Behind the Scenes

Searching for turtles in a sea of grass

OGLE COUNTY, Ill. – Searching for reptiles and amphibians is often quite tedious. You have to carefully scan ahead of each step for movement before a snake gets away, or spend hours flipping over logs to find the particular salamander you are looking for. Today, we’re searching for turtles. We’re surveying two of the largest […]

Behind the scenes Basketball and other sports give Malaysian high school students a chance to test their language and athletic skills.

Aiming for hoops and practicing English

MIRI, MALAYSIA – Saturday afternoons for your typical Malaysian high school student are drastically different than what they’re like in the United States. The overriding emphasis here on government exams and grades often confines these youngsters to hours of extra classes and studying, even on the weekends. One of our jobs as Fulbright English teaching […]

Behind the scenes This B-24 crew, plus an additional crewman, was lost on a bombing mission during World War II. A relative of Illinois professor Scott Althaus was among them, and he led a research project to learn the details of that final mission.

This B-24 crew, plus an additional crewman, was lost on a bombing mission during World War II. A relative of Illinois professor Scott Althaus was among them, and he led a research project to learn the details of that final mission.

Lost but not forgotten: Why this Memorial Day is different

The call came on Good Friday, two months ago. They had found the plane, a B-24 bomber shot down over a remote Pacific Ocean bay during World War II. One of the 11 crew members on board was my relative. Through five years of research, our extended family had pieced together details of his last […]

Behind the scenes Lori Fuller's paintings will be exhibited at the Illini Union Art Gallery, April 18 - May 31, 2018. A trip to Ramsey Cascades in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park inspired her work.

Lori Fuller's paintings will be exhibited at the Illini Union Art Gallery, April 18 - May 31, 2018. A trip to Ramsey Cascades in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park inspired her work.

Rocks, moss and muddy tree roots

NEAR GATLINBURG, Tenn. – It’s a summer day in June, and as my husband and I approach the Great Smoky Mountains National Park visitor center, I have one goal in mind: I want to see something extraordinary. At my request, the ranger at the visitor center pulls out a map, smiles and immediately points to […]

Behind the scenes The crew spends an afternoon preparing GPS transmitters with cords that will be tied to turkeys.

Double the traps, double the turkeys

PEARL, Illinois – I scan the woods around me, carefully eyeing the tree-line through the darkened windows on each side of my blind. I see no turkeys and go back to reading my book. After a few pages, I glance up again and jump in surprise as turkeys emerge over a hill in the field […]

Behind the scenes Graduate student Matthew Go aims to broaden the understanding of Filipino skeletal variation, an effort that will enhance efforts to identify human remains.

Graduate student Matthew Go aims to broaden the understanding of Filipino skeletal variation, an effort that will enhance efforts to identify human remains.

Image of Research: Bare Witness

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Deaths from homicides, accidents, disasters or armed conflicts can result in unknown human remains that require identification before further investigation. To identify these remains, an anthropologist can piece together details about a person’s life from their bones. The accuracy of such anthropological methods depends on the diversity of available skeletal research collections, […]

Behind the scenes Lutein-rich “cupcakes” are part of a study that seeks to understand the role of nutrition in children’s brain health.

Image of Research: You are what you eat

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – As a chef-turned-nutritional neuroscientist, I explore how the food we eat impacts the way we think. As a part of my graduate training, I design dietary interventions. The “cupcakes” in the image above are actually not cupcakes at all. They’re 90 percent egg powder with a dash of sugar and flour. In […]

Behind the scenes Kinetic structures can be folded into smaller volumes for storage or transport.

Image of Research: Kinetic structures

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – As an architecture student, I am trained to think about structures made of concrete, steel and wood. Until recently, the structures I designed were typically static – until I came across a whole new world of kinetic structures. I learned that almost any form can be given mobility and deployed by calculating […]

Behind the scenes All the tarantulas shown here once shared a single pickle jar. They were meticulously separated and relabeled, and now are in proper storage.

All the tarantulas shown here once shared a single pickle jar. They were meticulously separated and relabeled, and now are in proper storage.

Tarantulas in a pickle jar

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Storing your dead tarantulas in a gallon-sized pickle jar is not the best solution to long-term preservation. Especially when those tarantulas are toe-tagged – like corpses in a morgue. But that’s what I find this morning when I open one of the dozens of metal storage cabinets in the chilly insect collection: a […]

Behind the scenes Fulbright grantees set out into the wilderness as part of a team-building exercise in Malaysia.

Chasing waterfalls

MIRI, MALAYSIA — We awake from our post-training slumber at 6:30 a.m. for an activity unlike any of the team-building exercises we have experienced so far. This is only the first week of training for the Fulbright Program here. There are nearly 100 of us on this waterfall hike, braving the rain and humidity together […]

Behind the scenes Information sciences graduate student Joseph Porto searches through the scrapbook of a student who attended the university 100 years ago.

Information sciences graduate student Joseph Porto searches through the scrapbook of a student who attended the university 100 years ago.

Telling stories and touching history

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — I slowly turn each page of Florence Lee’s large paper scrapbook, making sure not to wrinkle any of the items she placed inside. Its contents offer a snapshot of student life in the early 20th century at the University of Illinois: a laminated orange and blue button from a homecoming football game, […]

Behind the scenes A new exhibit includes the upper torso and head of a red goddess sculpture, carved from stone and found buried at the ancient American Indian city of Cahokia. Note the serpent wrapped around her head. This artifact dates to the 12th century.

A new exhibit includes the upper torso and head of a red goddess sculpture, carved from stone and found buried at the ancient American Indian city of Cahokia. Note the serpent wrapped around her head. This artifact dates to the 12th century.

Ancient American goddesses on display

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new exhibit at the U. of I.’s Spurlock Museum offers a glimpse of the artistic and spiritual legacy of the American Indian people who built Cahokia, a great, thousand-year-old urban center on the Mississippi River. “Cahokia’s Religion: The Art of Red Goddesses, Black Drink and the Underworld” displays artifacts recently returned […]

Behind the Scenes

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