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ACESCOLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL, CONSUMER AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCESCALENDAR OF EVENTSMarch 3 – Big Ten Ag Alumni Event, Washington, DCMarch 7 – ACES Alumni Board Meeting, ChampaignMarch 14-15 – ExplorACESSee inside for more upcoming events.Winter 2014Meet the Corbly Wright family andthe ACES Young Alumni Award Winners


INSIDE THIS ISSUEAgriculture goes urbanExtension celebrates 100 yearsACES in AfricaBacon, bioenergy crops, frozen broccoli, dads . . .Who is Illini Nellie?Winter 2014


Greetings,Message from the DeanThe College of ACES has experienced a steady increase in its undergraduate student enrollment overthe past three years. For the 2013–14 academic year, 2,771 undergraduates are enrolled, 5 percent morethan the previous year. Not only are more students applying to ACES and being accepted, but the qualityof these young men and women remains very high.There are multiple reasons for this increase in both freshmen and transfer students, beginning withthe caliber of education offered by our first-rate faculty and staff. ACES graduates are in high demand —many receive multiple job offers from top-ranked employers or acceptance from prestigious graduate orprofessional schools. As prospective students consider their options, it is important that we—and you —reach out to communicate the varied career opportunities available to ACES graduates.On the administrative front, I am pleased to let you know of several additions. Dr. Sharon M. (Shelly)Nickols-Richardson is providing leadership for our Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition,and Dr. Susan Silverberg Koerner is leading our Department of Human and Community Development.These new department heads joined us last summer.Dr. George Czapar assumed his role as associate dean for University of Illinois Extension and Outreachand director of U of I Extension in October. Dr. Czapar brings a deep understanding of Extension’s missionand value, along with an exceptional record of research and teaching. We extend deep thanks to Dr. RobertHoeft, who over the last four years skillfully led U of I Extension through major programmatic andorganizational changes.We hope you enjoy this issue of ACES@Illinois. Please be sure to stay in touch with your friends andcolleagues in ACES.Best wishes,Best wishes,Robert HauserDean of ACESis published by the College ofAgricultural, Consumer andEnvironmental Sciences,University of Illinois.aces.illinois.edu227 Mumford Hall1301 W. GregoryUrbana, IL 61801Robert HauserDeanLaurie KramerAssociate Dean for Academic ProgramsMargaret “Meg” ClineAssociate Dean for AdvancementGeorge F. CzaparAssociate Dean for Extension andOutreach; Director of U of I ExtensionNeal MerchenAssociate Dean for ResearchJohn LockmillerExecutive Assistant Dean forAdministration and FinanceLeAnn OrmsbyManaging EditorDebra Levey Larson, team leaderACES News and Public AffairsContributorsStephanie HenryKendall HerrenDebra Levey LarsonLeanne LucasErica MelkoPhyllis PicklesimerEllen ReederMarise Robbins-ForbesJennifer ShikeCopy EditorMolly BentsenPhoto EditorDavid RiecksPhotographersDavid RiecksJoyce Seay-KnoblauchL. Brian StaufferACES@Illinois aces.illinois.edu2Student body president one of ACES’ ownDamani Bolden, a senior in ACES, was elected lastApril to serve as the University of Illinois student bodypresident during the 2013–14 academic year. Bolden ispassionate about making a difference during his year ofservice. “I want to make sure that when senators, interns,or committee members are a part of student government atthe University of Illinois, this isn’t the last stop of theirdevelopment and growth as a leader,” he said.Bolden, a Chicago native, is majoring in agricultural andconsumer economics with a concentration in public policyand law. Of ACES, he believes that the college “is aphenomenal place. People in ACES really know who youare, and that's exciting. Having an advisor who knows myacademic progress as well as they know me provides agreat experience.”Graphic DesignerPat MayerOn the cover:Siyao “Clare” Liu and Erik Sacks examinesome Miscanthus crosses isolated fromother Miscanthus plants as part of theirbioenergy research in the Plant SciencesGreenhouses. See story on next page.Copyright © 2014, University of IllinoisBoard of Trustees


Bringing science-based knowledge to local foods, urban agriculture tableInterest in locally grownfoods and urban agriculture hasgrown dramatically over the lastdecade.Crop science researchers SamWortman and Sarah TaylorLovell are working to identify thechallenges of this emerging sectorof the local food economy. Inrecent studies in Chicagoneighborhoods, they identifiedthreats to the growth of urbanagriculture, and they have setforth future research questionsthat scientists must tackle toensure its economic andenvironmental sustainability.Germán Bollero, head of theDepartment of Crop Sciences,noted that “we are a departmentconcentrated on food productionand security, so we want tobe in the conversation aboutproducing abundant and safefood in ways that minimizeenvironmental impact. We’re acorn and soybean state, but partof our population is in Chicago,and the discussion of food andfood security happens a lot there.It’s important for us to be part ofthat.”The researchers indicated in a recent reportthat this scaling-up of U.S. urban agricultureis driven in part by the goal to make the foodproduction system more sustainable, resilient,and socially just.“If urban agriculture is going to movetoward a more profitable, environmentallysound system, ecologists, hydrologists,horticulturalists, environmental scientists,and others will need to take up this issue,or it will continue to be just a nice conceptthat academics like to talk about. We’ve got toget our hands dirty and figure out the realchallenges and how to solve them,” Wortmansaid.Wortman is looking at alternate soilmanagement systems to address limitedavailability of uncontaminated land in citieswhere food can be grown, as well as the soilissues involved with growing food in vacantlots. Methods such as raised beds, compostselection, and producing fruits and vegetablesin high tunnels versus open fields have beenpart of his studies.Lovell’s interest is the associated functionsof urban agriculture, such as ecological andcultural benefits. “My interest in neighborhoodsin Chicago is understanding how urbanagriculture doesn’t provide just food but alsocommunity networking and cultural andheritage connections,” she said. “How dowe integrate a strong local foods connection inIllinois, which has been primarily corn- andsoybean-oriented?”John Taylor, a doctoral candidate workingwith Lovell, has looked at Chicago neighbor-hoods to identify the amount ofland devoted to gardening, withresults suggesting that urbangardens are contributing to thecity’s food production.“People are more interested inproducing at least some of theirown food and knowing wherefood comes from,” Bollero said.“Chicago could be a model cityin this discussion. We want to bepart of that, not just in the cityitself, but also in the suburbs.We are interested in the interfacebetween rural and urban.Especially in the western andsouthern suburbs, you see atransition from corn and soybeanto things more horticultureoriented.”With no real financialbacking from industry yet,finding resources to support thismovement is also a challenge.“A lot of the research goingon in commercial agricultureis highly supported by andconnected to industry. Yet there’sthis whole population of urbanfarmers who don’t have thehistorical knowledge of foodproduction and are not gettingthe same level of support in other ways. Thereare research questions we can answer for thisgroup,” Lovell said.Bollero agreed that for urban agricultureto take off, it needs sustained support.“Sam and Sarah work hard at attractingfunding,” he said. “That constant streamof financial support you have in otherdisciplines is not there yet for urbanagriculture. There’s a lot of interest—even theWhite House talks about eating healthier andhaving your own garden. But it would be niceto have a specific program targeting urbanagriculture.“Hopefully some of that will change. I amoptimistic,” he added.ACES@Illinois Winter 20143


