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  • A composite of images from holiday- and winter-themed books at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Photos by Fred Zwicky

    Finding the holiday spirit in rare books

    Dec 20, 2018 3:00 pm

    The Rare Book and Manuscript Library has holiday- and winter-themed books and images, from a depiction of a 1683 frost fair on a frozen river to illustrations of Norse folk tales

  • a boardwalk at Volo Bog State Natural Area. Photo by Anastasia Rahlin

    Finding one elusive bird

    Oct 16, 2020 9:00 am

    Illinois Natural History Survey assistant ornithologist Anastasia Rahlin conducted field surveys in Volo Bog State Natural Area, and her efforts paid off with the discovery of a king rail, a water bird that blends in well with its surroundings.

  • 1. U. of I. graduate student Jeannie Larmon surveys the landscape before the trek. Photo by Thomas Franklin

    Finding an ancient Maya city in the jungles of Belize

    Aug 7, 2018 8:45 am

    'The site is impressive, with monumental buildings and a temple that rises 30 meters above our heads. ...the west side of the temple platform is a sheer 10-meter drop'

  • a rare, nearly intact clay pot. Photo by Fred Zwicky

    Extracting history from a cornfield

    Jul 17, 2019 8:45 am

    The scientists and students have access only to the foundations of the 800-year-old village, as plows have erased everything else. Looters, too, have damaged the site.

  • A lush pool lies below a difficult-to-reach sinkhole. PHOTO BY J. LARMON

    Exploring the unknown: The Motmot sinkhole

    Jul 9, 2018 9:00 am

    'The ancient Maya viewed openings in the earth, such as this sinkhole and a nearby pool, as portals to the underworld – a realm within which deities and ancestors reside'

  • This bur oak tree in Brownfield Woods dates to the 1600s. Photo by Brian Stauffer

    Exploring the remnants of an ancient forest

    Sep 2, 2021 4:15 pm

    Hundreds of researchers have made use of these two woodlands over the decades, and these and other natural areas owned by the U. of I. are vital to training students in ecological research.

  • a trail runs through a rainforest reserve in Sri Lanka. Photo by the author

    Exploring multispecies relationships by walking 'with' the forest in Sri Lanka

    Nov 28, 2023 9:30 am

    Emma Lundin, a graduate student in tourism at the U of I, discusses her research in a rainforest in Sri Lanka, exploring how to create sustainable nature-based tourist experiences by walking 'with' the forest.

  • view inside the virtual reality cave. Photo by Cameron Merrill

    Excavating a cave without leaving campus

    Nov 14, 2018 11:45 am

    Students learn to map a cave, lay out an excavation grid and use ground-penetrating radar to locate potential underground features - all in virtual reality

  • A flock of hens enjoys a cracked-corn dinner. Photo by Christine Parker

    Double the traps, double the turkeys

    Apr 11, 2018 9:45 am

    Since 2015, I've spent each winter capturing and tagging wild turkeys with GPS transmitters to study their habitat use and nesting behavior in forests managed with prescribed fire

  • Illinois Natural History Survey avian ecologist Bryan Reiley looks for rare birds on conservation lands. Photo courtesy Bryan Reiley

    Destination: Conservation

    Feb 12, 2019 8:45 am

    My task is to survey randomly chosen fields in the (Conservation Reserve Enhancement) program to figure out whether and how these conservation areas are affecting birds that have declined in numbers

  • KAM curator Maureen Warren takes a close look at the vase. image by Natalie Fiol

    Deciphering the history of a Chinese vase

    Sep 29, 2018 8:45 am

    Scientists are helping determine the age of an antique Chinese porcelain vase in Krannert Art Museum’s collection through an X-ray fluorescence analysis of its paint

  • Thousands of sea lions gather on the breeding beaches of San Miguel Island, one of the Channel Islands off the coast of Southern California. Photo: Alaska Fisheries Science Center/NOAA Fisheries.

    Connecting a virus to cancer – in sea lions

    Mar 31, 2021 9:45 am

    'To say the images made us pathologists excited is an understatement. It was a eureka moment that was a long time in the making.'

