2022-01-31
- Nearly a year into production, “Push Podcast: Wheelchair Basketball in the United States” is pulling around 750 listeners per episode. With a goal to reach those who have never heard of adaptive sports, College of LAS alumni and former Illinois men’s wheelchair basketball teammates Derek Hoot and Martinez Johnson are building a platform for the sport that provided them with countless...
2022-01-26 - Eight College of LAS faculty members have been elected 2021 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, one of the highest honors for a scientist in the United States. They are among 14 on campus who were recently selected for the association. The new fellows from LAS include chemistry professor Martin Burke;...
2022-01-26 - For four years Stefan Djordjevic has served students as the academic advisor for the Department of History. Through his experiences as an advocate in education, he’s learned that students have histories to teach him, as well.
2022-01-12 - The Cline Center for Advanced Social Research’s Coup D’état Project categorized the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as an attempted coup – specifically, an “attempted dissident coup.” Scott Althaus is the director of...
2022-01-07 - Mice with a genetic mutation that’s been observed in patients with epileptic encephalopathy, a severe form of congenital epilepsy, exhibit not only the seizure, developmental, and behavioral symptoms of the disorder, but also neural degeneration and inflammation in the brain, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers found in a new study. The findings highlight the mutation as an...
2022-01-07 - Advanced molecular imaging technology has now mapped the structure of a drug widely used to treat fungal infections but whose workings have mystified researchers and physicians for nearly 70 years. In a new study, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Wisconsin, Madison and the National Institutes of Health described in atomistic detail the structure of...
2021-12-21 - Name: Julia Hartman Title: Assistant coordinator for the ATLAS Internship Program Applied Technologies for Learning in the Arts & Sciences (ATLAS) provides College of LAS students with a unique opportunity to blend their experiences in the classroom with a...
2021-12-20 - Hyunjoon (Joon) Kong, a leader in research on multi-cellular engineered living cell systems, has been named the Robert W. Schaefer Professor in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. The awarded position is named after an Illinois alumnus who graduated with a degree in chemical engineering in 1956 and was a great supporter of University of Illinois throughout his life. Kong has been at the...
2021-12-20 - While climate change is the primary driver of permafrost degradation in Arctic Alaska, a new analysis of 70 years of data reveals that tundra fires are accelerating that decline, contributing disproportionately to a phenomenon known as “thermokarst,” the abrupt collapse of ice-rich permafrost as a result of thawing. Reported in the journal One Earth, the study is the first to calculate the role...
2021-12-14 - Tornadoes in December are not rare, especially in the Southeast and Gulf Coast regions, known for winter storms. Studies show that the chances of tornadoes in colder months are rising due to climate change. The Dec. 10 tornado outbreak that devastated parts of the mid-Mississippi Valley has left many wondering if winter tornadoes are a new weather threat to consider in the United States....
2021-12-13 - Emotions are part of being human. How do they affect brain cognition? And how does cognition affect emotions? Those questions are at the root of understanding numerous affective disorders, and they’re in the realm of Florin Dolcos, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience. His integrative approach to understanding these issues is leading to new programs that help people live happier,...
2021-12-13 - Many members of the LAS community find inspiration and joy in reading a good book. As our faculty head into winter break, we asked a few of them to share the books that they’re excited to dig into over the next month. To see what our students are reading, go here. Venetria K...
2021-12-10 - A master’s degree in sociology and finance was a recipe for a successful career for Vivian Lin Thurston. Now she wants to give back and use her success to help U of I students achieve their own goals. Thurston (MA, ’98, sociology; MS, ’99, finance), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), works for...
2021-12-07 - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign senior Boming Yang, of Beijing, was named a Schwarzman Scholar, one of 151 recipients selected from an international pool of 3,000 applicants. The program annually fully funds a class consisting of 40 percent U.S. students, 20 percent from China and Taiwan, and 40 percent from the rest of the world....
2021-12-03 - From research labs on campus to virtual internships with unique companies from around the world, College of LAS students are taking advantage of career advancement opportunities thanks to the Life + Career Design Scholarship. During Summer 2021, the scholarship provided $81,000 in support for students representing 16 different...
2021-11-22 - In an unusual study, researchers brought vampire bats from distant Panamanian populations together for four months in a laboratory setting and tracked how the bats’ gut microbes changed over time. They found that bats that interacted closely with one another shared much more than body heat. Reported in the journal Biology Letters, the study revealed that the gut microbiomes of bats became more...
2021-11-22 - Four faculty members in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences have been named to the 2021 Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers list. The list recognizes researchers who demonstrated significant influence in their chosen field or fields through the publication of multiple highly cited papers during the last decade. Their names are drawn from the publications that rank in the top 1...
2021-11-17 - On a recent 11-day trip through the Grand Canyon, geologists gathered evidence in hope that it would allow them to peer billions of years into the past. Using a relatively new technique, they were able to estimate the age of a mysterious section of the national landmark. The Great Unconformity is a section of the Grand Canyon where two layers of rock with as much as a 1.3-billion-year age...
2021-11-16 - Several researchers in the College of LAS have received funding for projects as part of the U of I’s Call to Action Research Program to Address Racism and Social Injustice. They’re the inaugural recipients of the program, which represents a $2 million annual commitment by the university to...
2021-11-12 - Researchers from several universities, led by a team at the University of Illinois, have found corn, or maize, yields to be very sensitive to extreme heat. In addition, they found that models used by the agriculture industry are ineffective at predicting the impact of extended periods of harsh conditions, and that more comprehensive forecasting is necessary to allow farmers to properly plan for...
2021-11-10 - 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...
2021-11-05 - As director of community relations for the Chicago Bulls, Erica Bauer (PhD, ‘10, communication) works to connect the NBA basketball team with the Chicago community. This investment – Bauer, the team, and the league believe – will lead to a reduction in community violence across the city.
2021-11-04 - When Nicholas Wu was in middle school, a SARS pandemic swept China and his home city of Hong Kong. The impact was devastating enough that Wu decided to devote his career to combating infectious diseases—and his path has led him to the University of Illinois. Wu, a professor of biochemistry who is also affiliated with the...
2021-11-03 - Social media users encounter misinformation online every day, but how do they recognize it? How do they know what to believe? Kevin Leicht, a professor of sociology, and his colleagues are combating the vital issue with new research methods. The team has received a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and a Science Teams grant from the...
2021-11-02 - Partisanship is a particularly potent source of group identity in contemporary American politics, and a new paper co-written by a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign expert in political psychology says the growing chasm between opposing groups isn’t limited to interactions in the political realm. Mounting evidence suggests that “affective polarization” leaks into and colors social situations...