Extension celebrates first 100 yearsTop: Unit meeting on chickens (c. 1918, photo by Clara R. Brian).ACES@Illinois aces.illinois.edu4Illinois might be known for growingclover and cranberries rather than corn andsoybeans had farmers a century ago refusedrecommendations from extension agents ofthe day to apply lime to the state’s highlyacidic soil. Demonstrations at agriculturalexperiment stations and on farmers’ fieldsacross the state convinced farmers to use limeas an additive to balance soil pH, making itpossible to produce abundant crops of corn,soybeans, alfalfa, and other pH-sensitiveplants.“Lime is made of calcium carbonate,which is also an ingredient in cement, sofarmers feared using it. They thought itwould make the soil hard,” said Robert Hoeft,who retired in August as director of U of IExtension.According to Hoeft, the use of lime is justone example from the past 100 years of theLeft: This display at the 1937 Illinois State Fair is one example of extension work to educate thepublic about getting energy to the farming community.Right: Extension demonstrated early on the positive financial return from investing in proper pestmanagement and spraying methods and encouraged growers to invest in proper sprayingequipment. Extension farm advisers helped growers form cooperatives so a community couldcollectively purchase spraying equipment and materials to make the application process moreaffordable. This photo of the Goshen Center Cooperative Sprayer was taken in 1921.value of the national extension service,whose mission is to bring research-basedinformation to the public. Hybrid corn isanother example.“The process to produce hybrid corn wascreated by university scientists and passed onto companies to grow and market the seed tofarmers. Extension played a large part ingetting farmers to adopt the use of hybridseed by establishing demonstration plots infarmers’ fields. Planting these demonstrationplots near well-traveled roads gave farmers theopportunity to visit them to observe thedifference in disease pressure and ultimately inyield between open-pollinated and hybridcorn,” Hoeft said.In the mid-1930s, many farm families—unlike their city neighbors—lacked access toelectricity. The combined efforts of countyextension staff and local citizens to create ruralcooperatives eventually brought electricity to allof rural America. In later years, similarpartnerships organized rural water systems.Today, extension staff members are workingwith companies to expand high-speed Internetconnectivity to rural areas.


Right: Instruction on the 10 steps in canning, fromselection to storage.Below: Extension personnel teach how to readlabels and compare the cost and characteristics ofcanned fruit.Although the roots of extension are in therural agricultural community, U of I Extensionhas evolved to serve urban areas as well. “Majorefforts are being expended to improve the dietsof Illinois residents in both rural and urbanareas—diets that will help reduce healthproblems associated with obesity, includingdiabetes and heart disease,” Hoeft said.Food deserts—where residents lack accessto a full-service grocery store—are problematicin both rural and urban settings. “Often peoplelack transportation to a store,” Hoeft said.In the East St. Louis area, one way U of IExtension is addressing the problem is tolease a bus once a month to transportaffected residents to a grocery store, providingeducation during the ride about how to buyhealthy food.“On the trip back, extension specialiststeach how to process and store the food thatwas bought,” Hoeft said. “Without thisprogram, many of the people being servedwould have to purchase groceries in aconvenience store that doesn’t carry fresh fruitsand vegetables.”There may be fewer extension specialistsper county today than in the 1980s, buttechnology has allowed the organization toadapt and increase its reach. Today peoplecan watch an extension webinar online fromhome. If they watch during the live broadcast,they can submit a question to the presenterand get an immediate answer.“Today people want information faster,”Hoeft said. “Extension’s ‘farmdoc’ website andits new mobile app are examples of how wehave responded to farmers to provideinformation when and where they want it.“Those who were active in those early yearsof the extension service would be amazed atwhere we are today,” Hoeft said. “And I can’tbegin to envision where we’ll be 100 yearsfrom now.”For more about the Illinois 100thanniversarycelebration of the 1914 signingof the federal Smith-Lever Act establishingthe state-based cooperative extension services,visit web.extension.illinois.edu/100yrs.In October, George F. Czapar wasnamed the new associate dean anddirector of the Office of Extension andOutreach. Czapar has deep roots inextension, from a summer internship inTazewell County to being extensioneducator and water quality coordinatorat Illinois to six years in agronomyextension at Iowa State University.He has led several interdisciplinaryresearch projects on water qualityand recognizes the importance ofintegrating extension with research andteaching. "These are exciting times forU of I Extension," Czapar said. "Theopportunities for collaboration havenever been greater."ACES@Illinois Winter 20145


Illinois 4-HACES@Illinois aces.illinois.eduHonoring a family who “bleeds green”Members of the J. Miles and MaribelMcGrew family of McDonough County havebeen connected to Extension and 4-H formultiple generations. The McGrews werehonored with the Illinois 4-H Foundation2013 Family Spirit Award.Miles’ and Maribel’s 11 children all wereinvolved in 4-H, and over the years, 17 spouses,31 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren, andtwo great-great-grandchildren have been partof 4-H in seven states.One son, Jim McGrew, served as a 4-Hleader for 35 years and in 2006 was inductedinto the Illinois 4-H Hall of Fame. Jim’s eldestdaughter, Judy, made 4-H a part of her career,serving as a 4-H youth development educatorwith University of Illinois Extension for 22years. She developed multiple programmaterials and trained more than 20,0004-H youth, volunteers, and professionals.The McGrew family said their involvementin 4-H and Extension has affected them ininnumerable ways, teaching them teamwork,leadership, and communication skills. Theylearned practical information that could beapplied to everyday situations and economicprinciples that provided them with tools tosucceed. It has helped them build strong,responsible families, whose members have goneon to careers including Illinois staterepresentative, nurse, teacher, business owner,farmer, school superintendent, physicaltherapist, music therapist, and EMT. Othershave served, or are serving, in the Army, Navy,Air Force, Marines, and National Guard.“With 90 4-H family members in fivegenerations, the McGrew family symbolizes afamily that ‘bleeds green!’” said Angie Barnard,director of the Illinois 4-H Foundation. “Thefoundation thanks them for their contributionsto the 4-H program over the years. This familysignifies what it means to ‘Make the BestBetter.’”“It Can Wait,” urges 4-HIllinois 4-H partnered with AT&Tduring August and September in the“It Can Wait” campaign, as its membersencouraged drivers to take the pledge notto text while driving.Illinois 4-H members asked drivers tohelp make the state safer and to savelives by sending Illinois 4-H a simple textmessage to signal their commitment.“It’s a small way to make a big difference,”said Angie Barnard, executive directorfor the Illinois 4-H Foundation.When AT&T approached Illinois 4-Habout a partnership during the monthlonginitiative to curb distracted driving,Barnard said, leaders saw it as a “perfectfit” in meeting 4-H’s goal to promoteadvocacy skills among its members.AT&T presented these facts in theeffort to end texting and driving:• More than 100,000 crashes a yearinvolve drivers who are texting(Source: National Safety Council)• 75 percent of teens say texting anddriving is “common” among theirfriends (Source: AT&T WirelessSurvey)• 97 percent of teen drivers say textingwhile driving is dangerous—yet 43percent admit to doing it (Source:AT&T Teen Driver Survey)“The members of Illinois 4-H werecommitted to making a difference in the ‘ItCan Wait’ campaign, as we encouragedfriends and family members to take thepledge to never text and drive,” saidBarnard. “We were excited to spread themessage through the state with our23,000 members in 1,250 4-H clubs.”Representatives from Illinois 4-H andAT&T Illinois, as well as state representativeNaomi Jakobsson, spoke at a pressconference on September 19, which wasthe national “Drive 4 Pledges Day” in thecampaign.6


