Petersburg’s Davis named Illinois Ms. Agriculture USA Queen

Jennifer Davis of Petersburg was recently named the 2021 Illinois Ms. Agriculture USA Queen.

Davis is a senior at the University of Illinois Springfield majoring in environmental studies with a minor in biology.

Davis will be competing at the National Miss Agriculture USA Competition to be held in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio in June 2021.

Miss Agriculture USA is a national nonprofit organization that focuses on promoting positive aspects of agriculture featuring queens of all ages who celebrate and educate about all the diverse aspects of agriculture.

Davis’ agricultural interests include animal science and nutrition, water quality issues, renewable energy, pollinator gardens and biotechnology. Davis also has conducted research on Asian carp.

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on October 11, 2020.

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University partners with city to cut litter

One university in Central Illinois is teaming up with a city to make sure people are keeping the earth clean.

The University of Illinois Springfield is working with CWLP in Springfield to put up bins where people can safely discard their cigarette butts. They are located near Lake Springfield.

The two-sided bins have questions on each side letting you cast your vote while cutting down pollution. “A lot of people see cigarette butts as something semi-natural. Thinking that it’s made out of tobacco products and stuff but actually there is a lot of plastic in it. It’s almost 75 percent plastic and so there’s a lot of toxins that can get into the waterways,” said Anne-Marie Hanson, UIS associate professor of environmental studies.

They plan to leave the voting bins up indefinitely.

This story appeared on WCIA on May 12, 2020.

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What's wrong with roses? Springfield author explores the dark side of valentines

Roses are an enduring Valentine's gift.

Aphrodite was the goddess of love in Greek mythology. According to some stories, the falling of her blood led to the first red rose.

The modern story of rose production also comes with a dark side. In Kenya, conditions for workers, the majority of them women, have long been a concern of human-rights activists. Sexual harassment, underpayment and overwork are reported as common problems.

Megan Styles, a Springfield native and professor at University of Illinois Springfield, explores the ethics, ecology and economy of rose production in her book recently released by University of Washington Press, Roses from Kenya.

In addition to an exploration of controversial labor practices, the book is also about a lake and the confluence of wildlife, commerce, power and politics surrounding it.

Styles became interested in the issue while a graduate student at the University of Washington where she was working toward her doctorate and came upon the topic, which combined her interests in Eastern Africa, ecology and ethnography.

"I literally Googled Kenya, environment and agriculture. And I came up with all of these really sensational articles in the BBC News and mainly the U.K. newspapers about Kenyan flower farming and the horrible labor conditions." She realized there was potential for a lesser-explored area of research on the environmental impacts of the industry.

In the U.S. market, many flowers sold come from South America. Styles suggests consumers ask questions about their origins if they harbor concerns about the ethical implications of the flowers they buy. As her book points out, consumer activism has been a key to bettering conditions and shining a spotlight on the practices in Kenya.

This story appeared in the Illinois Times on Feb. 13, 2020.

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UIS students clean up litter at Springfield Lake Marina

You might think the ocean is littered with garbage, but small waterways are too.

Environmental students from the University of Illinois Springfield picked up litter from the Springfield Lake Marina Tuesday.

Not only are they cleaning garbage from the lake, but researching just how much Illinois water is polluted.

"We've moved past the element of surprise and now we're just trying to see what steps we can do to encourage the community to clean up litter and prevent it from getting here in the first place," Ann-Marie Hanson, an environmental studies professor, said.

The students will now sort all the garbage they find, count it and weigh it.

This story aired on Fox 55 News on April 23, 2019.

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Decorated recycling bins not increasing recycling on UIS campus

A new study from the University of Illinois Springfield now shows decorated recycling bins aren't increasing recycling on campus.

As part of the study, researchers put bedazzled bins or bins with positive messages made people more likely to recycle.

The study was funded by a $3,600 grant from Pepsi Co.

This story aired on WICS Newschannel 20 on March 7, 2019.

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Lake Springfield trash pick-up can improve drinking water

Saturday, the Lake Shore Improvement Association spent the morning picking up around Lake Springfield.

It's their annual clean-up day, but they say it means more than just beautifying the area. It's a place for fun and fishing, but there's a problem with Lake Springfield. "There's always debris,” said John Aiello, Lake Shore Improvement Association Clean-Up Day Chairman.

Dozens joined the Association's to pick up trash through the morning.

Anne-Marie Hanson of the University of Illinois Springfield was there to help. "Trying to get an idea of the plastic pollution and overall marine litter in central Illinois water ways,” said Hanson. 

Hanson came with Tom Rothfus to help in the clean-up, learn about pollutants, and raise awareness. Rothfus is the Director to the Therkildsen Field Station. "A lot of these things, the plastics in particular, just don't go away,” said Rothfus. “They continue to break down they get smaller and smaller and find ways to cause problems with filtration systems, getting into drinking water other issues like that, and so we really need to make people aware that what they're doing every day is having an impact of how they're living their life later on."

