People

URBANA, Ill. – Nicki Engeseth has been named head of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition (FSHN) in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at University of Illinois.

During her 23-year career at the University of Illinois, Engeseth has successfully held several administrative positions, including serving as interim head of FSHN on two occasions. She teaches courses in food chemistry, and is a highly regarded researcher with an excellent record of publications and grant acquisition.

URBANA, Ill. - “This farm has quite a story,” said Kim Kidwell, dean of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, speaking to a gathering of friends this past week who had come together to celebrate a family farm—a legacy farm—that has supported Illinois youth for decades.

URBANA, Ill. – The College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois has acquired a work of art by renowned painter Billy Morrow Jackson.

The painting, “Windwalker,” was donated to the college by the artist’s wife of 30 years, Blanche Mary Jackson. It is currently on display in the dean’s conference room, 224 Mumford Hall.

URBANA, Ill. – Conservation organizations and foundations have invested billions to preserve natural resources and biodiversity across the globe, but the effectiveness of these investments over time is not always clear. A new multi-institutional project, led by a University of Illinois researcher and supported by a $550,000 grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, will trace key outcomes of $655 million in the foundation’s global conservation investments made over 40 years.  

Access to healthy food is a basic human need. Yet, one out of eight people in American is at risk for hunger, and the number is even greater for children.

Food insecurity, defined as limited access to adequate food, exists everywhere in the United States. Overall, 40 million people, or 12.5% of the U.S. population, are food insecure. But there is large regional variation in this rate, says Craig Gundersen, ACES distinguished professor of agricultural and consumer economics at the University of Illinois.  

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Stephen P. Long, a professor of crop sciences and plant biology at the University of Illinois, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest professional honors a scientist can receive. He is one of 100 new members and 25 foreign associates recognized for “distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.”

URBANA, Ill. – Who should make decisions about the management and fate of national parks and other protected areas? For a long time, especially in national parks, natural resource management decisions have centered around tourists, leaving local landowners and other stakeholders out of the picture. Now, a movement known as inclusive conservation is bringing local stakeholders to the table, and a research group from the University of Illinois is leading the effort in Alaska’s Denali National Park.    

For Charles “Chuck” Olson, being assistant dean for student development and career services in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) was his passion, what he would call a service project that happened to pay his salary. Olson passed away on April 14, 2019.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new study finds that Medicare costs tend to be lower in counties with more forests and shrublands than in counties dominated by other types of land cover. The relationship persists even when accounting for economic, geographic or other factors that might independently influence health care costs, researchers report.

The analysis included county-level health and environmental data from 3,086 of the 3,103 counties in the continental U.S.

URBANA, Ill. – Ronaldo Maghirang has been named head of the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois. Maghirang will assume the position on May 1, pending approval by the Board of Trustees.