The College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is redefining educational access with the launch of ACES 102: Introduction to Sustainable Food Systems. Approved by the Illinois Board of Higher Education and debuting this fall, the course marks the first dual-credit class offered by the Urbana campus. 

The U.S. is largely self-sufficient in agricultural food production, supported by a well-developed storage and interstate trade system. However, extreme weather events put increasing pressure on agriculture, potentially impacting the country’s ability to provide food for its growing population and underscoring the importance of maintaining a resilient food supply chain. 

When students enroll in Agricultural and Consumer Economics 241: Advanced Personal Finance at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, many expect a traditional course with many lectures and challenging tests. But what they find instead is an immersive, practical experience designed to strengthen financial literacy and prepare them for the real world. A component of the course that makes it different from others is the Action Learning Project. Students are then able to apply classroom concepts to benefit communities beyond campus.

"Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints.” That’s what kids are usually told on nature walks. But Caitlin Bloomer, aquatic ecologist and teaching assistant professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, believes that a more hands-on, land-based approach is needed to improve conservation. So when she traveled to Minnehaha Falls, Minneapolis, this summer to help lead a nature walk for kids, they went home with some invasive crayfish. 

 Erik K. Nelson, professor in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology within the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has been named the Keith W. and Sara M. Kelley Endowed Professor of Immunophysiology.

The ubiquitous plastic beverage bottle makes up about half of plastic waste collected for recycling in the U.S. Most recycled plastic is processed domestically, but a portion is traded overseas. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign draws on citizen science data to investigate how the global plastic waste trade contributes to litter along coastlines and waterways in importing countries.

Open-access biological databases have long served as pillars for life science research, providing freely accessible data that drive discovery across fields like genetics, ecology, and neuroscience.

To meet ambitious U.S. Department of Energy targets for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), production of purpose-grown energy crops must ramp up significantly. Although researchers have made substantial progress in understanding the management and conversion of these crops, key knowledge gaps hold the industry back. Now, two new studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign help fill in the blanks for Miscanthus and switchgrass management.