News Bureau

Cooler weather has caused soil temperatures to decrease across the state, according to Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring Program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey at Illinois.

Soil temperatures have fallen significantly throughout the state in November, according to Jennie Atkins, the Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring Program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey at the U. of I.

Cooler, drier weather has led to declining soil temperatures and moisture levels, according to Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring Program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

Warmer winter soils may have an effect on agriculture and crop pest control this spring, according to researchers at the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

After a cooling spell last weekend, soil temperatures are once again rising in Illinois, according to Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring Program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

Soils are drying out after the early September rain, according to Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring Program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

Soil moisture levels rose across Illinois the second week of September as the state saw increased rainfall and cooler soil temperatures.

Inner Voices at Illinois will present “Manifesto,” a performance of intersectional feminist voices of inspiration and intervention, at two locations in March. The performances are free and open to the public, and are in honor of Women’s History Month.

The Social Dimensions of Environmental Policy will hold the event titled “Land Reforms in West and Central Africa: Challenges, Opportunities, and the Empowerment of Local Communities."

The University of Illinois has received a three-year, $1 million grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to continue funding for the Sloan University Center of Exemplary Mentoring at Illinois. The program, started in 2015, supports underrepresented minority doctoral students in science, technology, engineering and math fields and is one of nine UCEMs throughout the country.

Sixteen academic professionals and civil service staff members have received the 2024 Chancellor’s Staff Excellence Award. Employees with at least three years of service are eligible for nomination in one of eight functional categories.

The Illinois Learning Sciences Design Initiative recently awarded $164,000 in grants to six interdisciplinary research teams on campus.

The awards were disbursed under the second phase of ILSDI’s seed-funding program, which was implemented to foster interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaborations among faculty members on campus and facilitate development of large-scale proposals for external funding

Six researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign were named recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on young professionals at the outset of their independent research careers. 

Six University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign faculty members have been elected 2016 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science: Jianjun Cheng, Brian T. Cunningham, Kevin T. Pitts, Bruce L. Rhoads, Chad M. Rienstra and Josep Torrellas.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Six professors at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have been elected 2020 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Evolution, ecology and behavior professor Alison Bell; plant biology professor Carl Bernacchi; bioengineering professor Rohit Bhargava; materials science and engineering professor Paul Braun; chemistry professor Prashant Jain; and materials science and engineering professor Nancy Sottos are among the 489 scientists to be awarded the distinction of AAAS Fellow this year.

With the Ebola virus outbreak now ended in Sierra Leone, the University YMCA, the Illinois State Alliance of YMCAs and the Sierra Leone YMCA are revisiting an international-service learning exchange partnership that was brought to a halt by the Ebola outbreak relief efforts in 2014.

Campus members are invited to meet Christian Kamara, the CEO and national secretary of the YMCA of Sierra Leone, to learn more about the work that the organization performs and to explore possible collaborations.

Sicilian Pupi, or Sicilian Puppet Theater, will present a performance at 6 p.m. Oct. 30 in Foellinger Auditorium, 709 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana. The event is free and open to the public.

Jamelle Sharpe has been named the 14th dean of the College of Law, pending approval by the U. of I. Board of Trustees.

This weekend, Illinois alumni, students and staff will gather to celebrate 20 years of the First Year Campus Acquaintance Rape Education (FYCARE) Program, a nationally renowned mandatory sexual assault prevention workshop for first-year students.

Seven University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professors have been elected 2023 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. They are among the 502 scientists, engineers and innovators recognized for their scientifically and socially distinguished achievements by the world’s largest general scientific society. 

The new U. of I. fellows are computer science professor Sarita Adve; evolution, ecology and behavior professor Rebecca Fuller; civil and environmental engineering professor Praveen Kumar; chemistry professor Christy Landes; communication professor Marshall Scott Poole; natural resources and environmental sciences professor Cory Suski; and crop sciences and NRES professor Martin Williams, an ecologist in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service.  

The Illinois statewide average temperature for September was 70 degrees, 3.8 degrees above normal and the 12th-warmest September on record, according to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois. 

The University YMCA’s Art at the Y initiative presents “Seeds of Resistance,” featuring works by artist Ricardo Levins Morales, from Jan. 25 to March 2 at Murphy Gallery, 1001 S. Wright St., Champaign. The display is a selection of Morales’ work for social justice and liberation. Admission is free and the display is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Several faculty musicians from the School of Music will perform a concert this weekend with donations going to help victims of natural disasters in Mexico and Puerto Rico. The concert is 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 12, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Urbana-Champaign, 309 W. Green St., Urbana.

The Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies will host a daylong symposium dedicated to exploring the Ganges River – its heritage, threats to its sustenance and planning initiatives to conserve it.

Saturday Engineering for Everyone is an open and free lecture series aimed at non-engineers of all backgrounds who are interested in learning about engineering.

Saturday Engineering for Everyone is an open and free lecture series aimed at non-engineers of all backgrounds who are interested in learning about engineering.

