2025-12-10 - Plant biology professor Tracy Lawson, plant biology professor emeritus Govindjee Govindjee, and the late plant biology emeritus professor Stephen P. Long were all ranked among the top seven highly-ranked...
2025-12-08 - Research by Plant Biology Professor Andrew Leakey was recently highlighted in the Chicago Tribune in a feature story examining the promise of miscanthus, a fast-growing perennial grass with wide-ranging applications. The article explores how Illinois researchers are advancing...
2025-12-03 - A team of plant biologists has made an exciting discovery about how flowers grow and organize themselves, and one of the key authors was Assistant Professor in Plant Biology Ya Min (Minya) from the University of Illinois. Their new study, published in the journal Current Biology, explores how a gene called CYCLOIDEA (CYC) helps shape...
2025-12-01 - A new study in the journal New Phytologist reveals how plants move sugar to get the energy they need to grow, even in challenging conditions. The research was led by the group of Li‑Qing Chen, Associate Professor of Plant Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, highlighting the importance of this...
2025-11-14 - CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Twelve scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 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.The highly cited Illinois...
2025-11-13 - I never imagined I’d study abroad. Before this past spring, I had never even left North America, and my worldview was shaped by a distinctly American perspective. That changed when I transferred to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. My mom studied abroad in Scotland while she was in college and encouraged me to seek out studying abroad myself. She often spoke of how formative an...
2025-10-30 - Giant, versatile, and genetically complex, miscanthus poses unique opportunities for the farm economy, domestic manufacturing, next-generation biofuels, and the environment. This ancient, highly productive, and resilient grass hails from Asia, where it thrives from the tropics of New Guinea to the cold, temperate lands of eastern Russia. Today, miscanthus is an emerging biomass crop grown on...
2025-10-16 - At the intersection of science, storytelling, and creativity lies the Multi-Planar Dragon Expo—an innovative outreach event that uses the magic of fandoms and fantasy to make real-world science engaging and accessible to everyone. Whether you’re a scientist, a fantasy fan, or simply curious about the biology behind dragons, this event promises something for all ages.Hosted by the...
2025-10-07 - For integrative biology and global studies major Ella, curiosity didn’t just spark a new question, it opened a door to a life-changing experience. Through the Illinois in Vienna Programs, and with the support of the School of Integrative Biology (SIB), she turned her questions about science, health, and culture into an...
2025-09-26 - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, today held a roundtable discussion at the University of Illinois with scientists, administrators, and beekeepers regarding their bee genomics research—which is sequencing the genomes of more than 4,000 domestic bee species. Over the last five years, Durbin has secured nearly $8 million in USDA...
2025-09-23 - CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois once harbored more than 8 million acres of wetlands. By the 1980s, all but 1.2 million wetland acres had been lost, filled in for development or drained to make way for agriculture. Now, thanks to a 2023 Supreme Court decision, roughly 72% of the remaining 981,000 acres of Illinois wetlands are no longer protected by the federal Clean Water Act, putting communities at...
2025-09-18 - CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — One of the great challenges of ecology is to understand the factors that maintain, or undermine, diversity in ecosystems, researchers write in a new report in the journal Science. The researchers detail their development of a new model that — using a tree census and genomic data collected from multiple species in a forest — can predict future fluctuations in the relative...
2025-09-04 - CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Five professors at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have been named University Scholars in recognition of their achievements in teaching, scholarship and service.The program honors faculty excellence and provides $15,000 to each scholar for three years to enhance their academic careers. That money may be used for travel, equipment, research assistants, books or other...
2025-08-29 - Elizabeth (Lizzie) Bello, a doctoral student in entomology, has been recognized for her groundbreaking work in visualizing insect nanostructures. Bello was the winner of the 2025 Beckman Institute Research Image Contest, showcasing her exceptional talent...
2025-08-27 - In a decisive new study, crop scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and USDA’s Agricultural Research Service show that soybeans are doubly damaged by drought and ozone pollution, both of which are...