News Bureau

Illinois ethnomusicologist Michael Silvers writes in his new book about forro music of Brazil and its connections to the environment, drought and politics.

Jim Angel, the Illinois state climatologist, has announced that he will retire in December 2018 after 34 years at the Illinois State Water Survey. News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian spoke with him about his career, climate change and the National Climate Assessment released on Black Friday.

Alva “Tad” LeRoy Addy ... Nancy J. Blackburn ... Belle Anna Brine ... John Roy Campbell ... Judith “Judy” Arlene Corray ... Terry Denny ... Marjorie Ellen (Keagle) Lange ... Alleta A. (Sue) Moore ... John (Jim) J.E. Mullen ... George Robert Young

“Pull off in about a mile and a half,” I tell my colleague Josh Sherwood, an ichthyologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey. A minute goes by before he flips on the amber light bar over our heads and pulls the truck into the grass alongside the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway, about 60 miles west of Chicago. The ground is littered with trash, broken glass and bits of tire – like any major highway. A few feet away is a small, unnamed stream, barely more than 2 feet wide and less than 6 inches deep.

“Why would anyone want to sample this site?” I ask myself.

Eleven faculty members at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have been named to the 2018 Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers list.

Paying for goods with a smartphone not only increases the overall transaction amount and frequency of purchases by consumers, it also effectively replaces the actual, physical credit cards in their wallets, said Yuqian Xu, a professor of business administration at the Gies College of Business at Illinois.

The Chancellor’s Commission on Native Imagery: Healing and Reconciliation begins its work today.

Some fungi are smelly and coated in mucus. Others have gills that glow in the dark. Some are delicious; others, poisonous. Some spur euphoria when ingested. Some produce antibiotics.

All of these fungi - and hundreds of thousands, if not millions, more - occur in North America. Of those that are known to science, 44,488 appear in a new checklist of North American fungi, published this month in the journal Mycologia.

Krannert Art Museum will screen short films about AIDS activism – the only downstate Illinois venue to show the films – for World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.

Four professors at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have been elected 2018 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. They are: mechanical science and engineering professor Narayana Aluru, computer science professor William Gropp and plant biology professors Andrew Leakey and Ray Ming.

Low-income undergraduate students at the U. of I. who need assistance juggling the demands of parenthood and college will be able to get assistance through programs and services offered by the Child Development Laboratory.

The insects known as Hemiptera are not a particularly glamorous bunch. This group includes stink bugs, bed bugs, litter bugs, scale insects and aphids. Their closest relatives are thrips, bark lice and parasitic lice. But with a massive number of species, two-thirds of which are still unknown to science, these insects together make up one of the twiggiest branches on the tree of life.

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences collected a vast amount of molecular data on these insects and used the information to help tease out their family relationships and evolutionary history.

Researchers discovered that the same biomechanical traits that allow the barbed spines of the jumping cholla and other cacti to readily penetrate animal flesh also make the spines more difficult to dislodge.

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.

Martin Ostoja-Starzewski, a professor of mechanical science and engineering at Illinois and a member of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology Computational Imaging Group, was awarded the 2018 Worcester Reed Warner Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers during a ceremony at ASME’s International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition in Pittsburgh.

The Winston Knolls Education Group has awarded the department of special education at the College of Education at Illinois the 2019 Margaret Bancroft Distinguished Leadership Award. The award celebrates recipients’ accomplishments, professional achievements and public and civic service.

I'm video recording on three DSLR cameras today, which is the most I can handle by myself. But I don't want to miss a second of this event, because I flew to Paris the day before yesterday just to film this auditorium of international delegates. These serious-looking men and women are actually very excited. I know that because several of them have told me so. In a few minutes, they will cast their nation's vote on whether to accept the proposed redefinition of the kilogram.

Parents who talk to their children about nonviolent conflict resolution reduce children’s likelihood of abusing their dating partners – even if parents give contradictory messages advocating violence in some situations.

James B. Sinclair

Constitutional checks and balances and the power of the presidency will be topics of a speech and roundtable Nov. 29 at the U. of I.

Designing safe bridges and water systems for low-income communities is not always easy for engineers coming from highly industrialized places. A new discipline called contextual engineering helps engineers think beyond personal values, expectations and definitions of project success when tackling global infrastructure problems.

Donald J. Wuebbles, the Harry E. Preble Endowed Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at Illinois, has been selected as the 2018 Bert Bolin awardee and lecturer of the American Geophysical Union’s Environmental Change section.

