Bats come out of the shadows during Bat Week (Oct. 24-31, 2023), an international awareness campaign that aims to educate the public about bat conservation in the week leading up to Halloween. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign bat expert Joy O’Keefe explains the threats to bats and how we can help.

On environmental threats to bats:

URBANA, Ill. – Married couples and long-term romantic partners typically engage in a variety of behaviors that sustain and nourish the relationship. These actions promote higher levels of commitment, which benefits couples’ physical and psychological health.

URBANA, Ill. – The Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics (ACE) honored Nicholas Paulson as the Hobart R. and Marian Gardner Hinderliter Endowed Professor in Farm Management during an investiture ceremony in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, on Oct. 13.

URBANA, Ill. — Illinois farmers can now sample their fields for soybean cyst nematode (SCN) at no cost, thanks to the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) and the Plant Clinic, a service of University of Illinois Extension, part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. 

URBANA, Ill. – Nanozymes are synthetic materials that mimic the properties of natural enzymes for applications in biomedicine and chemical engineering. They are generally considered too toxic and expensive for use in agriculture and food science. Now, researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a nanozyme that is organic, non-toxic, environmentally friendly, and cost effective.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A multiyear analysis tested whether management zone maps based on soil conditions, topography or other landscape features can reliably predict which parts of a cornfield will respond best to higher rates of seeding or nitrogen application. The study found that – contrary to common assumptions – crop-plot responses to the same inputs vary significantly from year to year. The most unpredictable factor – the weather – seemed to have the biggest impact on how the crops responded to these inputs.

The new findings are reported in the Agronomy Journal. 

Urbana, Ill. — Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) Director Madhu Khanna was officially appointed the Alvin H. Baum Family Fund Chair on Oct. 12 at an investiture ceremony at the Funk ACES Library on the University of Illinois campus.