2024-04-28
- The Ecological Society of America is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024 Katherine S. McCarter Graduate Student Policy Award (GSPA). Students in the 2024 cohort are engaged in advocacy with an interest in science policy. Awardees will travel to Washington, D.C., for policy, communication and career training followed by meetings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
“I am thrilled to welcome...
2024-04-19 - Three professors in the College of LAS have been elected 2023 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. They are among the 502 scientists, engineers and innovators recognized for their scientifically and socially distinguished achievements by the world’s largest general scientific society. The new fellows are ...
2024-04-12 - A professor from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences been awarded a 2024 Guggenheim Fellowship. Evolution, ecology and behavior professor Alison Bell is among 188 writers, scholars, artists and scientists chosen through a rigorous peer-review process from nearly 3,000 applicants, according to the John Simon...
2024-02-06 - The College of LAS has selected 14 professors, graduate students, lecturers, and an advisor as the recipients of the 2024 teaching and advising awards. “We are proud to have such an impressive group of people advancing our vital teaching and advising goals,” said Venetria K. Patton, the Harry E. Preble Dean of the College of LAS. “We received exceptional feedback from students and alumni about...
2023-12-18 - Congratulations to Sarah Winnicki, who received the A. Brazier Howell Award from the American Ornithological Society for their presentation on how egg-laying order impacts the growth of American Robin nestlings. Sarah presented work following up on their previous findings that robin eggs varied with laying order (hormone content, size), that nestlings hatched asynchronously, and...
2023-10-26 - As if frogs aren’t reason enough to leap into this profile, researchers are starting to see more clearly what the creatures can tell us about animal behavior and biological organization. Eva Fischer, professor of evolution, ecology, and behavior and Lincoln Excellence for Assistant Professors Scholar, is uncovering what “charismatic frogs”—her affectionate term for her...
2023-08-31 - Four SIB professors are participating in the Team Science Leadership Program offered by the IGB this fall. The Team Science Leadership Program is a new program being offered by the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, consisting of a series of workshops that bring together faculty from all over campus. The workshops are tailored to mid-career faculty, and focus on leadership...
2023-06-06 - I am walking in a forest and listening to a concert of birdsong at dawn. I pick one song out of the chorus – a fast chatter full of melodious whistles – the sound of the sooty ant tanager. “Today, we will probably get to know this bird up close,” I think. My colleagues and I set up and open our mist nets. Now we are ready to document and study the avian wonders of this corner of the world. We...
2023-04-14 - Faculty, staff, and graduate teaching assistants at the University of Illinois, including 11 instructors from the College of LAS, were honored recently for excellence in teaching, mentoring, and advising. These awards, sponsored by the Office of the Provost, are collectively known as the Campus Awards for Excellence in Instruction. The Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching...
2023-04-10 - Launched in 1952 shortly after Congress established NSF, the Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) program represents the nation's oldest continuous investment in the scientific workforce. The program recruits high-potential, early-career researchers and supports their graduate training in science, technology, social science, engineering, mathematics, and STEM education. Awardees receive three...
2023-03-03 - Many animals have evolved to tolerate extreme environments, including being able to survive crushing pressures of ocean trenches, unforgiving heat of deserts, and limited oxygen high in the mountains. These animals are often highly specialized to live in these specific environments, limiting them from moving to new locations. Yet, there are rare examples of species that once lived in harsh...
2022-11-07 - Students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign once again hosted “Owl Night,” a public outreach event where people of all ages can learn about owl behavior and ecology, and if they’re lucky, see an owl up close. Owl Night takes place on two separate nights: November 1st at Kennekuk County Park, and November 8th at Homer Lake. At Owl Night, participants can learn about owls through a...
2022-10-21 - Researchers have created a model that can calculate the energetics involved when one organism stabs another with its fangs, thorns, spines or other puncturing parts. Because the model can be applied to a variety of organisms, it will help scientists study and compare many types of biological puncturing tools, researchers said. It also will help engineers develop new systems to efficiently pierce...
2022-10-13 - Longtime professor and director honored for research, teaching, and mentoring When Carla Eva Cáceres was a sophomore studying biology at the University of Michigan, she heard of an internship that would put her on a boat in Lake Michigan doing research. She hesitated.
2022-10-10 - In 1868, the naturalist Charles Darwin wrote that differences in plumage coloration between male and female birds of the same species were likely the result of sexual selection: Female birds – he used the peahen and peacock as an example – seemed to prefer the showiest males. A new study of thrushes offers evidence that another dynamic is at play, and helps explain why this phenomenon, called...