Kaiyu Guan is a researcher with lofty goals – he hopes to monitor, model and ultimately optimize every farmland. Guan aims to achieve these goals in the coming decade or so. He’s a researcher with a mission; of helping create tools so farmers can check on and manage their crops – every single field – in real-time to maintain a healthy and productive growth cycle. But simply reaching that goal isn’t enough. Guan also hopes to achieve co-sustainability of environment quality and food security.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The first thing I notice when we step through white double doors of the growers’ house is that every one of the 1,200 or so chickens in this enormous room has stopped whatever it was doing to stare at us. A few of the birds step closer, peering at our legs as if they want to peck our shoes. But they don’t. They’re just curious. Chickens, I realize, are gawkers.
URBANA, Ill. -- With growing concerns about sodium intake in North America amid the limited impact of public health campaigns, strategies for reducing sodium in the food supply are increasingly important.
Sodium has been flagged for decades as a nutrient of public health concern for overconsumption. But the functional roles of sodium in baking, preserving, thickening, curing and retaining moisture, all complicate reduction strategies.
I’ve been around coffee for as long as I can remember. I was born in Guatemala, and I’ve enjoyed many sunsets at my family’s coffee farm in the town of Antigua Guatemala. As kids, my cousin and I spent countless hours playing hide and seek between the rows of coffee plants and made paper boats that we released in the coffee mill water channels where the coffee grains were washed.
URBANA, Ill. – Nicolas Martin, assistant professor of crop sciences, and Bruce Sherrick, professor of agricultural and consumer economics, have been selected as 2022-2023 faculty scholars by the University of Illinois Office of Risk Management and Insurance Research (ORMIR) to advance academic research on risk management and preparedness.
In December 2020, the College of ACES celebrated surpassing its $200 million With Illinois campaign goal 18 months ahead of schedule. Now, the college—and the university—have set their sights on recognizing the impact of the generosity of its supporters.
"With Illinois" is the most ambitious philanthropic endeavor in the history of the University of Illinois, raising $2.7 billion from October 2017 to June 2022. A celebration was held on October 14, 2022, to showcase the transformational power of gifts accrued during the campaign.
A team of Agroecosystem Sustainability Center (ASC) scientists, including faculty from the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences and the Department of Crop Sciences, was awarded a grant from the Illinois Nutrient Research and Education Council to quantify streambank erosion across the state and its contributions to phosphorus loading of surface waters.
Harvard University’s Center for the Environment awards environmental fellowships. The fellowships enable recent doctorate recipients to use Harvard’s resources to tackle complex environmental problems. Eligibility for funding extends to candidates with a doctorate or equivalent in any subject area from any university in the world. Candidates may propose research projects in any discipline. The fellowship includes a salary of US$83 thousand per year, plus reimbursement for relocation expenses, annual allowance for travel and other professional expenses.
URBANA, Ill. – Plants are designed to travel. They might not stand up and walk, but many plants produce seeds or other bits that can be carried long distances by wind or animals and start growing. While that might be great news for the plant, escapes like these can disrupt natural ecosystems and be costly to remove.
But just how costly?
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