They specialize in environmental studies and work to connect UIS with lake concerns. “We're finding chunks of plastic in there and I don't think people realize how big of an impact this has,” said Rothfus. “And how it can trickle up the system and affect us."

Volunteers picked up garbage to prevent it from getting in the lake.

This story aired on Fox 55 Illinois on May 5, 2018.

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UIS students to clean-up litter around Lake Springfield

University of Illinois Springfield students are surveying and cleaning along the shoreline of Lake Springfield.

Students from Environmental Studies classes will spend Thursday picking up litter along the shoreline as part of a class project.

They plan to study the trash to determine how contaminants could impact the lake's ecosystem. 

Students will also be conducting the same survey at Thompson Lake in May along the Illinois River in Fulton County.

They will be using the UIS Therkildsen Field Station at Emiquon to conduct their research.

This story aired on WAND TV on April 12, 2018.

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Centennial Park signs warn bicyclists of Franklin’s ground squirrels

The term “share the trail” is taking on new meaning at Centennial Park with the addition of new signs to warn bicyclists to be on the lookout for Franklin’s ground squirrels.

The species is threatened in Illinois, and a colony of the reclusive rodents live in the tall grass along the south end of the Sangamon Valley Trail in and near Centennial Park.

The squirrels cross the trail to get to different areas of grassland, which is why researchers at the University of Illinois Springfield have teamed up with the Springfield Park District to put up the warning signs along the trail.

Already this year, the UIS researchers have discovered the carcasses of two Franklin’s ground squirrels that were apparently hit by bicyclists. One of the dead squirrels was pregnant. “Their average litter size is up to seven pups,” said Tih-Fen Ting, an environmental scientist at UIS.

“If you take out one reproducing female, you are seeing potentially seven fewer squirrels. We just want people to slow down and pay attention. Also, we are seeing increased usage and traffic on the bike trail. That’s another reason we want people to be careful.”

Juvenile male Franklin’s ground squirrels leave the colony when they get older and head out to find females in another colony. Due to habitat loss and habitat fragmentation, they don’t always find a new home.

Ting’s current study started in 2013, and during that time, she hasn’t recorded a single new male originating from a different colony and finding the colony near Centennial Park, or any of the Centennial Park juvenile males finding another colony.

There is another colony south of Chatham, but so far, there is no evidence that the two groups intermingle. That means some of the males are staying where they’re born and there’s a danger of inbreeding at both sites. Inbreeding isn’t good for the overall health of the colonies.

As far as Ting can tell, the males that leave the Centennial Park colony either fall victim to predation or are they hit by a car as they look for another colony. “Last year, we had three males dispersing beyond Curran. We tracked them all the way toward New Berlin down Old Route 54,” Ting said. 

Unfortunately, the squirrels met the same fate as the other male juveniles that left the Centennial Park area in search of a mate. “They died. They died as bachelors,” Ting said.

So far this year, Ting and the other researchers have trapped 53 individuals at the Centennial Park site, including the bike trail. That’s down from 68 last year and 84 the year before. Ting is trying to find out why the numbers are falling. “I suspect the local population has become isolated,” Ting said. 

As far as researchers know, the colony of Franklin’s ground squirrels along the Sangamon Valley Trail is densest colony in the state. There also are documented Franklin’s ground squirrel colonies at the Barnhart Prairie Nature Preserve near Urbana and an abandoned railroad bed in Vermilion County.

Previous attempts to release Franklin’s ground squirrels into reconstructed Illinois prairies were not successful. That’s one of the reasons it’s important for bicyclists to keep an eye out for the squirrels when they are riding near the park.

Dog owners also are being asked to take extra care. Ting said she’s grateful for the park district’s help in putting out the signs and also for limiting mowing to preserve the tall grass. “They are very responsive,” Ting said of the park district.

Leslie Sgro, president of the Springfield Park District, said the district has a role to play in both recreation and conservation. “We have 75 acres of wild prairie in part to help the ground squirrels thrive. That was intentional,” Sgro said.

“We love beautiful open spaces and we love all of the critters that thrive in those spaces. In any urban or suburban environment, it’s really important that as we grow as a community, we make sure that there are beautiful spaces not only for the people, but also for the animals that live there.”

The warning signs near Centennial went up about a month ago. There also are dispensers on the signs that hold information brochures on the Franklin’s ground squirrel. Ting has already gone through about 300 brochures, which she sees as a good sign.

This article appeared in The State Journal-Register on October 8, 2017.

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Video from The State Journal-Register.

New UIS community garden will serve multiple purposes

The new community garden at the University of Illinois Springfield is small — only a 20-by-20 foot plot with raised beds — but it has in it everything but the kitchen sink.

Wait — that’s in there, too, along with a repurposed bathtub from the nearby Strawbridge-Shepherd House on campus.

