URBANA, Ill. – A new $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) will support University of Illinois scientists and collaborators as they develop improved seed corn tailored to the needs of the rapidly growing organic industry.

URBANA, Ill. – Since COVID-19 began its menacing march across Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and then across the world, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has taken a “whatever works” strategy to ensure its replication and spread. But in a new study published in Evolutionary Bioinformatics, University of Illinois researchers and students show the virus is honing the tactics that may make it more successful and more stable.

URBANA, Ill. - Where and how we grow up influence what we decide to do for a living. Maggie Furr grew up in the rural community of Shelbyville, Illinois. Her parents farm corn and soybeans. Furr, a junior in crop sciences in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES), expanded on her interests and upbringing by exploring another side of agriculture: metropolitan farming.

URBANA, Ill. – Extrusion is the norm in the pet and aqua feed industries, yet it remains unusual for swine feed in the United States. But the technology can improve energy and protein digestibility in pigs, according to research from the University of Illinois.

College is often known for being the “best four years of your life,” according to many moms, dads, aunts, and uncles who didn’t have the added stress of a global pandemic as a college student.

URBANA, Ill. – The Soybean Innovation Lab (SIL) and the American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS) will be hosting a virtual international symposium on soybean processing in collaboration with the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Makerere University, and the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO).

Luis F. Rodriguez, associate professor in agricultural and biological engineering at University of Illinois, has received a $750,000 grant from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to develop project-based education on disaster relief and resilience. The grant will support courses and study abroad programs conducted in collaboration with partners in Puerto Rico.

URBANA, Ill. – Fast and reliable internet access is fundamental for research and development activity around the world. Seamless connectivity is a privilege we often take for granted. But in developing nations, technological limitations can become stumbling blocks to efficient communication and cause significant disadvantages.

URBANA, Ill. — Scanning social media while listening to a lecture. Watching a favorite television series while studying. Today’s young people frequently juggle multiple streams of information and entertainment media while doing schoolwork, a trend that researchers call distracted learning.

URBANA, Ill. ­– The Appropriate Scale Mechanization Consortium (ASMC) at the University of Illinois received a $2.25 million grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to continue work on empowering smallholder farmers in West Africa and Asia through sustainable mechanization solutions.