  • Tommy McElrath collects bees in a net. Photo by Fred Zwicky

    Chasing bumble bees on a patch of prairie

    Jul 21, 2020 9:15 am

    Scientists know so little about bumble bees that it’s hard to make recommendations about the kinds of habitat they need, says Tommy McElrath, insect collection manager of the Illinois Natural History Survey. 

  • Taiwanese dish of wonton noodles with chili and crushed peanuts. Photo by Hueih Kan Dung

    Celebrating our diversity through food

    Sep 28, 2020 9:30 am

    'My background is not a gauge of my worthiness or an obstacle to communication but an amalgamation of experiences and culture that I can share with my colleagues,' writes undgrad student Yi-Ying Tung.

  • A released big brown bat, Eptesicus fuscus, clings to a tree. Photo by Sarah Gaulke

    Catching bats for conservation

    May 18, 2021 11:00 am

    'With all the intimidation and preparation leading up to this night, I had built the bats up to be something dramatic – even fearsome – in my mind, but sitting there in my hand, the bats are smaller and sweeter than I anticipated. They are fuzzy.'

  • Photo of a swath of prairie with more than a dozen tall stalks of yellow flowers reaching up into a blue sky. Photo by Fred Delcomyn (from “A Backyard Prairie”)

    Building back a tiny piece of prairie

    Nov 15, 2021 11:45 am

    Working to restore a prairie on century-old farmland – especially when starting from seed, as the Delcomyns did – requires plenty of patience and a lot of help. 

  • Entomology professor Alexandra Harmon-Threatt and undergraduate student Sabine Miller prepare for an evening of work in a prairie the professor created to study ground-nesting bees. Photo by Fred Zwicky

    Building a prairie and watching for bees

    Aug 6, 2020 8:45 am

    Two years ago, Professor Alexandra Harmon-Threatt built this outdoor labby planting more than 80 prairie species here. Her mission is to attract ground-nesting bees. She is here to see which bees are showing up. But that’s not all she’s after.

  • some members of the U of I Saxaphone Ensemble

    Building an orchestra of brass

    Feb 21, 2019 10:15 am

    The University of Illinois Saxophone Ensemble tackles music never meant for the saxophone.

  • 9) Arisaema triphyllum, collected May 3, 1942, in White Pines Forest State Park, Illinois. Photo by Brian Stauffer

    Bringing yesterday's plants to digital life

    Jul 31, 2019 1:00 pm

    This imaging process is part of Endless Forms, an NSFdigitization project. Our part is to digitize specimens from across the country in three groups: succulent plants, carnivorous plants and epiphytes.

  • U. of I. field school students at the Pottersville kiln site in 2011. Credit: Photo by Bridget Lee-Calfas

    Bringing an enslaved potter's story to the Met

    Oct 17, 2022 9:15 am

    George Calfas unearthed a jug in 2011 that is now part of an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, 'Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina'

  • Walking as a group with their eyes closed, Illinois staff and students wind down the stairs of the Architecture Building as they experience campus spaces without sight. Photo by Fred Zwicky

    'Blind Field Shuttle' brings a new perspective to campus walk

    May 3, 2023 10:00 am

    Vancouver-based social practice artist Carmen Papalia's 'Blind Field Shuttle' focuses is on unlearning visual primacy and reconsidering our preconceptions and biases. 

  • tudent volunteers from the Wildlife Society’s U. of I. student chapter move in close to see a tiny yet spirited bird, the house wren, before it is released. Photo by Fred Zwicky

    A marvelous morning of migratory bird banding

    Oct 25, 2022 10:15 am

    Birds throughout the world are in trouble, and habitat loss is one reason for their decline. Understanding their life cycles and habitat requirements during migration is increasingly important – especially as climate change continues to affect the world.

  • basketball hoop. Photo courtesy Daniel Santos

    Aiming for hoops and practicing English

    May 29, 2018 9:45 am

    I can see that their trust is growing. They are looking to their female trainer as a role model, an outlier in a society that doesn’t always encourage young girls to pursue athletics