Student farm helps breaksalsa recordAre green goals being met? Newcourse evaluates sustainability projectsWhen projects are developed to reduce pollution and conservenatural resources, what performance metrics are considered in designingand funding them? After such projects are implemented, how areassessments made to ensure the goals are being met and to identifypotential improvements? That’s the topic for a new course in theDepartment of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences.“Sustainability Metrics and Assessment Techniques” is being taughtby Warren Lavey and Jody Endres. NRES undergraduates ClaireGrogan, Jordan Williams, and Rachel Lauter helped prepare materialsfor the course.“We will use projects funded by U of I’s Student SustainabilityCommittee as case studies to apply analytical frameworks such as life -cycle analysis and accounting for direct and indirect environmental andenergy effects,” Lavey said. “The projects include the sustainable studentfarm, solar energy systems, energy-efficiency retrofits of buildings,energy control systems for buildings, LED lighting, water-conservationequipment, and programs to reduce petroleum usage in transportation.”Among the projects to be evaluated are solar energy panels andplantings on the roof of the Business Instructional Facility. In 2009, theCollege of Business building received the highest rating of platinum inthe U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification, an internationalstandard for green buildings.The course topics are important, Endres said, because decisionmakers should be equipped to assess the impacts of projects that havebeen implemented and to apply this experience in selecting, designing,and funding new ones.“Once a project is in full swing, project managers must deployassessment and feedback mechanisms to evaluate its effectiveness inmeeting the stated goals. The biggest challenge is training people toconduct and review evaluations and to communicate those results tostakeholders.”U of I students set a Guinness World Record for the largestbatch of salsa while highlighting locally grown produce, someprovided by the university’s Sustainable Student Farm.The massive batch of salsa, assembled at the university’s Augustnew-student convocation at Memorial Stadium, weighed in at6,840 pounds. This beat the previous record of 5,868 pounds heldby an organization in Spain.The student farm, part of the Department of Crop Sciences,provided 1,200 pounds of tomatoes, 20 pounds of jalapeños,and 200 pounds of onions for the salsa, according to Zack Grant,a research specialist in crop sciences and manager of the farm.The farm has an ongoing relationship with University Hous ing,providing produce to dining services nine months of the year.Grant said students began harvesting the tomatoes on the farmjust south of campus two days before the new-student event.“That was just what we were able to harvest that week,” Grant said.Bruce Branham, a crop sciences professor who oversees thefarm, said that cool temperatures in July slowed the developmentof the tomato crop. “It’s kind of instructive regarding locally basedfood systems. On one hand you have greater food security growingyour own food, but sometimes you have to make other plans.”“For something made in such a large quantity, the salsaturned out quite delicious,” said Dawn Aubrey, associate directorof hous ing dining services. Part of what wasn’t eaten that day wasdivided among the campus dining units to be frozen and used lateras a base for chili.A Guinness World Records judicator was present for thepreparation, assembly, and serving of the salsa and presentedU of I with a certificate for the record-breaking batch.Visit thefarm.illinois.edu for more about the SustainableStudent Farm.ACES@Illinois Winter 20147


Black locust showing promise for biomass potentialResearchers evaluating the biomass poten -tial of woody crops are taking a closer look atthe black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), whichshowed a higher yield and a faster harvest timethan other species that were evaluated, saidcrop scientist Gary Kling.“Robinia pseudoacacia is showing greatpotential as a biomass crop for midwesternenergy production, outyielding the next closestspecies by nearly threefold,” Kling said.“We picked the best crops and moved thoseforward. Now we want to move to the nextstep, which is improved selections.“For now the only thing you can do withblack locust is use it for direct combustion,” headded. “But if it becomes a major crop, otherresearchers could start working on the processof how to break it down.”Kling’s role in the feedstock production/agronomy program, funded by the EnergyBiosciences Institute, is to improve theproduction aspects of bioenergy crops. Whileother researchers in the program have evaluatedMiscanthus, switchgrass, and prairie cord grass,Kling is examining which short-rotation woodycrops grow best in the Midwest.This spring, a preliminary check on theblack locust crops showed a yield that exceededwhat was produced over the first two years’growth. Based on these encouraging findings,Kling said, two new experiments have beenstarted, both looking at different germplasm forblack locust crops.“Illinois has a lot of land that is subpar forcorn and soybeans, such as the southern part ofthe state and along rivers in the north. Blacklocust could be cultivated in some of that areain large acreage. This would be well-suited tosmaller producers who want to generate someof their own fuel,” he said.Kling and his team presented the findingsfrom their evaluations at the EBI FeedstockSymposium last August.Sorghum genome a launch pad for food and fuel uses8ACES@Illinois aces.illinois.eduAlthough sorghum lines underwentadaptation to be grown in temperate climatesdecades ago, a researcher and his team havecompleted the first comprehensive genomicanalysis of the molecular changes behind thatadaptation.Patrick Brown, who studies plant breedingand genetics, said having a complete characterizationof the locations affecting specific traitswill speed the adaptation of sorghum andrelated grasses to new production systems forboth food and fuel.Brown is working on the project throughthe U of I Energy Biosciences Institute, hopingto use the findings as a launching pad forworking with complex genomes of otherfeedstocks.To adapt the drought-resistant, tropicalsorghum to temperate climates, Brownexplained, sorghum lines were converted overthe years by selecting and crossing exotic lineswith temperate-adapted lines to create othersthat were photoperiod-insensitive for earlymaturity, as well as shorter plants that could bemachine-harvested.“Surprisingly, no one had ever reallygenotyped these lines to figure out what hadhappened when they were adapted,” Brownsaid. “Now that genotyping is cheap, you canget a lot of data for a modest investment.”He added that previous studies looked at aspecific genomic region or a smaller subset ofthese lines. “This is the first study to look at allof them. We got a bigger picture that wascompletely technology enabled,” he said.Brown said this new information will helpto unlock the diversity in the exotic lines andbring it into grain sorghum.“Part of the reason for caring about all ofthat now is that up to this point, sorghum hasbeen grown mostly for grain. It’s pretty shortstuff, doesn’t blow over on the windy highplains, and is really hardy. But now there is alot of interest in using sorghum for otherthings, such as growing sweet sorghum in areaswhere they grow sugarcane and growingbiomass sorghum for bioenergy throughcombustion or cellulosic technology.”


Sharing the risks/costsof biomass cropsRegulating biofuel species so theydon’t become one more weedIn the United States, only species listedon state or federal noxious weed lists areregulated, and those lists are often biasedtoward species that affect agricultural crops.State and regional invasive-plant councilscompile lists of species that affect naturallandscapes, but these lists have no regulatoryclout. Lauren Quinn and A. Bryan Endres ofthe U of I Energy Biosciences Institute havedeveloped suggestions to improve theregulation of all invasive plant species,including new biofuels plants.“We’re hoping to reform the way that thelists are developed, using the USDA’s weedrisk assessment that looks at the potentialinvasiveness of a new species,” said Quinn, aninvasive plant ecologist.Using the system, the invasive speciescouncil in each state would rank plants.“High-risk species would be regulated ona new noxious list, but low-risk species wouldnot be regulated,” Quinn said. “Species forwhich insufficient data is available for theassessment would be placed on a ‘caution’ listthat would demand further investigation priorto release.”Quinn and Endres also propose anegligence-liability scheme in case a plantturns out to be invasive.“Right now, highly invasive plants can besold without any consequences at all, unlessthey are on the noxious weed list,” said Endres,a professor of agricultural law. “The regulationis directed exclusively at what might impactagriculture, but horticulturalists are developingnew plants for home landscaping that might behighly invasive and should be regulated,” hesaid.Endres said that the recommendationswon’t threaten the development of new biofuelscrops.“The biggest threat to the biofuels industryis unsubstantiated claims that new varieties willbecome invasive species,” Endres said. “Solidregulation to govern the industry will createmore certainty. Developers don’t want tocommercialize a biofuels plant that’s going tocause trouble later on.”Jody Endres likes to refer to the historyof leaded gasoline in the United Stateswhen she explains to her students theunique, not -fully-accepted situation biomassgrowers find themselves in.Endres, a professor of energy andenvironmental law, conducted a studywith the Energy Biosciences Instituterecommending a framework for contractsbetween growers and biorefineries to helpspell out expectations for sustainabilitypractices and to designate who will assumethe risks and costs associated with thesenew perennial energy crops.“We need to develop contracts that naildown all of the details and are transparentabout who’s taking on the risk and who’spaying for it, so that those who finance thisnew biomass crop industry will have morecertainty to invest,” Endres said.The study identifies considerations thatshould be included in the framework for abiomass contract, including a control formoral hazard, risk–incentive tradeoff,existing agricultural practices, and risk andmanagement tools to make the industrymore sustainable financially andenvironmentally.The perennial nature of biomass cropsalso makes developing contracts challenging.“We’re in a unique environment, andtraditional agricultural contracting structuresjust don’t apply,” Endres said. “For example,crop insurance is not available to biomassfarmers. And landowners don’t want to belocked into a multi-year contract with alessee to grow a perennial biomass crop.It’s complicated.”A newly forming biomass standardsgroup, in which Endres holds a leadershiprole, is looking at how the value of sustainabilitypractices can be measured at thewatershed, eco-shed, or air-shed levelrather than on the scale of individual farms.Endres said that the working group willexamine how to ensure that balance isachieved between producers andconsumers of biomass, including throughcontracts.ACES@Illinois Winter 20149


