News Bureau

Many businesses are closed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and some building managers have shut off water and air conditioning to conserve resources. Unfortunately, warmth and lack of clean water flow can contribute to the growth of potentially dangerous microbes, including the bacteria that contribute to Legionnaires’ disease. Illinois Sustainable Technology Center chemist and industrial water treatment specialist Jeremy Overmann spoke with News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates about the problem and potential solutions.

An Illinois professor who has aided in asylum cases talks about the criteria, changes in the process and why Central Americans are seeking this protection.

Donald Trump may not get everything he wants from Congress, despite its Republican majorities, says Illinois political science professor Tracy Sulkin.

One of the problems with “speech codes” on university campuses is their selective enforcement. Consequently, there have been calls for the reform of speech and harassment policies at universities nationwide to balance students’ right to freedom of expression with the right to learn free from discriminatory harassment, says Lena Shapiro, a clinical assistant professor of law and the inaugural director of the College of Law’s First Amendment Clinic.

To promote accountability in government, President-elect Biden ought to pursue “transitional justice” in the aftermath of the Trump presidency, said Colleen Murphy, the Roger and Stephany Joslin Professor of Law at Illinois and an expert in political reconciliation.

The Illinois Health Care and Human Services Reform Act has potential to address root causes of health disparities and foster health equity through provisions such as implicit bias training and community health workers, says Illinois professor Ruby Mendenhall.

Horror films let us “choose the shape of our fears and then to face up to those fears,” said English professor Jim Hansen.

A Minute With™...Jeffrey Brown, director of the Center for Business and Public Policy

On Aug. 26, the National Academy of Sciences released a report on the future of atmospheric chemistry research in the U.S. Illinois civil and environmental engineering professor Tami Bond was among the contributors

Various economic and political forces are reducing job opportunities for new professionals and discouraging some entering these fields or staying in the U.S. after they earn their degrees, says sociology professor Kevin Leicht.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine looks increasingly like a clear-cut violation of the U.N. charter and a crime of aggression, which is illegal under international law, says Illinois law professor Patrick Keenan.

The Supreme Court “punted” this week on the issue of partisan gerrymandering, but left the door open to future action. An Illinois professor hopes her research can be part of the solution.

Journalism professor Stephanie Craft: To be news literate, know how to judge a story’s credibility, and also be intentional in how you consume news and understand the forces that shape it.

A Minute With...™ Sheldon Jacobson, expert on data science

University of Illinois professor emeritus of community health Thomas W. O’Rourke, an expert on health policy analysis, the possible impact of establishing a single-payer health care system in the U.S.

Nearly everyone is. And the culprits, Meltdown and Spectre, could wreak havoc on personal security if ignored, says computer science professor Chris Fletcher

Eboni Zamani-Gallaher, the director of the Office of Community College Research and Leadership at the University of Illinois, discusses why so few community college students transfer to selective colleges and universities.

Illinois Ph.D. candidate Sulagna Chakraborty describes awareness of ticks and tick-borne disease among Illinois farmers.

A Minute With...™ Sheldon Jacobson, expert on aviation security

Illinois research scientist, NCSA Gravity Group leader Eliu Huerta Escudero on what gravitational waves are, how they were discovered, and the huge data processing effort behind the breakthrough

Political science professor Damarys Canache discusses the plight of Venezuela, where nearly three months of protests have resulted in more than 70 deaths

Sarah McCarthey, director of teacher education in the College of Education at the University of Illinois, discusses the preliminary results of Illinois' standardized test scores for the state's schoolchildren.

When an employer credibly cites harm to its business interests or reputation from employee speech, the employee has very little legal recourse if they’re fired because of it, said University of Illinois labor and employment relations professor Michael LeRoy, an expert on employment law.

Judges can unilaterally dismiss sexual or racial harassment cases through summary judgment, a legal maneuver that ends up favoring employers over employees, says Law professor Suja Thomas

A Minute With...™ labor expert Robert Bruno

A Minute With...™ Asef Bayat, sociologist and Middle East expert

Anxiety about artificial intelligence has been driven by its rapid development as well as knowledge worker concerns about potentially being replaced by the transformative technology, says Robert Brunner, the associate dean for innovation and chief disruption officer at the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Revenue from collegiate sports TV networks may decrease cross-subsidization of athletic programs by other units at these colleges, but athletic programs' spending also seemed to increase, scholars Jennifer Delaney and Tyler Kearney found.

