Voices of ACES Blog

Illini Kennel Club connects dog owners on campus

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I'm Danielle Willenborg, a junior majoring in Animal Sciences with a
minor in Horticulture. My goal is to pursue a career in veterinary
medicine. Additionally, I hold the role of Vice President in the
Illini Kennel Club, a new organization on campus that officially
became an RSO in the spring of 2023. Last year, towards the end of
2022, I came across an ad for a new club seeking individuals to fill
executive positions. One reason veterinary medicine appeals to me is
the constant opportunity for client education, so having the chance to

FSHN students win second place with “Churroats” in food science competition

URBANA, Ill. — A student team from the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition (FSHN) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign took second place in the Institute for Food Technologist’s (IFT) Student Association & Mars Product Development Competition in July. Their winning product was “Churroats,” a churro made from upcycled oat pulp.

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ACES faculty selected for new IHSI Emerging Research Leaders Academy

Kaiyu Guan, associate professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, founding director of the Agroecosystem Sustainability Center, and Blue Waters professor in the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, has been named among the first cohort in a new campus program for mid-career faculty: the Emerging Research L

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Call for Themes: Eighth Annual International Food Security Symposium at Illinois - Spring 2024

Member for

3 years 9 months
Submitted by lsweet on

We seek to use the symposium to explore in depth a specific aspect of international food security. We intend to fund a full day or day-and-a-half symposium with support for 4 to 6 external presenters and other presenters from this campus. We are particularly interested in supporting themes for which the symposium could stimulate longer-term activities. We welcome proposals from individuals or from groups of faculty/researchers on a theme. Proposals that include student participation through events such as poster sessions and short presentations will be given priority. We will provide up to $15,000 for this event as well as logistical support, including purchasing air tickets, hotel bookings, securing the venue and catering, advertising, registration, materials, etc.

The selected proposal team will be responsible for the content of the symposium, including the theme, selecting the speakers, and creating the program. The team’s unit may need to provide additional support to cover all symposium costs and logistics.  

To Apply: If you have a theme you would like considered, please create a short (one page) proposal describing:

  1. The overall theme in one sentence
  2. A few sub-themes that might represent titles for panels in the symposium
  3. Some potential external speakers for the sub-themes
  4. The audiences for whom this symposium would be of significance

Please send your suggestions to aces-oip@illinois.edu by October 6 with the words “IFSI 2024 Symposium” in the subject line.

https://publish.illinois.edu/intl-food-security/events/

ACES expert: Viral evolution and the new BA.2.86 COVID variant

URBANA, Ill. — Last week’s classification of BA.2.86 as a COVID "variant under monitoring" by the World Health Organization raises many epidemiological and public health questions. Among the unknowns is how the virus evolved to acquire 36 to 38 mutations on its spike protein, relative to other circulating variants.

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How local communities depend on the ivory palm tree in coastal Ecuador

URBANA, Ill. – The ivory palm tree, also known as tagua, is endemic to the Chocó-Darien region on the Pacific coast of South America. The local population relies on this unique tree for many uses and the tagua fruit, nuts, and leaves provide materials for a range of products. Two studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE) explore the ecosystem services provided by tagua in coastal Ecuador.

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Sweet corn yield at the mercy of the environment, except for one key factor

URBANA, Ill. — A new analysis from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has identified the top factors accounting for yield variability in processing sweet corn (used for canned and frozen products), including one within the control of processors. 

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