ACES in AfricaSouth African wildlife park is nothing like a zooJeff Brawn says that seeing an elephant inthe zoo is cool, but seeing one in the wild givesyou that stomach-dropping feeling you get inan elevator—or maybe a space shuttle. Brawn,head of the Department of Natural Resourcesand Environmental Sciences, led the ACES“wildlife discovery” study tour to South Africafor the fourth time last summer. The groupincluded nine students, one wildlife guide, andone professor—because that’s how many peoplefit into a safari vehicle.“The purpose of the trip is to observewildlife in African ecosystems,” Brawn said. “Itmay be the first time students have viewedwildlife like this—up close and personal, withvery large animals in a free-living environment.”After enduring a 17-hour plane trip, thestudents spend about 2 1 / 2 weeks in two verydifferent wildlife reserves. “Kruger NationalPark is the size of Israel, so it’s big—and thereare rules about not getting out of your vehicle,”Brawn said. An adjacent area, called Sabi Sands,allows visitors to get out of the vehicle and takewildlife walks. “One summer at Sabi we parkedunder a tree and watched a leopard eat anantelope that it had just killed.”For obvious reasons, visitors don’t goanywhere without a guide carrying a rifle.“The guides are trained to read the danger signsin wildlife,” Brawn said. “If an elephant movesits ears or vocalizes in a certain way, the guiderecognizes that it is getting upset and we needto move off.”And unlike Yosemite and other nationalparks in the United States, electric fencesenclose all of the areas where people camp.“When the students go into their cabins atnight, they’re not allowed to come out untilmorning—because leopards, lions, and hyenaswill come in. We are there at a relatively safetime of year. It’s their winter, so it’s actuallyquite cold, and snakes aren’t out,” Brawn said.The students learn about the culturalhistory of South Africa and the politics ofwildlife conservation. They also visitrehabilitation clinics and talk with wildlifeveterinarians.“Wildlife rehabilitation is a big issue inSouth Africa because poaching and other illegalpersecution of wildlife can lead to animals’being injured,” Brawn said.At Kruger the students meet a staff memberin charge of managing the elephant populationand learn about some of the challenges beingfaced. “In many areas there are too manyelephants, and in other areas too few,” Brawnsaid. “The reserves used to put out water holesto attract the elephants, but elephants changethe landscape. They knock over trees, eateverything, and change the forest structure.Now managers keep the park as natural aspossible rather than artificially concentratingthe elephants around a water hole.”After the trip the students write papersreflecting on their experiences. Brawn asksthem to describe their three biggest surprises interms of resource management, wildlifebehavior, and culture. A lot of the students saythat the trip was transformative.“South Africa is a developed country; theyhave McDonald’s. But when you’re drivingdown the road in the U.S., you don’t seeelephants or leopards.”Even though students may have seen thesespecies in zoos, there’s no comparison toobserving animals in their natural habitat,Brawn said.“Animals in zoos are very docile. In thewild, they are not waiting to be fed; they haveto find their next meal. We saw a jackal one daywho had been injured by a hyena. The studentsfelt sorry for it, but that’s life. Plus, outside azoo, you may be potential prey. That’senergizing.”Meeting global challengesACES@Illinois aces.illinois.edu10Alex Winter-Nelson has been named the new director for theACES Office of International Programs. He came to Illinois in1992 with a joint appointment in the Center for African Studiesand the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, forwhich he is currently a professor.“The College of ACES has tremendous capacity foraddressing global challenges like food security and environmentalsustainability,” he said. “My own research and teaching haverelated to these issues in developing countries, and I am excitedabout finding ways to link ACES researchers with opportunities tohelp solve these and other pressing international problems.”Alex Winter-Nelson (third from left) with graduate student Saweda Liverpool-Tasie (second from left) and farmers in Imbadir, Ethiopia.


“Cattle cams” offer long-distance learningNew wiring and network upgrades at theDixon Springs Agricultural Center, an ACESresearch facility located over 200 miles southof the main campus, will allow 24-hour videoaccess to the cattle housed at one of thecountry’s largest beef research centers.Video cameras newly installed in the cattlebarn will give U of I faculty, researchers,students on campus, and others beyondcampus the next-best experience to being onsite to observe procedures such as calving orvaccinations being administered, all in realtime, said Frank Ireland, an animal scienceresearcher and superintendent of the researchfacility in Simpson, Illinois.“The DSAC animal science program,particularly beef cattle research, is one of thelargest in the country, and Dixon Springs isthe biggest location because of theavailable acreage of land,” Irelandsaid. “There’s a need for it becausefewer and fewer places have thenumber of cattle that we do.”There are currently 1,400 to1,500 head of cattle in the U of Isystem, with 850 to 900 of those atDixon Springs. The center spans5,000 total acres, facilitating researchin animal science, agronomy, and naturalresources and environmental sciences.Looking beyond the opportunities forU of I research, Ireland said the vision is toallow access to the broadcasts from the cattlebarn not only to the school’s researchers,students, and veterinarians but to otheruniversities and programs. “Some collegeshave teaching facilities with no live animals,and livestock judging is often done onlineusing pictures,” he said.He also noted the benefit of suchapplications as using the cameras to help indiscussing and diagnosing illness or injuriesin the cattle with off-site veterinarians.Blending passions for science, economics, and PortugueseHow does a farmgirl from Sheldon,Illinois, become atranslator toPortuguese-speakingvisitors in theinternational tent atthe nation’s largestoutdoor farm show?Five trips to studyabroad during herfirst two years ofcollege didn’t hurt.Ashley Nagelesaid that in her threedaytranslation gig atlast summer’s Farm Progress Show, sheactually served more as an ambassador.“I gave a lot of directions, and because of myknowledge of agriculture, I could answermore in-depth questions.”Nagele, a junior majoring in animalsciences with a minor in internationaldevelopmental economics through theDepartment of Agricultural and ConsumerEconomics, keeps her passport at the ready.Her passion for foreign language beganwhen she used her high-school Spanish on atwo-week freshman “discovery course” trip tothe Dominican Republic. “I didn’t know I hadthe capacity to communicate like that,” Nagelesaid.Nagele’s study abroad trips becameprogressively longer—a two-week meatjudgingcontest in Australia; a month workingon a farm in New Zealand; a winter break tourof five African countries; and a three-monthstint in Panama working in an in vitrofertilization lab. The trip to Panama is whereshe fell in love with the Portuguese language.“I learned a lot of technical vocabularybecause my co-workers spoke Spanish andPortuguese,” shesaid. “I think the keyto learninglanguages is to shedyour pride and bevulnerable. Forexample, one time Itried to say ‘I lost 15pounds’—but first Isaid I’d lost ‘15books,’ and then ‘15freedoms’ becausethe words are verysimilar.”What’s next?Nagele will spend asemester in Brazil, where she’ll put herPortuguese to use full-time.Nagele believes her unique skill setcombining science, economics, and non-English languages will make her moremarketable. “A lot of people can speak otherlanguages, but my ACES background inanimal sciences means that I could be the one,for example, to teach new in vitro techniquesto technicians in all of Central and SouthAmerica.”ACES@Illinois Winter 201413