I’m in a cave with three identical waterfalls. The roar of water fills my ears as I look around, a little shakily. This is not what I was expecting when I showed up to Davenport Hall for an interview. But when I said, “Yes, I’d love to try out a virtual reality environment,” two students perched a headset on my head, adjusted the earphones and set me loose in this “cave.”

I can hear anthropology professor Laura Shackelford gently guiding me. I’m aware that I’m in a room with her and the students, but I’m also in a cave, alone.

An Illinois historian tells a new story about England’s famous “Domesday Book” and what it tells us about the trauma of the Norman conquest.

A Native American dance exhibition is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 16 at 4 p.m. at Spurlock Museum of World Cultures at Illinois. Sponsored by the Native American House and Spurlock Museum, the free event features interactive Native American dances highlighting the Men’s Traditional and Woodlands styles.

When student loan amounts were printed in community college financial aid award letters, it led to better academic results and, in the following year, an increase in transfers to four-year colleges, says new research from Ben Marx, a professor of economics at Illinois.

Reflecting on what one is grateful for not only tends to lower materialism, but also increases one’s generosity, says new research co-written by Gies College of Business professor Aric Rindfleisch.

On Nov. 10, the Illinois Fire Service Institute will host the inaugural “Veterans in the Fire Service Day: An Opportunity for Firefighters Past, Present, and Future.” It is a professional development opportunity for U.S. Armed Forces veterans who also have served, are serving or may be interested in serving as firefighters.

A University Library event and exhibit will recognize the services of veterans of the armed forces.

The Krannert Center for the Performing Arts will present “Virago-Man Dem” by choreographer Cynthia Oliver Thursday, Nov. 15 at 7:30 p.m. at the Colwell Playhouse.

Stephen Mitchell ... Patsy R. Paye ... Alan Rankin ... Stanley James Rankin ... Arthur J. Slates ... Edward L. Young

The use of electronic cigarettes has increased by 65 percent among sophomores and by 45 percent among seniors in Illinois high schools over the past two years, according to this year's Illinois Youth Survey.

November Dance will celebrate the University of Illinois dance department’s 50th anniversary with collaborations between faculty members and alumni.

Illinois researchers find that less variety in housing types leads to less stability and higher rates of foreclosures.

Single mothers, those with less education and mothers enrolled in the WIC Program may receive less information and support with breastfeeding, University of Illinois researchers found in a new study.

Illinois’ weather in October was a mixed bag of conditions with temperatures in the 90s, the first fall frost, the first snow of the season and widespread heavy rains, according to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

The first solo U.S. exhibition by Irish artists Kennedy Browne at Krannert Art Museum raises questions about global commerce and technology.

New research reveals that Aspergillus flavus, a fungus that produces carcinogenic aflatoxins that can contaminate seeds and nuts, has a multilegged partner in crime: the navel orangeworm caterpillar, which targets some of the same nut and fruit orchards afflicted by the fungus. Scientists report in the Journal of Chemical Ecology that the two pests work in concert to overcome plant defenses and resist pesticides.

Demographic and cultural differences strongly influence young people's coping styles after a natural disaster, and these disparities should be taken into account when providing services to help them recover, a new study found.

The EU’s ambassador to the U.S. will discuss the U.K. Brexit process and transatlantic relations as part of EU Day on Nov. 9.

Slavery in Illinois and the move to freedom will be the subject of a Nov. 8 lecture at the U. of I., part of a series commemorating the state’s bicentennial.

Kenneth Nelson Dugan ... Henry William Lippold ... Dr. Thomas N. “Doc” Monfort ... William “Harry” Soloman

In adopting the 14th Amendment, Congress unambiguously intended that the children of immigrant workers would have birthright citizenship in the U.S., said University of Illinois labor and employment relations professor Michael LeRoy, an expert on immigration and employment law.

Brazilian expert Jerry Davila analyzes the country’s election of a far-right president and what it might mean for the future.

University of Illinois art and design faculty members show their work at Krannert Art Museum.

Influenza has no cure, but vaccines and anti-viral treatments could help thwart another deadly outbreak, says microbiology professor Christopher Brooke.

University of Illinois entomology professor and department head May Berenbaum, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and longtime editorial contributor to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and other journals, has been appointed editor-in-chief of PNAS, effective Jan. 1.

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

Four factors account for public health messages accruing retweets on Twitter, says research co-written by U. of. I. social psychology expert Dolores Albarracin and a team of U. of I. graduate students.

With a much-anticipated midterm just a week away, political scientist Brian Gaines suggests we check some common assumptions about polling.