Seeing beyond the visible: Researchers turn everyday cameras into crop analysis tools

Agricultural producers and manufacturers often need information about crop attributes, from nutrient content to chemical composition, to make management decisions. In recent years, multispectral imaging has emerged as a useful tool for product analysis, but the required equipment is expensive. Standard RGB cameras are much more affordable, but their images show only visible attributes.

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Almost half of Oregon elk population carries advantageous genetic variant against CWD, study shows

Chronic Wasting Disease, a prion protein disease that is fatal in elk, deer, and other cervids, has spread rapidly across the United States since it was first identified in 1967. CWD has now reached Idaho near the Oregon border, causing concern for the Columbian white-tailed deer, a rare subspecies found only in two regions in Oregon.

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The Coming of Age of Miscanthus

Thanks to research breakthroughs by CABBI’s internationally known miscanthus experts and geneticists, this unique plant is poised to be a game-changer on the bioenergy front — and beyond.

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Three ACES scientists rank among the world's most influential

Three ACES scientists are among 12 faculty at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who have been named to the 2025 Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers list. The list recognizes researchers and social scientists who have demonstrated exceptional influence, as reflected through their publication of multiple papers frequently cited by their peers during the last decade.

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Global Academy teams aim to strengthen ACES engagements around the world

A longstanding, impactful program housed in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) has announced its newest cohort of faculty members who will strengthen ACES connections and impacts around the world. 

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Big Dreams in Small Packages: Kylee Oglesby’s Mini-Cow Research

For as long as she can remember, Department of Animal Sciences student Kylee Oglesby has been surrounded by cattle. Growing up on her family’s cattle operation in Southern Illinois, Oglesby helps raise about 400 cow-calf pairs per year.

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Lost or leading the way? Rare birds may signal shifting migration routes

On a 2009 hike in the Huachuca Mountains of southeastern Arizona, a group of birders heard an otherworldly, ethereal bird song floating, flute-like, through the canyon. The hikers identified the singer as a brown-backed solitaire, recognizing immediately that the bird was very far from home.

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Wild giraffes lose their conservation safety net as zoo populations hybridize

Zoos and private collections teach, inspire, and connect people to animals they may never encounter in the wild. And, in some cases, those animals represent valuable ‘assurance populations’ — essentially, backups that could be used to revive critically endangered populations in their native ranges.

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