Brazil’s dilemma: Abundantgrain, inadequate storageACES@Illinois aces.illinois.edu14Wetlands more cost-effectivein nutrient removalRemoving nitrogen from the environment “the natural way” bycreating a wetland offers long-term pollution control and otherenvironmental benefits, and it is more cost effective than upgrading awastewater treatment plant to remove excess nutrients, such as nitrogenand phosphorus. But does it benefit society overall to offer landownersmultiple payments to set farmland aside to create wetlands?“This is a big issue in the design of markets for ecosystem services,”said U of I environmental economist Amy Ando. “A wetland does a lotof things. It will filter out nutrients, but it also creates habitat forwaterfowl, and it might sequester carbon. The cost is large enough thatin some cases no single payment might be enough to convince a farmerto do it, but if farmers get paid for the full value to society of all threebenefits, then they might be willing.“But there’s an almost violent debate among scholars andenvironmental groups and people who are trying to get these marketsinto place about whether farmers should be able to stack payments. Wewere trying to be agnostic and just ask, What effects would stackinghave on market outcomes?” she said.The study Ando worked on in Bureau County with U of I colleagueNicholas Brozović and former graduate student Adam Lentz analyzedthe amount of land needed to reduce nitrogen pollution, data on thecosts of actual wetland restorations, and other factors, including theopportunity costs to landowners from no longer farming new wetlandareas.“Ideally we want to pay farmers to create a wetland that they wouldnot have done anyway,” Ando said. “But in some cases, they might notneed the extra incentive and would have been happy to do it for thenitrogen payment alone. In our study area, we found that allowingmultiple payments may or may not make society as a whole better off,depending on the details of the policy situation.”A tropical climate that allows for year-round farming wouldseem to be a tremendous economic advantage, but for corn andsoybean farmers in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, it also posesa problem—an abundance of grain followed by about a 10 percentpostharvest loss, due in part to a lack of storage.“There is a 34 percent undercapacity of soybean storage, andthe situation is aggravated by the rapidly increasing production ofsecond-crop maize,” said agricultural economist Peter Goldsmith.“The worst situation occurs in northern Mato Grosso, where thereis clear evidence of a shortage of storage, particularly private andcooperative, as grain production rises in the state.”The research project was the first to employ GIS software tomap the coordinates of commercial, cooperative, and private grainstorage facilities in Mato Grosso.“To find the areas with the most and least congestion,”Goldsmith said, “we created GIS coordinates for every facility,mapped them, and then overlaid the current production with howmuch production there would be if farmers were to produce andstore a second corn crop on 100 percent of the bean crop.“One region in the northern part of the state is about 6.9million metric tons under capacity,” Goldsmith said. “That’s 270million bushels. If a typical grain bin holds about 50,000 bushels,that’s equivalent to 5,420 50,000-bushel grain bins.”The information will help determine the best, most convenientlocations for additional storage. The research was funded by theADM Institute for the Prevention of Postharvest Loss at the U of I.Goldsmith said that tropical regions of the globe will beproducing more and more of the world’s food, so helpingfarmers in developing countries such as Brazil create more efficientharvesting, transporting, and storage is a step toward ensuringthat there will be enough grain to feed and fuel the world.


A career in finances about more than just moneyA closer look• The ACES financial planningprogram ranks in the country’stop 25.• The program has 78 students thisyear.• Students work with industrypractitioners.• Coursework includes retirementand benefit planning, finance,personal financial products, casestudies in financial planning, andtaxes.• Students can take the CertifiedFinancial Planner accreditationexam upon graduation.• The program has an activestudent club.For more information, visit ace.illinois.edu/undergrad/concentrations/fp.Jake Kuebler ’08 had an epiphany whiletaking John Braden’s class on personal financialplanning, one that set him on a completelynew career track.“I thought it was going to be a life skillscourse, like what is a mortgage and how do youget one,” Kuebler said. “Instead I found outabout the whole profession of personalfinancial planning, and I wound up takingevery course that was offered in that area.”At 27, Kuebler is a Certified Financial Planner(CFP) and co-owner of Bluestem FinancialAdvisors in Champaign, Illinois.“What attracted me to financial planningwas that it has both a technical side and apersonal side,” he said. “What’s kept me in thefield is that repetition bores me, so the fact thatevery client has a unique set of circumstancesmakes it fascinating.”Kuebler said he encourages financialplanning students to take courses incounseling, because he’s seen how much ithelps to have strong interpersonal skills.“Money and emotions are inherentlyintertwined,” he said. “Some of our clientsare going through a time of transition, so griefcan be a big player. Even positive life changes,such as retirement, can be a time of grief forthe client—there’s a loss of identity.”Kuebler has found that getting to thedecision-making stage with a new client takesabout 6 to 10 meetings over three to sixmonths. Sometimes the answer to a borderlinefinancial situation seems obvious, he said, butthe client needs to arrive at the solutionthemselves. “Instead of simply advising, forexample, ‘You need to sell the second house,’ Iuse the meetings to review cash flow and thenslowly lead the client in that direction. I askquestions like ‘In the event of somethinghappening, how do you see yourself or yourspouse adjusting to this set of circumstances?’and then help them move toward a decision.”Kuebler is passionate about fee-onlyadvising, a model of financial planningchampioned by the National Association ofPersonal Financial Advisors, in which he isactively involved, working with other youngprofessionals in the business.Fee-only advisors don’t sell products, suchas insurance. They don’t earn commissions likea broker does on investments. And they don’tpay for referrals or take compensation forreferrals.“Fee-only advising reduces conflict ofinterest,” Kuebler said. “We make decisionsbased not on which product wouldcompensate us the most, but on which best fitsthe client’s need.”While some financial planners may seekclients with $1 or $2 million to invest, Kueblercharges a retainer, whether the client has$50,000 or $2 million. He believes that he isfairly compensated, and that business modelalso allows him to pursue a clientele that manyadvisors are less interested in considering—young professionals.“Clients tell us all the time that we make abig difference, but we can see it for ourselveswhen they meet their goals. We’ve helped thembuy their first home, they’ve had their firstchild—we’re focused on the financial side, butit’s rewarding to see all of those life eventsfalling into place and know that in some smallway we’ve helped ease that process.”ACES@Illinois Winter 201415


Restoring cancer-fightingpower to frozen broccoliYoung adults need milk, tooACES@Illinois aces.illinois.edu16If you rely on frozen veggies in the winter, you may bealarmed to learn that frozen broccoli lacks the ability to formsulforaphane, the cancer-fighting phytochemical in fresh broccoli.Don’t worry: U of I researchers have demonstrated how the foodindustry can restore the frozen vegetable’s health benefits.“The problem begins when soon-to-be-frozen broccoli isblanched, or heated to high temperatures, to inactivate enzymesthat can cause off-colors, tastes, and aromas during the product’sshelf life,” said Elizabeth Jeffery, a professor of nutrition.The extreme heat destroys the enzyme myrosinase, which isnecessary to form sulforaphane, the powerful cancer-preventivecompound in broccoli, she said.“In the three commercially frozen broccoli samples we testedbefore and after cooking, there was very little cancer-fightingcapability before the frozen broccoli was cooked, and noneafterward,” said Ed Dosz, a graduate student in Jeffery’s lab.To kickstart the chemical reaction they needed, the researchersdecided to expose frozen broccoli to myrosinase from a relatedcruciferous vegetable.When they sprinkled 0.25 percent of freeze-dried daikonradish—an amount invisible to the human eye and undetectableto our taste buds—on the frozen broccoli, the two compoundsworked together to form sulforaphane, Dosz said.One question remained: Would sulforaphane survive the heatof microwave cooking? “Yes!” Jeffrey noted. “The radish enzymewas heat-stable enough to preserve broccoli’s health benefits evenwhen it was cooked for 10 minutes at 120 ºF.”Consumers can also team cooked frozen broccoli with rawradishes, cabbage, arugula, watercress, horseradish, spicy mustard,or wasabi to give the vegetable’s bioactive compounds a boost, shesaid.College-age people who don’tconsume at least three servings ofdairy daily are at increased riskto develop metabolicsyndrome, found a newUniversity of Illinois study.“Only one in four youngpersons in the study was gettingthe recommended amount ofdairy,” said Margarita Teran-Garcia,a U of I professor of food science andhuman nutrition.Metabolic syndrome occurs when a person has three or more of thefollowing factors: abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high bloodsugar, and unhealthy lipid levels. Having the disorder greatly increases aperson’s chances of developing heart disease and type 2 diabetes.Although scientists believe that dairy products guard against obesityand related health problems, they aren’t sure how. “It may be thecalcium, it may be the proteins. Whatever the mechanism, evidencesuggests that dairy products are effective in attaining and maintaining ahealthy weight,” she said.In the study, 339 Mexican college-age applicants filled out a foodfrequency questionnaire and were evaluated for metabolic syndromerisk factors. The research is important to Hispanics in the United States,Teran-Garcia said, because many have low HDL (good) cholesterol, afactor influencing metabolic syndrome.Teran-Garcia stressed the importance of developing healthy foodhabits early in life, and she sees her efforts as nutrition educationinterventions that could change students’ thinking.Adopting the USDA dairy recommendation as a young person is alow-cost approach to maintain health and decrease future disease risk,she said. “In a few years, when they become parents, they’ll be able tomodel good nutrition for their children.”New FSHN department headSharon “Shelly” Nickols-Richardson, newhead of the Department of Food Scienceand Human Nutrition (FSHN), received aPh.D. from the University of Georgia.Her areas of interest: obesity preventionand treatment across the life span, includingobesity’s relationship to chronic diseasessuch as osteoporosis and metabolicsyndrome.Something no one knows about her:“If I were not a professor of human nutrition, I would be a back-upsinger for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.”


