Deaths – News Bureau

Roberta A. May, 78, of Urbana, died Feb. 9 at Arbor Rose Memory Care Home in Tolono, Illinois. She retired from the Printing Division of the university. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, at Renner-Wikoff Chapel and Crematory, 1900 S. Philo Road, Urbana. The Rev. Glenn Corbley will officiate. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.

James (Jim) P. Warfield, 76, of Urbana, died Jan. 14. He was a professor emeritus of architectural design at the university’s School of Architecture, retiring in 2003. He was recognized 53 times on the “List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students” for 14 different courses. Memorials: Heifer International.

Review: Heat-resilient crops are within reach — given enough time and money

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Laboratory and field experiments have repeatedly shown that modifying the process of photosynthesis or the physical characteristics of plants can make crops more resilient to hotter temperatures. Scientists can now alter the abundance or orientation of leaves, change leaf chemistry to improve heat tolerance and adjust key steps in the process of […]

Arts

Diptych image of the book cover of "Natural Attachments" and a portrait of Pollyanna Rhee standing in front of greenery.

Book explores how ‘domestication’ of environmentalism limits who it protects

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The response to a 1969 oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, reveals how the modern environmental movement has been used to protect the interests of private homeowners, said a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researcher. Landscape architecture professor Pollyanna Rhee chronicled how affluent homeowners use what she calls “ownership environmentalism” […]

Agriculture Graduate student Andrea Jimena Valdés-Alvarado, left, and food science professor Elvira Gonzalez de Mejia standing in the Edward R. Madigan Laboratory holding samples of the legume pulses they used in the study.

Graduate student Andrea Jimena Valdés-Alvarado, left, and food science professor Elvira Gonzalez de Mejia standing in the Edward R. Madigan Laboratory holding samples of the legume pulses they used in the study.

Fermenting legume pulses boosts their antidiabetic, antioxidant properties

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Food scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign identified the optimal fermentation conditions for pulses ― the dried edible seeds of legumes ― that increased their antioxidant and antidiabetic properties and their soluble protein content. Using the bacteria Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 299v as the microorganism, the team fermented pulses obtained from varying concentrations […]

Read Next

Review: Heat-resilient crops are within reach — given enough time and money

Book explores how ‘domestication’ of environmentalism limits who it protects

Fermenting legume pulses boosts their antidiabetic, antioxidant properties