Eunice Santos will become the dean of the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign effective Aug. 16, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. Andreas C. Cangellaris, the vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost, recommended the appointment to Chancellor Robert Jones after the conclusion of a yearlong national search.

Richard Levin, CEO of Coursera and president emeritus of Yale University, will present two upcoming lectures on the U. of I. campus.

Bernard Hammes, a professor of medicine, will speak on advance care planning from noon-1 p.m. Oct. 14 at the Presence Covenant Medical Center auditorium, 1400 W. Park St., Urbana. The event is free and open to the public.

Registration is now open for Spanish classes for the 2016-17 academic year at the University Language Academy for Children for pre-kindergarten through the fifth grade, as well as middle school. The latter program is now in its second year for the academy, which opened in 2010. For pre-K through fifth grade, classes meet four times a week, Monday-Thursday from 3:15-4:10 p.m. or 4:20-5:15 p.m. Classes are at the University Primary School (Children’s Research Center), 51 E. Gerty Drive, Champaign. For middle school, classes are offered three times a week, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, from 3:45-5 p.m. Classes are at the Foreign Languages Building, 707 S. Mathew Ave., Urbana. The academy’s academic year begins Sept. 6 and ends May 20.

Registration is now open for the 2016 Annual Faculty Retreat, to be held March 4 with the theme “Bringing Out the Best in Our Students.”

The University Language Academy for Children offers quality summer camp second-language programs in Spanish, Latin and Greek, where children learn the language and gain knowledge of the rich cultural traditions from around the world.

Amazon will host an AWSome Day for U. of I. researchers from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 11. The event will take place in the Training Room of the Atkins Building, 1800 S. Oak St., Champaign, in the Research Park. The goal of this event is to help researchers and their staff members understand Amazon Web Services.

December was the warmest and second-wettest for that month on record in Illinois, according to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel, of the Illinois State Water Survey. 

Wesley Student Center and United Methodist Church at the U. of I. have been sponsoring a monthlong exploration of race and violence in America. The final event will be a panel discussion at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 4 featuring Travis Dixon, a U. of I. professor of communication, and Monica McDermott, a U. of I. professor of sociology, as well as Champaign Mayor Deb Frank Feinen and Champaign Police Chief Anthony Cobb.

The committee leading an effort to update the campus master plan has announced a new website and that it will host two upcoming public forums.

Michael Posner, a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Oregon and an adjunct professor at Weill Medical College, will present the 2016 SmithGroup Distinguished Lecture at noon April 15 in the auditorium of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. His talk is titled "Mechanisms of Brain Network and Brain State Training.”

Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost Andreas C. Cangellaris will leave the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in August to become the Founding President of NEOM University in Saudi Arabia, Chancellor Robert J. Jones announced today.

Three prominent documentary filmmakers who’ve tackled subjects ranging from biography and history to sexual assault and hip-hop will be featured guests for an online Ebert Symposium discussion, “Documentary Film and Social Change,” on Oct. 22. Kirby Dick, Sacha Jenkins and Dawn Porter have had films aired or streamed on CNN, HBO, Netflix, PBS and Showtime, among other venues. Three documentary filmmakers on the Illinois faculty will also be on the panel.

The Call to Action Research Program, initiated by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Robert Jones to address structures of racism and injustice, is seeking proposals from the Urbana campus and the local community.

Emanuel Donchin, a professor of psychology at the University of South Florida, will present the U. of I. department of psychology's 2015 Lyle Lanier Lecture, “Typing With Your Brain Waves: A Communication Tool for Locked In Patients.” The lecture is at 4 p.m. Oct. 15 at the auditorium of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology.

Illinois has been experiencing some of its coldest weather in decades and, in some locations, ever.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cooperative weather observer at Mount Carroll in northeastern Illinois reported a temperature of -38 degrees on the morning of Jan. 31.

Two upcoming workshops organized by the Provost’s Office – one for pre-tenure faculty members and one for midcareer faculty members – will be May 5 at the I Hotel and Conference Center.

The Preservation Working Group and University Library will host a hands-on informational event from 1 to 4 p.m. Feb. 20 at the Champaign Public Library.

The EU Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will host political scientist and author Ivan Krastev for a lecture on how the Russian invasion of Ukraine is reshaping the political imagination of Europe.

Registration is now open for the “Plants in Silico” symposium and workshop, which will bring together leaders in the fields of computation, mathematics, plant sciences, data visualization and molecular, cellular, organ-level and ecosystem modeling.

Performance artist Autumn Knight will be on campus this month for two performances.

Krannert Art Museum is hosting the first solo museum presentation – “Autumn Knight: In Rehearsal” – by Knight this semester. Knight incorporates elements of theater, dance, psychology and religious studies into her work, which examines with perceptions of race, gender and authority.

Penny Chisholm, a professor of environmental studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will kick off the upcoming weekend symposium hosted by the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology with a free public lecture. No registration is necessary.

Passes for the 21th annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, shortened from five days to four, go on sale Nov. 1.

Passes for the 22nd annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, or “Ebertfest,” go on sale Nov. 1.