Good marriage buffers effectsof dad’s depressionWhat effect does a father’s depression have on his young son ordaughter? When fathers report a high level of emotional intimacy intheir marriages, their children benefit, said a U of I study.“When a parent is interacting with their child, they need to beable to attend to the child’s emotional state, to be cued in to hisdevelopmental stage and abilities, to notice whether she is gettingfrustrated or needs help. Depressed parents have more difficulty doingthose things,” said Nancy McElwain, a professor of humandevelopment.But if a depressed dad has a close relationship with a partner wholistens to and supports him, the quality of father–child interactionimproves, she noted.“A supportive spouse appears to buffer the effects of the father’sdepression. We can see it in children’s behavior when they’re workingwith dad. The kids are more persistent and engaged,” McElwain said.The researchers used data from 606 children and their parents,first when children were 4½, then at 6½.“At this stage of a child’s development, an engaged parent is veryimportant. Children’s ability to focus and persist with a task whenthey are frustrated is critical in making a successful transition frompreschool to formal schooling,” she said.Interestingly, depressed mothers didn’t get the same boost from asupportive spouse.That may be because men and women respond to depressiondifferently, McElwain added. “Men tend to withdraw; women tend toruminate. We think that high emotional intimacy and sharing in themarriage may encourage a woman’s tendency to ruminate about herdepression, disrupting her ability to be available and supportive withher children.”Jailed men express needfor financial educationIncarcerated men know they will need better financial skills tosucceed when they’re released from prison, but most distrust “thesystem,” are more open to educators from outside their facility, andbelieve they need personal rather than classroom instruction, saidAngela Wiley, a professor of applied family studies.“Most of us are in here because of money,” noted one man whowas interviewed.Many of the men said they want to learn to budget and managemoney because they anticipate being self-employed upon their release,but “I really feel like a moron in that area, and I don’t know where tostart asking questions,” one man said.More than half were thinking about going into construction andreal estate—buying houses, fixing them up, and selling them. Onewanted to start a business using his cooking skills, and another tofreelance as a tattoo artist.“Many jailed men don’t have the formal education and specific skillsto be viable in the traditional job market. It makes sense, if they’rethinking about starting a business, to teach them basic bookkeeping,how to fill out tax forms, those kinds of things,” Wiley said.Despite their interest in financial education, many of the men saidthat there was not much opportunity because “the criminal justicesystem is not about rehabilitation.” Only two men did not expressdistrust of the system and the instruction offered within it.Wiley wants to see programs targeted to meet the needs of this veryvulnerable population.“If we’re not helping offenders in ways that will enable them to besuccessful later on the outside, we’re doing them and society as a wholea disservice,” Wiley said.New department head for HCDSusan Silverberg Koerner, new head ofthe Department of Human and CommunityDevelopment (HCD), was a faculty member atthe University of Arizona before coming to theU of I.Her areas of interest: families, aging, andhealth, specifically the emotional and physicalwell-being of adults who provide care forelderly frail, ill, or disabled relatives.What hidden treasure has she found on campus? “I was thrilledto discover delicious French onion soup, topped with baked gruyere,at The Bread Company, just down the street from my office.”ACES@Illinois Winter 201417


New biosafety lab createdA biosafety level 2 (BSL 2) laboratory hasbeen established in the ACES Department ofAgricultural and Biological Engineering, withassociate professor Kaustubh Bhalerao asdirector.There are four levels for biosafetylaboratories. In a BSL 2 lab, personnel canhandle pathogenic material of moderatepotential hazard to people and theenvironment, including various bacteria andviruses such as hepatitis A or B, Lyme disease,salmonella, mumps, and measles.Some of the equipment, supplies, andfacility requirements necessary in a BSL 2laboratory include a certified biosafety cabinet,where negative airflow contains spills or sprays;an autoclave that is tested regularly; containersfor disposing of glassware and sharps; and labcoats and safety equipment such as eyewearand gloves. Restricted access is anotherrequirement, which Bhalerao said allows himto keep a close eye on expensive equipment,such as a $60,000 spectrophotometer.Students working in the lab are required togo through two courses online, one for generallab safety and the other to understandbiosafety. Bhalerao requires a third coursespecific to his lab. “This gives them instructionson such things as where the spill kit is locatedand what the exit plan is,” he said. “It’simportant to place this kind of responsibilityon the students. It keeps them a little bitscared, and a little bit scared is a good thing.”The lab is currently being used for avariety of research projects spanningsynthetic biology, environmental impactsof nanotechnology, and sensors andinstrumentation development for plantand animal agriculture.Lab focuses on animal welfareACES@Illinois aces.illinois.edu18Animal welfare has long been ahot-button issue, particularlyin industry and science. The AnimalWelfare and Environment Systems(AWES) laboratory in theDepartment of Agricultural andBiological Engineering (ABE)focuses on improving animalhusbandry to help solve problems in animalhousing, primarily for commercial agricultureand research laboratory settings.ABE assistant professor Angela Greenand Richard Gates, a professor, are thelab’s faculty team members. “Our teamis multidisciplinary,” said Gates, “bringingtogether scientists and students inengineering, animal science, veterinarymedicine, and related fields.”In addition to ABE undergraduate andgraduate students, the team has facultycollaborators in ABE, Natural Resourcesand Environmental Sciences, and AnimalSciences. Undergraduates, graduates,and visiting scientists from China, Brazil,and Belgium also contribute to the multidisciplinarymakeup of the lab.The team members design and constructa variety of equipment used in their research.A custom-built environmental preferencechamber is used to measure behavioralfeedback from poultry and small pigs. Fourinterconnected compartments controltemperature, relative humidity, and aerialcontaminants such as atmospheric ammonia.A year-long study on the effect of ammoniaon laying hens was recently completed.Other research projects include aruminant emission measuring system(REMS), which monitors and analyzesmethane emissions from beef cattle feddifferent diets, and a study on swinetransport, measuring interior conditions suchas bedding conditions in the winter (does thebedding freeze?) and the heat stress index inthe summer.“Our goal is to develop scientific toolsthat will measure what’s best for an animal’swelfare,” Gates concluded.


