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.

URBANA, Ill. – The National Institutes of Health recently pledged $2.6 million towards the Center for C. elegans Anatomy, also known as WormAtlas. The center provides anatomical resources for researchers studying C. elegans, the tiny nematode worm that serves as a model organism for higher animals, including humans.

Each year, University of Illinois scientists conduct pest and disease surveys in corn and soybean crops across the state, along with in-field tests of insecticides, seed treatments, and more. The 2022 report, now available, describes ongoing Bt-resistance monitoring results; field evaluations of traits and insecticides for controlling corn rootworm; results of insect pest surveys, including dectes stem borer, soybean gall midge, and rootworm adults; and a summary of weather and crop production for Illinois' 2022 growing season.