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Dear Alumni and Friends, 

If you can believe it, the School is celebrating its 25^th Anniversary! As we continue venturing forward, we plan on rolling out several changes to make things easier than ever to engage with us, which includes bringing this newsletter to a virtual format. We hope that you will enjoy being able to interact with our website and that you return often for updates. We also changed the format of our awards ceremony. Our new Awards and Honors page allows you to learn more about our amazing students and their achievements. Finally, the last major change this year already occurred, which entailed our first Convocation ceremony being held in the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts Foellinger Great Hall! Although the three departments that comprise SIB and their associated graduate degrees are each over 100 years old, we have a relatively new way in which we structure the undergraduate biology degrees and our masters programs. In 2005, the SIB undergraduate degrees had fewer than 50 graduating seniors. This year, we had 246 seniors, 34 MS students, and 14 PhD students. I was thrilled that we could move into a larger venue so that we did not have to limit the number of tickets that were distributed to each graduate. I also enjoyed welcoming alumnus Eric Giesing back to campus and hearing his inspirational message to our students.

The department heads have each shared highlights from their faculty and students. Suffice to say, the 2024-2025 academic year was full of success in teaching, research, and community engagement. None of this would be possible without the generous support of our donors. Your gift, no matter the size, enables student scholarships, faculty awards, and support of vital infrastructure. In particular, we are thrilled to be able to help more students study abroad every year, both by expanding our course offerings and providing scholarships to help offset the cost. 

Please stay in touch. Visit us at 286 Morrill Hall whenever you're in Urbana–Champaign. Connect online at sib@illinois.edu and engage with our social media (Instagram, Bluesky, LinkedIn, or Facebook). Here’s to another remarkable year of scientific discovery, educational excellence, and community.

With immense gratitude,

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Director, School of Integrative Biology
University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign

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The Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior (EEB) had a productive year. Despite recent disruptions to science funding, faculty and students remain united in their desire to understand the relationship between environmental change and its impact on organisms across ecological and evolutionary timescales. 

Our most exciting news is that Dr. Tigga Kingston joined us this August as the inaugural Shelford-Pitelka-Batzli Professor in Mammalian Ecology—a named professorship generously endowed by Dr. George Batzli and his family. Dr. Kingston is a global leader in bat conservation. She founded and directs the Southeast Asian Bat Conservation Research Unit and co-chairs the IUCN/SSC Bat Specialist Group (Old World Bats). She is also actively involved in international collaborations, including GBatNet, BOHRN (Bat One Health Research Network), the Bat Conservation Alliance, WABNet, and IUCN’s Global Bat Taxonomy Working Group. At Illinois, Dr. Kingston will teach Mammalogy and Conservation Biology and offer her signature writing workshop for finishing graduate students. We are excited to have her in our ranks. 

It was also a banner year for our community.

• Dr. Chris Cheng and postdoctoral researcher Dr. Julia York were featured in a series of articles on their Antarctic research, which highlights both the genomic origins of antifreeze molecules and the impact of rapid environmental change.
• Dr. Alison Bell received a Guggenheim Fellowship, was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, earned the Exemplar Award from Indiana University’s Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior, directs the new Kellner Center for Neurogenomics, Behavior, and Society at the IGB, and is serving as the Interim Dean for Research in LAS.
• Dr. Andy Suarez received the American Society of Naturalists' Distinguished Naturalist Award and the Campus Award for Excellence in Faculty Leadership.
• Dr. Phil Anderson received both the LAS and Campus Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Instruction.
• Dr. Becky Fuller was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and elected President of the American Society of Naturalists.
• Graduate student Mac Chamberlain’s research on cowbirds and species recognition was featured in The New York Times.
• Former graduate student Abbi Turner was a co-author on a paper in Nature examining neurogenomic responses to cavity nesting vs free nesting birds as they compete to find nesting sites.
• We also celebrated the retirement of Dr. Ken Paige after 36 years of service. Ken is now devoting his time to his start-up, Frenzy Crop System, which applies foundational research on plant overcompensation to boost soybean yields.

Our alumni also continue to make us proud. Dr. Doug Schemske (B.S. ’70, M.S. ’72, Ph.D. '76) received the LAS Alumni Achievement Award. Trained by Dr. Mary Wilson, Doug has had a transformative impact on plant evolutionary biology through his work on breeding systems, speciation, local adaptation, and biodiversity. He and his wife, Carolyn Johnston, joined us in April for the award celebration. In May, we welcomed back Eric Giesling as our commencement speaker. Eric, an entrepreneur in the biotechnology sector, holds a B.S. in Integrative Biology and an M.S. from NRES, where he worked with Dr. Alison Bell. We also enjoyed visits from many recent graduates who returned to reconnect with faculty and friends.

EEB continues to thrive as a dynamic and supportive community. Our weekly EEB Colloquium remains a central gathering point. Every Friday at 9:00 a.m., we meet to share bagels, coffee, and cutting-edge science from students, faculty, and guests from across academia, government, NGOs, and industry. Our motto remains: good things happen when we talk to one another.

In this uncertain time for science and higher education, I understand the concerns many share. But EEB is resilient. I like to think of us as a steady battleship, battening down the hatches as we face rough seas, yet steadily moving forward all the same. We will weather this storm.

Thank you for your continued support. Please stop by if you're in town—everyone is always welcome at the EEB Colloquium.