Urban agriculture has the potential to decentralize food supplies, provide environmental benefits like wildlife habitat, and mitigate environmental footprints, but researchers have identified knowledge gaps regarding both the benefits and risks of urban agriculture and the social processes of growing more food in urban areas.

Plants often develop communities with microorganisms in their roots, which influences plant health and development. Although the recruitment of these microbes is dictated by several factors, it is unclear whether the genetic variation in the host plants plays a role. In a new study, researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign explored this question and their work can help improve agriculture productivity. 

Soils are not just key to crop production and food security. They form the literal foundation supporting homes, roads, septic systems, and other essential infrastructure. That’s why students in NRES 285, a laboratory and field soil judging course, learn to identify important physical properties of soil. And they’re good at it.

Natural resource management decisions in protected areas impact more than the wildlife and landscapes they’re charged to conserve. They also affect neighbors, who could otherwise hunt, build, or recreate as they choose on their own land. For decades, community members primarily voiced their opinions through brief and impersonal public comment periods.

The Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE), in partnership with the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences (NRES), invites applications and nominations for the Stuart L. and Nancy J.

Professor Michael Ward has been appointed as the Stuart L. and Nancy J.

Three researchers in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have been named to the 2023 Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers list. The list recognizes research scientists and social scientists who have demonstrated exceptional influence – reflected through their publication of multiple papers frequently cited by their peers during the last decade. 

Bats come out of the shadows during Bat Week (Oct. 24-31, 2023), an international awareness campaign that aims to educate the public about bat conservation in the week leading up to Halloween.

As the world focuses on not only solving the climate crisis but also sustaining the world’s food supply, researchers need tools to evaluate how atmospheric pollutants affect crops. Over the past decade, the agriculture community has turned to solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) measurements to detect stresses on plants.

Illinois natural resources and environmental sciences professor Kaiyu Guan says that there are many farming practices that can go a long way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but the scientific community has struggled to find a consistent method for measuring how well these practices work. His new study presents a comprehensive approach to help the stakeholders within the agricultural industry “speak the same language” when discussing greenhouse gas emissions.