercial cultivation of horseradish in Southern Illinois took root in the 1850s, when German immigrant farmers discovered that the region’s sandy, nutrient-rich soil created an ideal environment for the unassuming crop to thrive. 

Life on Mars may sound like science fiction for some, but for Luis Rodríguez, it marked the beginning stages of his career in biosystems research. He laughs, remembering his first major project after completing his Ph.D. in industrial and systems engineering and bioresource engineering at Rutgers University: designing reliable zero-waste ecosystems capable of supporting crop production on Mars at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. 

Fertility rates in much of Sub-Saharan Africa remain high, despite declining child mortality and improved access to contraceptives and female education — factors that generally lead to smaller families and improved economic conditions in developing countries.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign corn breeders know profitability is about more than yield.

Editor's Note: High-resolution images (CC BY 4.0) are provided courtesy of the iFAB Tech Hub; images may be used and adapted for editorial or commercial purposes with credit.