URBANA, Ill. — As the northern hemisphere heads into summer, we may be in for a COVID-19 reprieve.

URBANA, Ill. – As Corn Belt states seek ways to curb nitrogen flow from farms into the Gulf of Mexico, new University of Illinois research adds evidence for winter cover crops as an important part of the solution. A simulation study published in Science of the Total Environment finds widespread planting of cereal rye in Illinois could reduce nitrate in the state’s tile drainage water by 30%.

URBANA, Ill. – What if, by adding a couple of cell layers inside a corn kernel, the grain could become significantly richer in essential nutrients like iron, zinc, and protein? Such an improvement could benefit people who rely on corn for a large portion of their diet, as in many parts of the global south.

Three ACES faculty members were among those honored at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign this week for excellence in teaching, mentoring and advising, collectively known as the Campus Awards for Excellence in Instruction.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. —  Steve Long, director of the RIPE Project, is set to speak at TED2023: POSSIBILITY in Vancouver, British Columbia, later this month.

URBANA, Ill. – Researchers from the Agroecosystem Sustainability Center (ASC) at the University of Illinois can detect soil tillage practices from space, weaving together data from ground images, airborne sensors, and satellites.

URBANA, Ill. -- Professor D.K. Lee, Department of Crop Sciences, has been named one of five University Scholars at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. The honor recognizes excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service and is presented by the University of Illinois System to faculty members from the Chicago, Springfield, and Urbana universities.

URBANA, Ill. – A new University of Illinois project is using advanced object recognition technology to keep toxin-contaminated wheat kernels out of the food supply and to help researchers make wheat more resistant to fusarium head blight, or scab disease, the crop’s top nemesis.   

URBANA, Ill. – When he heard an old barn on the University of Illinois campus was scheduled for demolition, soil scientist Andrew Margenot went to investigate. Inside, on dusty shelves, he discovered a time capsule in the form of thousands of jars of soil from around the state, some dating as far back as 1862. 

The Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) is providing seed funding for a research project that will use automation to reduce manual labor costs in small urban farming operations.