The Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute introduced their 2026 Community-Academic Scholars (CAS). Representing 23 majors and minors in seven colleges, the 19 scholars in this cohort encompass a diverse array of fields of study, from kinesiology to computer engineering to urban studies.
This cohort of scholars was selected from their largest and most competitive pool of applicants. Nearly 150 students, representing 54 different majors across eight colleges and schools, applied to be a 2026 scholar. The excellence and disciplinary diversity of the applicant pool were exciting to see!
Most notable is the increasing interest from undergraduates in the College of Fine and Applied Arts, the Grainger College of Engineering, and the iSchool, in addition to sustained interest from undergraduates in the Colleges of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Applied Health Sciences, as well as the College of ACES.
Researchers from across the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus are working with community partners to support a variety of projects, from sustainable food systems and community-based needs assessment to culturally responsive health tools, immigrant health education, and multilingual learning. Some projects leverage technologies like digital health monitoring, robotics, and extended-reality (XR) to support older adults and people with disabilities, look at how indoor environments affect health, and promote equity-focused, responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in community-based health care and public health settings. One project will even evaluate CAS itself, offering insight into how the program supports community-academic partnerships.
CAS Welcomes the Bug2School Research Fellows
The CAS program leaders were pleased to welcomed the Bug2School research fellows to the cohort! Led by Dr. Carmen Blubaugh, a visiting research scientist in the Department of Crop Sciences, Bug2School is a multi-generational co-learning alliance between university researchers, college students, teachers and school-age students. They perform coordinated, collaborative ecology experiments together using school gardens as a study system.
This summer, six Bug2School fellows will join community partner, C-U Farm2School, and Dr. Blubaugh to examine how edible living mulches might smother weeds in urban garden beds while enhancing production capacity and protecting crops from insect pests. They will then translate the results of their experiments and make them accessible for their diverse audience of teachers, school-age students, and community members. Project details
Rebecca Song (they/them) is studying conservation biology and urban studies. They serve as vice president of the Asian Student Association and volunteer with Downtown Greens, a nonprofit dedicated to providing publicly accessible, park-like green space, gardens, and related educational opportunities, in downtown Fredericksburg, VA. Rebecca has conducted research as part of Dr. Blubaugh’s team to better understand ecological trade-offs between immunity and reproduction in insect populations. They plan to pursue graduate study in entomology or arachnology, with a focus on ecology, conservation, and community-centered research.