ACES alum profile: Shauna SomervilleCourtesy of the Energy Biosciences InstituteThe desire to make a difference drivesShauna Somerville’s research in plant andmicrobial biology. She and her husband, ChrisSomerville, are motivated to contribute to theadvancement of biofuels and food productionin an ecologically sensitive manner.Somerville (Ph.D. ’81) is a researchprofessor in the plant and microbial biologydepartment at the University of California,Berkeley. She also holds a research position inthe Energy Biosciences Institute, where Chris isdirector.She received her undergraduate andmaster’s degrees from the University of Albertawhile Chris completed his Ph.D. After bothfinished up, they moved to Paris to study forthree months while determining where theycould best make a contribution in plantbiology. They spent their mornings in thelibrary and their afternoons sightseeing andtalking about how they would apply theirknowledge to influence the world together.Several names came up during theirconversations, including Bill Ogren at theU of I. The two were interested in his work andthought they could learn a lot from him, soShauna wrote Ogren asking whether she coulddo a Ph.D. and Chris work as a postdoctoralresearcher in his lab.During her time at Illinois, Shauna focusedon genetics, applying her knowledge throughplant breeding. “I found that plant breederstended to be more interested in the netoutcome rather than the plant’s underlyingmechanism, and I didn’t find that verysatisfying,” she said.” She switched to plantphysiology and plant biochemistry with Dr.Ogren, hoping to gain deeper insight intowhat was going on inside the actual plant.Shauna said that scientists were juststarting to bring molecular genetic tools towork in plant biology, and biologist PaulEhrlich released The Population Bomb. “He wasone of those people back in the mid-’70s whowarned that humans had to be careful abouthow much demand they made on the Earth.He was someone to raise the flag and say thatwe should move forward cautiously.”The book motivated both Shauna andChris to make a difference in food and biofuelsproduction.“Since leaving Ogren’s lab, I’ve moved intoplant pathology, where I’m working ondiseases in plants,” she said. “I keep hopingthat something we discover will really make adifference out there in the real world and willhelp us address some of the challenges that weface going forward.”Somerville’s primary interest today is theplant cell wall and its role in fighting plantpathogens. She described the wall as the firstbarrier that pathogens encounter.“It’s on the basic side, but I feel that we’relearning about the composition of the cellwall and what kinds of crops to utilize forbiofuels. There’s a lot of talk about makingchanges in the cell wall to make it moredigestible during processing, but there’s abalance we’ll have to strike in designing theoptimal plant and making sure that it’sdisease-resistant as well,” she said.Jody Endres, ACES professor of naturalresources and environmental sciences, said,“Shauna’s drive and commitment toimproving the lives of others throughsustainability and science are truly inspiring.She is a wonderful role model for youngwomen in science.”Shauna's best advice to students is toavoid preconceived ideas and take advantageof every opportunity.ACES@Illinois Winter 201419


Get to know new ACES facultyACES@Illinois aces.illinois.eduYuji Arai of the Department of NaturalResources and Environmental Sciencesreceived a Ph.D. in environmental soilchemistry from the University of Delaware.Areas of interest: environmental soilchemistry and understanding thepredominant and fundamental chemicalreactions of nutrients, metals, andradionuclides at the mineral–water interface in soils andsediments. Such knowledge greatly enhances the ability tounderstand contaminant speciation and predict the fate,transport, and bioavailability in terrestrial water environments.Tell us something no one knows about you. My students say I ama speed walker.Dustin Boler of the Department of AnimalSciences received a Ph.D. in animal scienceswith a specialization in meat science andmuscle biology from the University ofIllinois.Areas of interest: how on-farm productiontechniques influence fresh meat quality andfurther processed product characteristics.What piqued your interest in the field you’re now studying? Ifirst developed an interest in the meat industry during high schoolwhile participating in the meat-judging career development eventin FFA. That interest grew during my employment with TysonFoods.Jonathan Coppess of the Department ofAgricultural and Consumer Economicsreceived a juris doctor degree from GeorgeWashington University Law School.Areas of interest: agricultural policy andlaw, including farm support, crop insurance,conservation, renewable energy and biofuels,and biotechnology and related issues,including the political process for creating and implementingagricultural policies.What piqued your interest in the field you’re now studying?I trace my interest in these issues to having grown up on a familyfarm, and especially to my grandfather who farmed and was veryinterested and involved in politics. When I was young, he waselected county commissioner for a term, and we talked politicsand policy quite a bit over the years. For the last eight years, I’vebeen working in Washington, D.C., both in the Senate and atUSDA.Megan Dailey of the Department of AnimalSciences received a Ph.D. in behavioralneuroscience from Georgia State University.Areas of interest: how our bodies sense thenutrients we eat; the mechanisms responsiblefor cellular adaptation in the intestine, findinga therapy for such intestinal disorders asCrohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome,and cancer.What hidden treasure have you found on campus? The facultymembers here are passionate about their jobs and creative in theirresearch endeavors. I am impressed by the continuing efforts of thisuniversity to improve teaching and enhance the student learningenvironment.Todd Henry Kuethe of the Department ofAgricultural and Consumer Economicsreceived a Ph.D. in agricultural economicsfrom Purdue University.Areas of interest: measuring and forecastingaggregate agricultural asset values, the impactsof policy on agricultural asset values and farmprofitability, economic decision-making fornon-operating farmland owners, spatial modeling of real estatemarkets, and economic analysis of large-dimensional data systems.Tell us something no one else knows about you. My dream job is tobe a television writer for a sitcom or procedural drama.Nathan E. Schroeder of the Department ofNatural Resources and EnvironmentalSciences received a Ph.D. in plant pathology atthe University of Wisconsin–Madison and wasa postdoctoral fellow in genetics at RutgersUniversity.Areas of interest: how nematodes sense andrespond to environmental stress.What piqued your interest in the field you’re now studying?My interest in nematodes was love at first microscopic sight.20


Building a futureLanans leave a legacy for Turner HallField and Furrow supports Turner ProjectIn September 2012, the Turner Hall transformation project wasofficially launched with a gala at the home of Dr. Larry Hageman (B.S.’78, Agriculture Science) in Rochelle, Illinois. Last fall, Hageman hosteda dinner in the ACES library during homecoming for Field and Furrowalumni. Attenders were welcomed by ACES leaders and the Turner Hallcommittee members, and student Field and Furrow members gave toursof planned renovations.Alumni from across the generations enjoyed connecting andreconnecting as the club celebrated 78 years on the Urbana campus.Volunteers including Mark and Becky Baxa, Julie Quick, Bill Kirk,Frederick Groya, Mark Parrish, Steve Scates, Jerry Brookhart, and LarryHageman have spent months researching and reaching out to clubofficers dating back to the 1950s, with the goal of strengthening ties tothe college and to the club. The Turner Hall project is nearing thehalfway mark toward the $5-million fundraising goal for renovatingclassrooms and teaching laboratories.Growing and nurturing a good life were central to Howardand Evelyn Lanan as they spent 62 years together on theirfarm in Kingston, Illinois, just north of DeKalb. The pair,with degrees from Northern Illinois University and IowaState University, were deeply involved as leaders in theircommunity and church and as hosts for exchangestudents from around the world. Their appreciation ofboth agriculture and home economics and of the role of aland-grant university led them to establish the Howard T.Lanan and Evelyn M. Lanan Endowment for Excellence inthe College of ACES. Their interest in supporting theteaching of soils and soil science will allow five years ofaccumulated income from the endowment to support theTurner Hall Transformation Project, which includesrenovation of the soils teaching laboratory.Take a seatA major gift from Mrs. Jane Romweber Santogrossi andDr. John Santogrossi has placed 12 benches in the LindenAllée at the University of Illinois Arboretum. The benches arededicated to Frank and Margery Romweber and Fred andDorine Santogrossi and the importance they accorded toan Illinois education. Their encouragement helped 12family members receive Illinois degrees, including SusanRomweber Apuzzo (LAS ’73), Constance Romweber(CFAA ’75), Jane Romweber Santogrossi (BUS ’75),Elizabeth Romweber Sullivan (ACES ’84), Fred SantogrossiJr. (BUS ’64), Judith Santogrossi Tomaras Dingman, DavidSantogrossi (PSY ’69), Mary Santogrossi Mah (LAS ’71),Patricia Santogrossi (m. Delasko) (GEOL ’74, ’77), John A.Santogrossi (BIOL ’76, MD ’80), Janice Santogrossi Carroll(ISU ’76), and Melina Tomaras-Collins (PSY ’91, MBA ’94).ACES@Illinois Winter 201421


