News Bureau

In March, the New York-based Mark Morris Dance Group returns to its Midwest home at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Over the course of its one-week residency, the company will conduct public engagement work with the Champaign, Urbana and U. of I. community and present two ticketed performances of “Pepperland.”

February was particularly cold and stormy in Illinois, with an almost constant succession of storms resulting in moderate snow accumulations for the northern counties and persistent rain events and widespread flooding for the far southern counties.

The preliminary average statewide precipitation was 3.33 inches, which is 1.27 inches above the long-term average, according to Brian Kerschner, a spokesperson for the Illinois State Climatologist Office at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois. 

Illinois alumnus and philanthropist Larry Gies will serve as the May 11 campuswide commencement speaker. Gies is the founder and CEO of Madison Industries, an international manufacturing company that is one of the largest privately held companies in the world.

Paul A. Boatman ... Marcel Franciscono

Temperatures may be on the rise, but many motorists and pedestrians remain focused on the ground as they attempt to navigate safely around the many potholes that develop this time of year. Industrial and enterprise systems engineering professor Henrique M. Reis spoke with Illinois News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian about how potholes form and if there are any potential solutions.

Some 27,000 years ago in central Belize, a giant sloth was thirsty. The region was arid, not like today’s steamy jungle. The Last Glacial Maximum had locked up much of Earth’s moisture in polar ice caps and glaciers. Water tables in the area were low.

The sloth, a beast that stood up to 4 meters tall, eventually found water – in a deep sinkhole with steep walls down to the water. That is where it took its final drink.

In many societies, teenagers are repeatedly told – by adults, peers and popular media – that teens are more likely than younger children to take risks, ignore their parents, skip schoolwork and succumb to bad influences. But stereotypes are not destiny, a new study of Chinese middle school students suggests.

Illinois Theatre continues its 2018-19 season with “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by Simon Stephens. Adapted from Mark Haddon’s award-winning novel of the same name, the play follows Christopher Boone, a 15-year-old on the autism spectrum, as he explores the meanings of family and forgiveness while investigating the death of his neighbor’s dog. The play is told through Christopher’s eyes and the company has worked with The Autism Project to tell this story in a way that is truthful to families who experience life with autism spectrum disorder.

On Saturday, March 9, at 1 p.m.,  Illinois Theatre will offer a sensory-friendly performancefor adult and young adult audience members (and their families) who are on the autism spectrum or who otherwise need a less intense sensory experience. Through modifications of the lighting, sound and media designs, theperformance is intended as a safe and welcoming opportunity for adults and young adults with autism and their supporters.

The relaxed, sensory-friendly environment may also work well for those who have other chronic issues, may not be able to sit for long periods of time, or simply enjoy a more casual performance experience. “Social Story”booklets will be available in advance to help audience members know what to expect during their visit to Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and during the play itself. Audiences are invited to bring comfort items (fidget toys, blankets, etc.) with them and to use a “safe space” area outside of the theater as needed, where a live video feed of the performance will be available.

The production contains the graphic depiction of an animal’s death, which may not be suitable for all viewers. The play is based on Haddon’s young adult novel and is most appropriate for audiences age 14 and up.

Tickets are $10 and available through the Krannert Center Ticket Office, at KrannertCenter.com, or by calling 217-333-6280.

Performances without the sensory-friendly modifications run from Thursday, Feb. 28 to Sunday, March 10.

Lois B. Guiher

“’Before the sun is set ...’: Imagining Granada between light and lines,” an exhibition of works on paper by architect Jose Vazquez representing the architecture, landscape and city of historic Granada, Spain, begins Monday, March 4, at 5:30 p.m. in Temple Hoyne Buell Hall, 611 E. Lorado Taft Drive in Champaign.

The University of Illinois is part of a project that will establish a network of repositories of accessible books for people with print disabilities.

The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music will screen two silent films with new scores by composer Renee Baker in recognition of Black History Month.

Everything is chaos. We don’t have all our music. We don’t have a permanent rehearsal space. I’ve never had my own ensemble before. Everything is unfamiliar, and everything has come together much more last-minute than I had hoped for. But for this first-ever rehearsal of the University of Illinois Saxophone Ensemble we all share one thing – excitement.

Champaign County residents are welcome to submit entries to the first Illinois Health Make-a-Thon competition. The 10 top ideas for improving human health will receive up to $10,000 each in Health Maker Lab resources to create a real prototype of their idea.

Electrical and computer engineering professor Haitham Al-Hassanieh and chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Diwakar Shukla are recipients of this year's Sloan Research Fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. According to the foundation, the awards "honor early career scholars whose achievements mark them as among the most promising researchers in their fields."

The 2019 Insect Fear Film Festival at the University of Illinois features termites – a threat to all things wooden but also a valuable part of the ecosystem.

A global carbon tax would create new sets of economic winners and losers, with some countries holding a distinct competitive advantage over others, says new research from Don Fullerton, a Gutgsell Professor of Finance at Illinois and a scholar at the Institute of Government and Public Affairs.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fourteenth Biennial Black Sacred Music Symposium Concert begins Sunday, March 10, at 5 p.m. in the Foellinger Great Hall at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, 500 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana.

“Making Mr. Darcy,” an exhibit at the Illinois Rare Book and Manuscript Library, looks at the environment in which Jane Austen created her literary gentlemen.

White parents who feel that they’re falling through the cracks of today’s economy may be more likely to believe in authoritarian parenting practices such as spanking and demanding obedience, a new study found.

Roberta A. May ... James (Jim) P. Warfield

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is among the U.S. colleges and universities that produced the most 2018-19 Fulbright U.S. Student Awards, as announced recently by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. Top-producing institutions are highlighted annually in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

A tiny insect, no bigger than the head of a pin, is threatening to topple the multibillion-dollar citrus industry in the U.S.The battle to save it is pitting producers and researchers against a formidable brown bug, the Asian citrus psyllid.

