Behind the Scenes
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A place for artistic expression at SPEAK Café
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Sharing things with strangers can sometimes be easier than sharing with a friend. That thought comes alive for me the evening I attend the SPEAK Café, a space full of song, poetry, art and expression. Hosted by local artist Shaya Robinson, the open-mic event takes place in the Rest Lab 8: Greenspace […]
Building a living laboratory on a lake
DECATUR, Ill. – After more than a year of planning, our team is finally ready to launch a new phase of research. We’ve designed and built two small “islands” of wetland plants that will float on Lake Decatur. These living laboratories will help us investigate how floating wetlands may affect nutrient levels and sediment dynamics […]
Monitoring stress from the surface of the body
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Today, my laboratory looks more like a scene from a sci-fi film than a psychology research space. Wires snake across tables, sensors lay carefully arranged on trays, and a bucket of ice water sits in the corner, quietly waiting its turn. This work is part of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s department […]
Erlanger After Dark!
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — As the early evening bustle of neighbors gathers in Carle Park for games, artmaking, food trucks and conversation, the sun begins to set. Its descent marks the slow reveal of kaleidoscopic colors cast on an adjacent house, the park and the people — shifting hues of indigo, gold and emerald. Soon, projected […]
Giving and learning on the job
CHICAGO, Ill. — I wake up at 5:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning to make it on time to the Medical District Veterinary Clinic in Chicago. After I greet everyone, the volunteers get a quick tour of the clinic. All the rooms and the back area are stacked with supplies. This morning, I am assigned […]
Staging a fight
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A group of theatre students is gathered in a rehearsal room at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. They are each paired with a partner, and I watch as they shove each other in the chest, knee one another in the gut and then punch their […]
Teaching about sea ice while standing on it
UTQIAQGVIK, Alaska — My boots crunch into the snow as I step onto the frozen Arctic Ocean. It’s April in Utqiaġvik, Alaska, and I’m here to help run a sea ice field trip for eighth graders and assist with some fieldwork. Around me, a network of tents — each with a story to tell about […]
Because America never forgot
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — On March 11, 1944, my relative 2nd Lt. Thomas V. Kelly, Jr. and 10 other crew members of a B-24 bomber named “Heaven Can Wait” were declared missing in action after being shot down somewhere over the waters of Hansa Bay, Papua New Guinea. For our family, as for so many families […]
Learning from cockatiels
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — When the lights go out, the 18 shrieking cockatiels in the room get quiet. I aim my phone’s flashlight into a large cage where Philip Wiley, another of the six veterinary students participating in this advanced avian medicine professional development course, is poised to catch one of the birds. The light helps […]
Taking flight on a New York City stage
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — It’s a Saturday afternoon and I’m waiting in a cramped hallway beneath The Joyce Theater stage in Chelsea, Manhattan. My palms are sweaty, and I feel anxious as I attempt to take my mind off the looming event, my New York City debut. The audience is filled with my peers, teachers, family […]
Experiencing the intersection of art, architecture at Krannert Art Museum
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — As an art student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, I love how different forms of art weave together. No art form exists in isolation; each one connects and interacts with others in meaningful ways. Painting borrows precision from drawing, dance is deeply connected to music, and photography captures the drama of […]
A temporary farewell to the Altgeld bells
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A large crane is parked on the north side of Altgeld Hall on this sunny and mild mid-December morning. As I watch from near the Alma Mater statue, the arm of the crane that extends far above the scaffolding surrounding Altgeld’s bell tower lowers a cable into the top of the tower, which has […]