New agricultural communications leader at IllinoisGifted communicator Lulu Rodriguez isthe new director of the U of I agriculturalcommunications program. She joined thefaculty last fall to lead the innovative dualacademic program offered by the College ofMedia and the College of ACES.Rodriguez brings a strong backgroundin agricultural and rural communicationsin the United States and internationally. Agraduate of the pioneering developmentcommunication program at the University ofthe Philippines in Los Baños, she gained initialexperience communicating with rural familiesabout agricultural research in seven yearswith the applied communications unit ofthe Philippine Council for Agriculture,Forestry and Natural Resources Researchand Development, which is the Philippinesnational research planning and monitoringbody. Her experience there included four yearsas division head.Rodriguez has worked in the United Statessince 1985, when she began graduate studiesin communication at Cornell University.After completing her master’s degree, sheearned a Ph.D. in agricultural journalism/mass communications at the University ofWisconsin.In 1993 she joined the faculty of what isnow the Greenlee School of Journalism andCommunication at Iowa State University,from which she comes to Illinois. Rodriguezserved for eight years as director of graduateeducation and 10 years as head of the visualcommunication emphasis of the journalismand mass communication major. She was alsoinstrumental in developing the proposal forthe school’s first doctoral program.An exceptional educator, Rodriguez wasone of five faculty recognized as MasterTeachers in the College of Liberal Arts andSciences at Iowa State University. The awardhonored her use of unique methods toenhance student learning in courses rangingacross multimedia production, visualcommunication, strategic communication,risk perception and communication, andcommunication research methods. Herdedication and skill in advising students led toher being named 2013 Outstanding Mentorfor LAS graduate students at Iowa State.Rodriguez’s research agenda parallels herteaching endeavors, illuminating how scientificdiscovery is communicated and how citizenscan be informed to make effective decisionsabout complex issues that involve science andrisk. It has included grant-based researchprojects totaling more than $5 million.Rodriguez will have a faculty appointment inthe ACES Department of Natural Resourcesand Environmental Sciences.“Professor Rodriguez brings exceptionalskills in collaborating across disciplines andcultures,” said Jan Slater, dean of the College ofMedia. “She enjoys partnering across diversedisciplines and has provided communicationsexpertise through training activities, consultancies,and other activities involving countriesin nearly every region of the world.”SAC’s 25th anniversaryThe ACES Student AdvancementCommittee is turning 25. Founded bya passionate group of students in1988 to serve as the student branchof the Office of Advancement andAlumni Relations, SAC encouragesphilanthropy, student recruitment,alumni and donor relations, andservice to the college. Each spring,students interview to becomemembers of SAC.22


Highlights fromSalute to Ag DayBilly Hatfield, a student inagricultural leadership and scienceeducation, served up a breakfastsandwich to K.T. and BettyWright, whose extended familyreceived the 2013 ACES AlumniAssociation’s Family Spirit Award.ACES alumni gathered under thebig tent to celebrate agriculturebefore the game against theUniversity of Cincinnati inSeptember.Orion Samuelson interviewed thewinners of the Orion and GloriaSamuelson Scholarship in theCollege of ACES, including (fromleft) Kurt Hansen, Madelyn Walters,Madeline Milnamow, and WestinMontavon. Awardee Jayne Godfreyis not pictured.Thank YouACES CorporateEvent SponsorsAgReliantBungeConsolidated Grain and BargeFarm Credit ServicesGSIMonsanto CompanyPioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.PubsPlus.illinois.eduCan You NameThat Tree?Get this handy referenceguide to help you identifytree species and theircharacteristics. ForestTrees of Illinois includesalmost 150 tree speciesfound in the state.For more information, contact the ACESOffice of Advancement at 217-333-9355.ACES• Photos or illustrations of bark, leaves,twigs, and fruit• Descriptions of tree characteristics• Species distribution mapsForest Trees of Illinois, 340 pages, $12.00.Order online at PubsPlus.illinois.edu,or call 1-800-345-6087.ACES@Illinois Winter 201423


College of ACES115 ACES Library, Information and Alumni CenterMC-6321101 S. Goodwin Ave.Urbana IL 61801Help ACES go green! If you are willing to receive ACES@Illinoiselectronically, please email us at aces@illinois.edu with the name(s)onyour mailing label and the email address we should use. Thanks!We want your feedback aboutACES@Illinois. Please send yourcomments to dlarson@illinois.edu.


Corbly Wright family grounded in ACESThe descendants of Corbly and Mary Melcina Wright are thewinners of the 2013 College of ACES Family Spirit Award.Corbly and Mary Wright had 10 children, all boys, and they sentsix of them to the University of Illinois. George, Leslie, Charlie, andByron received degrees in agriculture; Ernest and Oscar also attendedthe ag school. Another 22 Wright descendants, many with multipledegrees, have graduated from the U of I, attended there, or are at -tending today—16 of them as students in the College of ACES.Byron Wright (son #9), who played Illini football, graduated in1938. His wife, Wilma, graduated the same year and in 1970 com -pleted a master’s degree. Byron and Wilma’s son, Kenneth T. (K.T.)Wright, received his doctor of veterinary medicine from Illinois in1962.K.T. and his wife, Betty, have given generously to the U of I. TheByron and Wilma Wright Memorial Scholarship Fund supportsundergraduate students in the College of ACES, and K.T. volunteers asa mentor for its recipients. The Byron Wright Memorial FootballScholarship provides support for student-athletes who play football.K.T. and Betty have also provided funds to purchase plasma screens forthe ACES Library, Information, and Alumni Center. In the College ofVeterinary Medicine, they established the Kenneth T. and Betty L.Wright Scholarship Fund for first-year students and the Kenneth T. andBetty L. Wright Fund to support and enhance activities associated withswine medicine and research.It would no doubt bring Corbly and Mary Wright great satisfactionto know that, generations later, Wrights are still attending the College ofACES—most recently their great-granddaughter Rachel LeAnn Wrightand their great-great-granddaughter, Audraeanna Stroup. It is our hopethat the Wright family legacy will live on in the college for generationsto come.ACES Young Alumni AwardsThe ACES Alumni Association is pleased to honor three graduates who have demonstrated outstanding professionalachievement, leadership, and service. Their efforts have significantly improved the lives of others, and we are proud to callthem ACES alumni.Emily Heaton, who received a bachelor’s degree in crop sciences in 2001 and a Ph.D. in 2006, is an assistant professor inthe Department of Agronomy at Iowa State University. Emily continues to support Illinois and the College of ACES.While working with University of Illinois Extension staff, Emily has shared her biomass research to directly reach Illinoisagricultural industries, agronomists, farmers, and landowners. Emily frequently provides content for the Illinois BiomassFeedstock Symposium and delivers programs for Illinois community leaders, policy makers, and agriculturalists.Nathan Matusheski received a Ph.D. in food science and human nutrition in 2003 and is a principal scientist in nutritionresearch at Kraft Foods. He serves on the College of ACES Research Advisory Committee and has lectured for nutritionclasses in the Division of Nutritional Sciences and Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. In 2011, Natevol unteered his time to help organize a nutrition-focused research symposium. He continues to serve as an advocate for thenow annual University of Illinois Nutrition Symposium and champions corporate sponsorships of the symposium by hisemployer.Susan Zaripheh received a master’s degree in nutritional sciences in 2003 and a Ph.D. in 2005. She is the senior managerof nutrition research, long-term strategy, and innovation at Hillshire Brands. As an adjunct assistant professor in theDe partment of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Susan guest-lectures for numerous courses in nutrition and foodscience. She is an industry representative to the Division of Nutritional Sciences Graduate Student Symposium, and shementors in dividual graduate students and collaborates on various research projects throughout the College of ACES.

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