Behind the Scenes

Beautiful Musk

One summer day, just outside of East St. Louis, I drove by a wheat field ready for harvest. The low afternoon light cast a beautiful glow, and I was struck by a lone thistle growing amidst the wheat. I stopped my university vehicle with the official state seal on the side, set up my tripod […]

Behind the scenes Two male turkeys tussle, oblivious of the photographer capturing their dance.

Turkey tango

No visit to southern Illinois is complete without a stop at Mermet Lake Conservation Area, near Metropolis. During one late October visit, I noticed a shape approaching from the distance. The day was windy and wet, and my first thought was that a stray garbage can was rolling down the road. As we drove closer, […]

Behind the scenes The author discovered stink bug babies on the underside of a leaf.

Stink bug babies

While hiking in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, looking for unusual things to photograph, I randomly turned over a leaf. Underneath was a tiny, hidden world of newly hatched stink bugs clustered around their empty eggshells. I noted that they were quite cute and wondered if the concept of “cuteness” had any scientific validity. A […]

Behind the scenes Researchers, including Parkland College student Kaleb Cotter, sift through materials uncovered in excavations of native mounds in Robert Allerton Park.

Researchers, including Parkland College student Kaleb Cotter, sift through materials uncovered in excavations of native mounds in Robert Allerton Park.

Restoring a lost heritage

PIATT COUNTY, Ill. — It is a gray and overcast day as we make our way to the mounds at Robert Allerton Park. We use golf carts to get to the mounds, bumping our way over hills and bends along a trail. I look up through the canopy of enormous trees and see the sun […]

Behind the scenes Hacking their way through cutting grass, researchers make their way to the last of 25 pools to be mapped and surveyed in Cara Blanca, Belize.

Hacking their way through cutting grass, researchers make their way to the last of 25 pools to be mapped and surveyed in Cara Blanca, Belize.

Searching for an ancient Maya pilgrimage path: Fire and water

CARA BLANCA, Belize — It is our final day in the field and we are searching for the last of the ancient Maya ceremonial pools, Pool 25. Mud sucks at our boots as we wade through a jungle swamp. The sap from black poisonwood trees (Metopium brownie) burns our skin. Spike-covered trees snag us, while […]

Behind the scenes

Chamber singers, laughter and schnitzel with music: A few of my favorite things

VIENNA, Austria – I wake up for a full day of music making in beautiful, sunny Vienna. I am one of 26 performers here with the University of Illinois Chamber Singers. We head to St. Michael’s Church for a dress rehearsal for our concert – “Choral Bridges.” We will perform tonight with the Webern Kammerchor, […]

Behind the scenes Researchers are mapping the final three of 25 sacred pools at Cara Blanca, an ancient Maya pilgrimage site in central Belize.

Searching for an ancient Maya pilgrimage path: The elusive pools

CARA BLANCA, Belize — Armed with a compass, a map, a GPS device and a drone, we begin our exploratory trek through the jungle. The thick vegetation is no match for our team of eight, six of whom are quick with a machete. Four hours after circumventing towering hardwoods and hacking our way through spidery […]

Behind the scenes A pied-billed grebe, a bird that is built for swimming, not walking, scoots up a mud bank to catch an earthworm, a hunting behavior never before described in the scientific literature.

A pied-billed grebe, a bird that is built for swimming, not walking, scoots up a mud bank to catch an earthworm, a hunting behavior never before described in the scientific literature.

Bird gets worm, makes history

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — It’s a warm April evening, and the air and earth are still heavy with moisture from recent rains. I’m perched on a plastic patio chair on my balcony when something catches my eye. I grab my binoculars and make out the details of a small bird paddling around in a new retention […]

Behind the scenes U. of I. graduate student Christine Parker studies wild turkeys. Catching them is a challenge. The hood on the bird’s head calms it while the researchers work.

U. of I. graduate student Christine Parker studies wild turkeys. Catching them is a challenge. The hood on the bird’s head calms it while the researchers work.

Where the wild turkeys aren’t

It is cold and windy, and we have been out for hours. We are driving to our trap site after lunch when we suddenly stop, and at least a dozen wild turkeys walk in front of our truck. I shout to my techs, “Get out of the truck, herd them to the net, but be […]

Behind the scenes A cypress swamp near Snake Road in the Shawnee National Forest, near Harrisburg, Illinois.

Snake Road Sojourn

SHAWNEE NATIONAL FOREST, Ill. — There is nothing between us but my camera lens and a half meter of thick southern Illinois air. I peer over my camera, mesmerized by his vertical pupils fixed on me, his heat-sensing pits tracking my every move. He inflates his lungs to exaggerate his already impressive girth. This meter […]

Behind the scenes Graduate student Lisa Schlein describes the origin of the word, "cancer."

Image of Research: Graduate students reveal the wonders of discovery

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Graduate students pair powerful images with compelling descriptions of research in the 2017 Image of Research competition. Here are three of 20 graduate student finalists, with descriptions by the researchers. For more details about the competition, see the Editor’s note, below. Magic eye: Karkinos emerging from the deep, by Lisa J. Schlein, […]

Behind the scenes llinois Natural History Survey graduate researcher Benjamin Williams follows the activities of ducks migrating along the Wabash River in southeast Illinois. The birds stop at wetlands and other habitats on their way to their summer nesting areas further north.

llinois Natural History Survey graduate researcher Benjamin Williams follows the activities of ducks migrating along the Wabash River in southeast Illinois. The birds stop at wetlands and other habitats on their way to their summer nesting areas further north.

Casting a net for conservation, and catching ducks

ON THE WABASH RIVER, Ill. — I’m sitting in a camouflaged blind when the sun breaks the horizon and lights up the southeast Illinois wetland. Hidden by cattails and other vegetation, I watch my breath and note how cold my feet are despite the thick wool socks and insulated waders I’m wearing. A hundred yards […]

Behind the Scenes

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