Poor diet, household chaos may impair young children’s cognitive skills

Champaign, Ill. – Poor nutrition coupled with living in a chaotic household environment may negatively affect young children’s executive functioning, the higher order cognitive skills that govern memory, attention and emotional control, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign found.

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Illinois project takes on quantitative disease resistance in corn

URBANA, Ill. – Like the virus that causes COVID-19, pathogens that attack crops change constantly to evade host immunity, or disease resistance in plant parlance. Sometimes, a single gene makes the difference between a resistant crop and one that’s susceptible. In those cases, the gene typically blocks the pathogen for a while, until the microbe makes a change. 

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Madhu Khanna named Director of the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment

Professor of Agricultural and Consumer Economics (ACE) Madhu Khanna has been named the Alvin H. Baum Family Chair and Director of the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Khanna, who has served as iSEE’s Interim Director since 2020, assumes the role on July 16, pending the approval of the Board of Trustees.

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Low named head of ACES Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics

URBANA, Ill. – Sarah Low will serve as the next head of the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics (ACE) in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

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Head to Orr Agricultural Center July 20 for an agronomy-focused field day

URBANA, Ill. – As summer 2022 rolls on, so do the events of this year’s University of Illinois Agronomy Days. Farmers in the know are keeping a close watch on the summer-long calendar of events providing practical, research-based information that can improve yield, input management, and sustainability on the farm.

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Produce donation program improves health and nutrition at food pantries

URBANA, Ill. ­– Food pantries provide much needed relief for food insecure individuals and families. But pantries often rely on donations of canned and packaged foods with limited nutritional value. Growing Together Illinois, a program from Illinois Extension, aims to provide fresh produce to food pantry clientele across the state.

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Waiting for the sun to set to find a rare bird

When most people are just getting home from their workdays, I’m about to start mine. I am a researcher studying the breeding behavior of the Eastern whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus), a cryptic bird that is primarily active after sunset as it forages on the wing for moths. So – for the summer, at least – I also am nocturnal.

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Filling industry gap, U of I program trains professionals in food policy

URBANA, Ill. – Right now it’s infant formula, but food recalls are seemingly always in the news. When recalls happen, industries and supply chains can slam to a halt, causing everything from minor inconvenience to illness to, in the case of infant formula, widespread food insecurity for the youngest in our population.

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