Cutting the payroll tax could represent the middle-class tax cut that President Trump campaigned on – although changes would need to go through the legislative process and any economic stimulus likely wouldn’t been seen until after the November 2020 election, said Richard L. Kaplan, an internationally recognized expert on U.S. tax policy and the Guy Raymond Jones Chair in Law at Illinois.

Illinois political scientist Brian Gaines, an expert on polling and public opinion, spoke about what might have happened and the challenges of getting it right.

Without the #MeToo movement and the high bar of a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court, it’s doubtful that the sexual assault allegations leveled against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh would have surfaced, says Lesley Wexler, a University of Illinois law professor who studies anti-discrimination law.

A new law requiring Illinois public schools to teach Native American history will help students learn about the Indigenous people who originally occupied the land, as well as the contemporary Native American community in the state, says Illinois history professor Rosalyn LaPier.

The continued spread of COVID-19 ought to prompt adults to start seriously thinking about end-of-life issues such as writing a will, said University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign law professor and elder law expert Richard L. Kaplan.

A Minute With...™ Julie Turnock, a professor of media and cinema studies

A U. of I. political historian looks back 50 years at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago.

Police reform is on the national agenda in response to the choking death of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in late May – and many other such incidents before and since. Police Training Institute director Michael Schlosser weighed in on the current crisis. Based at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the PTI trains dozens of police departments across the state of Illinois. Schlosser spoke with News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates.

Craig Lemoine, the director of the Financial Planning Program at the College of ACES, discusses the flood insurance market in light of Hurricane Harvey losses.

National Park Service at 100: A Minute With™ parks and politics expert Robert Pahre

A Minute With...™ Jennifer Hardesty, expert on intimate partner violence

A Minute With™... Aaron Hager, a faculty member in the department of crop sciences

The U.S.-U.K. sale of nuclear submarines to Australia is a response to China’s military ambitions in the South China Sea, said Edward A. Kolodziej, an emeritus research professor of political science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an expert in international relations and global politics.

A Minute With...™ U. of I. nuclear engineer Daniel Andruczyk

Technology can be our friend in sustaining relationships now lacking in face time due to COVID-19, but it depends on how we use it, says John Caughlin, a communication professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Illinois atmospheric scientist Atul Jain was among the many scientists worldwide who contributed data to the Global Carbon Budget 2016, providing new data on atmospheric carbon concentrations, emissions and trends.

One of the largest carbon sequestration projects in the U.S., the Illinois Basin - Decatur Project (IBDP) has reached its goal of capturing 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and injecting it deep underground in the Mount Simon Sandstone formation beneath Decatur, Illinois. The project is designed to demonstrate the feasibility of carbon capture and storage. IBDP director Robert Finley talked about the million-ton milestone with News Bureau physical sciences editor Liz Ahlberg. Finley is director of the Advanced Energy Technology Institute at the Illinois State Geological Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois.

A Minute With...™ communication professor Ned O'Gorman

Whether or not survivors share their stories publicly, they often carry lifelong scars associated with being sexually traumatized

Recent weeks have witnessed a series of medium-to-large-sized asteroids cross paths with Earth’s orbit. The largest of the pack – asteroid 2004 UE – is on track to make its closest approach to the planet Nov. 13. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign astronomy professor and chair Leslie Looney spoke with News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian about what researchers refer to as near Earth objects and how much of a threat they are to the planet.

The Global Carbon Project recently published the Global Carbon Budget 2020, giving world leaders access to data on atmospheric carbon concentrations, emissions and trends. Illinois atmospheric scientist Atul Jain was part of an international team of scientists that contributed data to the report. Jain talked about the carbon budget and this year’s findings with News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian.

The U.S. isn’t on the verge of a food crisis but is experiencing rampant food price inflation, says Scott Irwin, professor of agricultural and consumer economics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.