Indian paintings depicting Hindu epics, royal portraits and stories of love can be seen at Krannert Art Museum’s “From Hand to Hand” exhibition, opening Feb. 28.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is taking part in a three-year institutional program to enhance faculty recruitment, hiring and retention practices in STEM fields at public research universities. The National Science Foundation-funded Aspire: The National Alliance for Inclusive & Diverse STEM Faculty promotes inclusive teaching practices and diversity.

Last month, the Midwest experienced record-breaking cold temperatures and many are wondering how, when the climate is experiencing an unprecedented warming trend, we can still experience such frigid cold. News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian asked University of Illinois atmospheric sciences professor Don Wuebbles to explain.

I’m soaking wet from head to toe after walking through a mile of head-high dew-covered grass. Finally, I make it to my destination: an overgrown field dotted with copses of shrubs next to the Spoon River in western Illinois. I take the caps off of my binoculars. I’ve got my clipboard, a new data sheet and the stopwatch app on my phone ready to go. For the next 10 minutes, I will make a note of every bird I see or hear (mostly hear), recording its species and estimating how far away from me it is.

Though separated by a world of ocean, and unrelated to each other, two fish groups – one in the Arctic, the other in the Antarctic – share a surprising survival strategy: They both have evolved the ability to produce the same special brand of antifreeze protein in their tissues. A new study describes in molecular detail how the Arctic fishes built the gene for their antifreeze from tiny fragments of noncoding DNA, regions once considered “junk DNA."

E-cigarettes carry mixed messages about benefit and risk, but they’re relatively untested products with uncertain long-term health outcomes, says an Illinois professor who has studied health communication issues around vaping.

A post-World War II romance is the first film announced for this year’s “Ebertfest,” coming April 10-13 to downtown Champaign and the U. of I. The film will be shown in memory of its co-star, Scott Wilson, a frequent past festival guest. Organizers also announced an added role in this year’s festival for film critic Richard Roeper.

The trucks and trains that transport goods across the United States emit gases and particles that threaten human health and the environment. A University of Illinois-led project developed a new model that predicts through 2050 the impact of different environmental policies on human mortality rates and short- and long-term climate change caused by particulate and greenhouse gas emissions.

It’s been proposed before, but so far no one has heeded the call for an official advisory board to support ethical behavior in research institutions. Today, leaders in academia with expertise in the professional and ethical conduct of research have formalized a proposal to finally assemble such an advisory board. The proposal appears in the journal Nature.

James W. “Jim” Chapman ... Willeta Mae Hassell Donaldson ... Elizabeth Fumiko Fujioka Easley ... Barclay George Jones ... Margaret “Eileen” Lyons ... Shirley Ann Perkins

A phthalate found in many plastic and personal care products may decrease fertility in female mice, researchers at the University of Illinois found in a new study.

Faculty members selected for endowed chairs deemed to be among the most distinguished honors on campus are Matthew Finkin, a professor of law; Jiawei Han, a professor of computer science; and Nancy Sottos, a professor of materials science and engineering.

Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and the School of Music at Illinois are exploring the diversity of today’s contemporary music scene during the months of February and March.

Dance faculty and alumni will present new work in February Dance to celebrate the dance department's 50th anniversary.

University of Illinois Librarian and Dean of Libraries John Wilkin is being honored for his innovation in library technology, including online publishing and providing access to digital content.

Illinois political scientist Damarys Canache discusses the history and politics behind the crisis of two presidents in Venezuela.

January 2019 will be a month remembered by an unseasonably warm start, followed by a torrent of winter storms and ending with a monumental Arctic air outbreak that shattered many record-cold temperatures across the state.

In the first 10 days of January, the statewide average temperature was 9 to 14 degrees above normal, according to Brian Kerschner, spokesperson for the Illinois State Climatologist Office, part of the Illinois State Water Survey at the U. of I. The highest temperature recorded for the month was 66 degrees, which occurred at two stations: one in Pulaski County on Jan. 2 and one in Jersey County on Jan. 8.

University of Illinois professor Mara Wade has been awarded an international research prize for her work on emblems and the culture of Nuremberg, Germany.

University Primary School, the laboratory school of the College of Education at Illinois, is enrolling students in preschool to fifth grade and is holding an open house for the communityon Saturday, Feb. 16, any time between 10 a.m.-noon.

Wanda Elliott ... Norma Yvonne (Creekmur) Jackson

Chancellor Robert Jones and Provost Andreas Cangellaris unveiled “The Next 150,” a five-year strategic plan for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, on Feb. 1. The full text of the plan is now online at strategicplan.illinois.edu.

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.

Students' comprehension of words in a foreign language improves if teachers pair each word with a gesture – even if the gesture is arbitrary and does not represent a word’s actual meaning, researchers at the University of Illinois found.

Krannert Art Museum recently purchased a painting by University of Illinois alumna Louise Fishman that will be part of an exhibition of 20th century paintings at the museum.

Chancellor Robert Jones and Provost Andreas Cangellaris are inviting campus and community members to the launch of “The Next 150,” the 2018-23 strategic plan for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Microplastics contaminate the world's surface waters, yet scientists have only just begun to explore their presence in groundwater systems. A new study is the first to report microplastics in fractured limestone aquifers – a groundwater source that accounts for 25 percent of the global drinking water supply.

Edward J. Armbrust ... Paul P. Bernard ... Richard “Don” Donald Brown ... Charles “Chuck” D. Elmer ... Barbara Ann Phillips ... Marilyn G. Vizek