NRES

In a world where increasing demands for food security and energy strain existing resources, scientists are looking for new ways to maximize both. One potential option, agrivoltaics, integrates solar photovoltaics with crops. A new study examines the agricultural and economic trade-offs that come with installing solar arrays on working farms across the Midwest.

A new accounting of nitrogen pollution in the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin (MARB) reveals a significant decline in recent decades, suggesting positive momentum for water quality goals in local watersheds and the Gulf.

Keeping amphibians as pets offers hobbyists an opportunity to connect with the non-human world, often increasing interest in conserving animals in the wild.

Corn bred with genes from wild relatives can reshape soil microbial communities and reduce nitrogen loss — with no yield reduction — according to new research from the University of Illino

Scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign can now differentiate between human-derived and hydrological contributions of riverine nitrogen pollution in the Upper Mississippi River Basin.

"Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints.” That’s what kids are usually told on nature walks.

Cover crops improve soil health and water quality, prevent nutrient loss, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but they’re only grown on about 5% of U.S. agricultural lands. That’s despite billions in annual federal investments, primarily in the form of cost-share and incentive payments to farmers who adopt conservation practices.   

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.