Agriculture is a stressful occupation, and farmers struggle with anxiety and depression at higher levels than the general population. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign examines differences in mental health challenges for men and women farmers, focusing on the role of social support in mitigating stress.

Diana Rodríguez vividly remembers what it’s like to navigate the complex and daunting U.S. college admissions process as a racially minoritized, first-generation college student. Raised by Mexican immigrant parents in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, Rodríguez’s family valued education but had little access to guidance for first-generation college students and their families. 

The lower level of the ACES Library, Information and Alumni Center is poised for a revolutionary makeover, turning underutilized spaces into a collaborative laboratory with interactive classrooms for 21st-century learning.

The renovation will build upon the legacy of the Academic Computing Facility (ACF) that offered state-of-the-art information and technology infrastructure when the library opened its doors in 2001. 

Conventional food and agricultural production systems employ a linear “take, make, waste” approach: taking natural resources from the Earth to make food and fuel, generating waste that contaminates the soil and water, and emitting harmful pollutants.

The financial planning program in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is growing and thriving. The program, a concentration in the ACE undergraduate major, has doubled in size over the past eight years, and now serves 175 students who are preparing for careers as financial advisors.

The U.S. National Science Foundation and partner agencies in the U.S., Canada, Finland, Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), and the United Kingdom announced funding of new international centers of excellence in their Global Centers competition.

A transatlantic collaboration, the U.S. German Forum on the Future of Agriculture, led by Germany’s Aspen Institute together with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, is accepting applications for its third cohort to promote dialogue and policy recommendations towards a more sustainable future for the world. 

Hyperspectral imaging is a useful technique for analyzing the chemical composition of food and agricultural products. However, it is a costly and complicated procedure, which limits its practical application. A team of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers has developed a method to reconstruct hyperspectral images from standard RGB images using deep machine learning. This technique can greatly simplify the analytical process and potentially revolutionize product assessment in the agricultural industry.

The College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) celebrated exceptional faculty, staff, and graduate students at the 2024 Paul A. Funk Recognition Awards banquet on Sept. 23 at Pear Tree Estate. Below is a list of award recipients who Dean Germán Bollero recognized during the ceremony.