NRES

A new study from the Agroecosystem Sustainability Center (ASC) of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign provides one of the most comprehensive explanations to date of how tile drainage, a common agricultural practice, enhances the functioning of agricultural landscapes. Although tile drainage has been widely studied as an important form of agricultural infrastructure, the new study built a comprehensive framework to explain why tile drainage is so effective across a wide range of outcomes.

Farmers plant or preserve riparian buffers for various reasons, such as improving water quality, controlling erosion, or maintaining hunting habitat. Now, a new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign underscores the benefits of riparian buffers to terrestrial biodiversity, finding that for every 10% increase in forest cover, an additional species is present. 

Three ACES scientists are among 12 faculty at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who have been named to the 2025 Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers list. The list recognizes researchers and social scientists who have demonstrated exceptional influence, as reflected through their publication of multiple papers frequently cited by their peers during the last decade.

On a 2009 hike in the Huachuca Mountains of southeastern Arizona, a group of birders heard an otherworldly, ethereal bird song floating, flute-like, through the canyon. The hikers identified the singer as a brown-backed solitaire, recognizing immediately that the bird was very far from home.

Students in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences know communication is key. From public speaking requirements to advanced composition classes, ACES students are trained to share their knowledge with the world.

The Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE), College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES), and The Grainger College of Engineering celebrated the investiture of two campus researchers for their leadership in advancing resilient food systems, clean energy transitions, and shaping global sustainability technologies.

Illinois once harbored more than 8 million acres of wetlands. By the 1980s, all but 1.2 million wetland acres had been lost, filled in for development or drained to make way for agriculture. Now, thanks to a 2023 Supreme Court decision, roughly 72% of the remaining 981,000 acres of Illinois wetlands are no longer protected by the federal Clean Water Act, putting communities at risk of losing the flood control, groundwater recharge, water purification and natural habitat these wetlands provide, researchers report.

The U.S. National Science Foundation has announced new funding to understand and reduce grassland fire risk in the Southern Great Plains.

The Blavatnik Family Foundation and The New York Academy of Sciences has announced the Finalists for the

Most birdwatchers are drawn to the dynamism of birds — snippets of a call as flyers twist and dive overhead, or a flash of wings in the bushes, gone before you can snap a picture.