ACE

Malawi’s Lower Shire Valley is changing.

Literacy rates in Sub-Saharan Africa remain low, despite increased primary school enrollment. In rural Mozambique, only 3% of children possess grade-level reading skills. Poor learning outcomes in lower grades are a barrier to further expanding school enrollment at higher grade levels.

A team of agricultural economists, environmental scientists and policy experts envisions a path toward a carbon-neutral agricultural future by expanding the reach of policies designed to promote low-carbon biofuels for transportation and aviation. In a new paper in the journal Science, the researchers propose policies that would reward farmers for adopting “climate-smart” practices when growing biofuel crops and remove the hurdles that currently thwart such efforts.

Self-checkout registers have become ubiquitous in grocery stores as they provide convenience and efficiency for customers. They also offer more privacy with no human directly monitoring your purchases.

A long trusted resource for corn belt farmers developed at the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has expanded its portfolio to provide in-person and online targeted professional development to agricultural professionals worldwide. 

The global food system faces growing risks from climate change, even as farmers seek to adapt, according to a June 18 study in Nature.

In contrast to previous studies suggesting that warming could increase global food production, the researchers estimate that every additional degree Celsius of global warming on average will drag down the world’s ability to produce food by 120 calories per person per day, or 4.4% of current daily consumption. 

URBANA, Ill.

If you look closely at the marble staircases in Mumford Hall, you’ll see imprints worn into the stone—evidence of generations of students passing through, their footsteps leaving a mark.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign each year presents Campus Awards for Excellence in Instruction to exceptional faculty and staff members, graduate teaching assistants and advisers campuswide. This year’s recipients, four of which are from the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, were honored at a ceremony on April 15.

2025 ACES award recipients include:

Jonathan W. Coppess, associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, spoke with Illinois News Bureau business and law editor Phil Ciciora about the potential effects of tariffs.

What are tariffs likely to mean to the average U.S. household, and when will consumers start to notice the effects?