Behind the Scenes

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 An afternoon storm passes over the river banks we were examining, halting field work for a while.

Journey to the riverbank and back in time

What are Julia, Vanessa and Jim doing in the Amazon? Read their first blog post to find out! I wake up to the sound of the engine running. The cook needs power to begin making breakfast at 4:30 a.m., and the captain begins steering the boat to where we will examine the riverbanks. I get […]

Behind the scenes Our faithful research boat, the Lima de Abreu I, in the harbor at Tefé. We have lived on the boat during our time on the Amazon.

Life onboard the research boat

What are Vanessa, Julia and Jim doing in the Amazon? Read their first blog post to find out! “It’s manioc,” declared André, our Brazilian colleague, over our first breakfast aboard the boat. “Everything here is manioc.” This simple root veggie has been one of the principal characters in my Amazonian experience. Manioc (also known as […]

Behind the scenes Sunrise breaks through the mist on the banks of the Solimões River, better known as the Amazon.

Unlocking the secrets of the Amazon River

The Amazon, the world’s largest river, is a bewildering array of river channels and connected floodplains supporting the most diverse ecosystem on Earth. This region also exerts a dominant control on the world’s climate. Until about 11 million years ago, the river flowed westward to the Pacific Ocean, but due to the rise of the […]

Behind the scenes

Symbols of Service

Caleb Carlson, a sophomore studying business with a concentration in international business, served four years in the Army: “I had my sun tattoo done in 2012, before my first deployment to Afghanistan, as sort of a starting bookend for the journey ahead. My father had a sun tattoo, although dissimilar to my own and on […]

Behind the scenes Joseph Spencer, center, with undergraduate student Joe Griffin, left, and U. of I. alumnus Brody Dunn, right, work to clear western corn rootworm beetle traps from a muddy cornfield.

Joseph Spencer, center, with undergraduate student Joe Griffin, left, and U. of I. alumnus Brody Dunn, right, work to clear western corn rootworm beetle traps from a muddy cornfield.

The Cornfield Death March

FORD COUNTY, Ill. – My students and I are standing at the edge of a 73-acre cornfield. Covered in mud and sweat, we are dreading the task ahead. We’ve already slogged through mud and braved ditches gushing with debris-laden storm water to retrieve 150 heavy cages. There are 75 more cages out there. We are […]

Behind the scenes Steam from an Old Faithful eruption is more spectacular in winter because of the direct contact between the steam and the cold air. There is a silhouette of a bison cow absorbing the heat from the morning sun below the steam cloud.

Steam from an Old Faithful eruption is more spectacular in winter because of the direct contact between the steam and the cold air. There is a silhouette of a bison cow absorbing the heat from the morning sun below the steam cloud.

The art and science of Mammoth Hot Springs

I was first drawn to Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park as a natural laboratory for a NASA project to study how microbes form fossilized “markers” in ancient travertine rock deposits. The water temperature, chemistry and flow at Mammoth are similar to that found on the early Earth, and the hot springs still harbor […]

Behind the Scenes

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