Organizers intend for the UIS Campus Community Garden to serve as a model for sustainability, to build community and to provide hands-on learning.

Megan Styles, assistant professor of environmental studies, said the idea for the garden came from two students in her Introduction to Sustainability class who decided to make a garden their class project last fall.

A core group of about six students, aided by a dozen or more other volunteers, now work on the garden, which was dedicated by UIS Chancellor Susan Koch on Friday.

Koch, who cut a green burlap ribbon that will be repurposed in the garden, said she liked the idea that it is a learning lab.

“It is so hands-on and an example of the personalized education we provide,” Koch said.

The story was reported by The State Journal-Register on April 30, 2016.

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Illinois wants ospreys to call it home

Five osprey chicks from Langley Air Force Base in West Virginia arrived in Illinois on Wednesday night, the first step in an eight-year program to re-establish nesting ospreys in the state.

The osprey is a fish-eating hawk that is listed as endangered in Illinois.

Young birds are loyal to the places where they were raised, often returning as adults to nest.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources wants to take advantage of that tendency by placing young in a specially designed nest box at Anderson Lake southwest of Havana.

Graduate students from the University of Illinois Springfield will monitor the birds, leaving food and keeping the area clean until they are old enough to leave the nest.

The process is known as hacking, a falconry term for gradual release.

When the birds are ready to fly, the doors of the hack box will be opened so the young ospreys can test their wings.

Students also will attach radio transmitters so they can keep track of their movements.

The story was featured in The State Journal-Register on  July 14, 2013.

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Internship leads to ideas for MacArthur Boulevard

Michael McPeek says he didn’t have to look beyond MacArthur Boulevard for his master’s degree project in urban renewal.

McPeek, whose daytime job is in maintenance with the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, has spent his free time since last fall working on ideas for improving the appearance of one of Springfield’s most heavily developed corridors.

“History has always interested me, and urban development,” said the Taylorville native, who moved to an area just off MacArthur about a year ago.

McPeek, 30, signed on as an intern with the MacArthur Boulevard Business Association as part of his work toward a master’s in environmental studies and planning at the University of Illinois Springfield.

He is scheduled to graduate in May and plans to share hise project results with MBBA. This week alone, McPeek said, he met with 15 to 20 shop owners.

McPeek was featured in an March 24, 2012, article in The State Journal-Register.

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Film on Aldo Leopold to be shown at UIS Tuesday

A new feature film about the life, writings and legacy of Aldo Leopold — considered the father of the modern conservation movement — will be screened at the University of Illinois Springfield on Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Leopold is best known for “A Sand County Almanac,” a collection of essays published in 1949, shortly after his death. His writings have inspired generations of conservationists, environmentalists and others with an affinity for the natural world.

The book has sold more than 2 million copies and has been translated into 10 languages.

The film, “Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time,” is being presented free of charge and will be shown in Brookens Auditorium at 7 p.m.

The screening was featured in an November 7, 2011, article in The State Journal-Register.

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Are electric cars better for the environment?

A full 12 years after Toyota sold its first Prius in the United States and came to pretty much dominate the U.S. market for environmentally friendly cars, drivers in America will have two more options for green transportation: Chevrolet's Volt and Nissan's Leaf.

It all comes down to carbon emissions, and even though electric vehicles spew zero emissions, they aren't necessarily carbon neutral. So that begs the question, are they better for the environment than ones powered by fossil fuels?

"Zero-tailpipe emissions unfortunately don't necessarily mean zero emissions," says Dennis Ruez Jr., the environmental studies department chair at the University of Illinois at Springfield.

Carbon-neutrality refers to emissions of carbon dioxide that are released during any point in the life span of the vehicle, from the earth-moving machines used to mining the lithium for the car's batteries, to the plant where the car is built, to the power plant that feeds the electrical source the car is ultimately plugged into. None of those can emit carbon dioxide. If any do, the electric vehicle isn't carbon-neutral.

Attaining complete carbon neutrality is virtually impossible, or at least so unattainable it's akin to holding out for a vehicle that runs on cold fusion. Instead, researchers are chipping away at problems in smaller sizes, with a specific focus on the power plant -- the source of most EV emissions.

"The well-known issue here is the source of the electricity," says Ruez. "If the electricity is from a coal- or gas-fired power plant, then there are still carbon emissions from that vehicle's use."

Ruez's comments were featured in a July 30, 2010, article by Discovery News.

Download a PDF of the article

UIS students' Earth Day project offers public reminder

A service-learning project undertaken by a group of UIS students for Earth Day will help remind everyone that storm drains are not meant as a handy place to dump household waste.

An article in the Springfield State Journal-Register on April 22, 2008, reported on the students' work. In a related article in that day's "Living Green" insert, UIS Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Tih-Fen Ting talks about steps individuals can take to reduce their carbon footprints.

Download a PDF file of both articles:
20080422-sjr-EarthDay.pdf