Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE)

Congratulations to Emily Heaton and D.K. Lee for this $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO)! Submitted through #iSEE and the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, the award is part of $52 million in DOE funding nationwide to advance the production of low carbon intensity, purpose-grown energy crops critical to accelerating a clean energy #bioeconomy. University of Illinois College of ACES

🔶 🔷 Join our team! We’re looking for a Director of Strategic Communications with leadership experience who can guide and develop marketing and communications strategies for iSEE's cutting-edge research, high-quality educational programs and events, and innovative campus sustainability initiatives! Help support our work to make the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign a pioneer in sustainability, energy, and environmental leadership! ⭐ Application deadline: Thursday, Jan. 9 https://lnkd.in/e6qwKvWa

iSEE's Critical Conversation on "Harvesting the Sun: Integrating Solar with Agriculture in the Midwest" was a great success, with participants engaging in lively discussions on the opportunities and challenges surrounding #solar farming in rural areas. It was exciting to see so many thoughtful stakeholders interacting and sharing their honest perspectives on solar farming, #agrivoltaics, and more! Many thanks to keynote speaker Karen Maguire of USDA's Economic Research Service for her talk, "Solar Development in Rural Areas: Examining the Trade-Offs," which is now available online at the link below! In her keynote, which drew a packed house to Chicago's Illini Center, Maguire shared valuable data on solar industry growth, the impact on communities, and current challenges. 📽️ Watch the keynote! https://lnkd.in/g4TyGed9 Madhu Khanna | Dan French | Katie Meyer | Brian Ross | Ed Brolin | Eric Rund | Shawn Rumery | Nick de Vries | Bryan Endres | Sarah Fisk | Colleen Callahan | Bowman Dennis | Evan DeLucia | Jesse Richardson | Juliana Isaac | Sol Systems | Luis Rodríguez | Alvin H. Baum Family Fund | Loretta Namovic | Nick Peterson | Bill Bodine | Paul Gharzouzi | Alan Bailey | James McCall

Congratulations to #iSEE affiliates Kaiyu Guan, Stephen Long and Atul Jain for being named to the 2024 Clarivate List of Highly Cited Researchers! The award recognizes highly influential scientists in the top 1% of their field. https://lnkd.in/ghU2DVYu

Register to join us at the Illini Center in Chicago on Weds., 11/13, from 5-6:30PM for the public keynote address for the sixth Critical Conversation from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE)! Karen Maguire, a Research Agricultural Economist at USDA, will give timely and thoughtful remarks entitled “Solar Development in Rural Areas: Examining the Trade-Offs” following the opening remarks by iSEE Director Madhu Khanna! The general public is invited to help us kick off this important dialogue Wednesday evening (11/13), so please simply register to connect with us, members of the Solar Farm Summit community, and many others interested in the intersection of energy and agriculture in the Orange & Blue Room at Illini Center in Chicago using the following link: https://lnkd.in/gZXPTiHc The full two-day forum will bring together diverse stakeholders to discuss solar farming on cropland, the relevant contentious issues, and the potential solutions to better integrate solar energy with agriculture in the Midwest. Farmers, solar energy developers, academics, financial experts, as well as representatives of environmental groups and government agencies, will engage in detailed and deeply constructive dialogue about the current concerns associated with solar farming on Midwestern cropland. Invited participants will also provide their perspectives on the role of agrivoltaics and the necessary policies from a regulatory, legal, and financial perspective to address these concerns for a more harmonized integration of solar and agriculture. Learn more on the event website:  https://lnkd.in/exayb_ps Watch the event preview on YouTube here: https://lnkd.in/gciX5mct #solar #energy #agriculture #farm #farming #solarfarming #agrivoltaics

What are the trade-offs involved in #solar farming? Register for iSEE's Critical Conversation public keynote next week in Chicago to hear Karen Maguire, Research Agricultural Economist at the USDA Economic Research Service, discuss issues surrounding solar development in rural areas. While there is broad support for increasing renewable #energy in rural areas, local communities have concerns about the effects of solar development on property values, agricultural land use, and the #environment. Smaller-scale alternatives such as rooftop solar and #agrivoltaics are available, but they can carry higher costs, Maguire says. Her Nov. 13 keynote, "Solar Development in Rural Areas: Examining the Trade-Offs," will highlight iSEE's sixth Critical Conversation in Chicago sponsored by the Alvin H. Baum Family Fund. The two-day event will bring together a diverse group of invited stakeholders to explore solar farming on cropland, relevant contentious issues, and potential solutions to better integrate solar energy with agriculture in the Midwest. The keynote will begin at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13, at the Illini Center, 200 S. Wacker Drive, Chicago, with introductory remarks by iSEE Director Madhu Khanna followed by Maguire's talk from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Details/register ➡️ https://lnkd.in/exayb_ps Paul Gharzouzi | Bowman Dennis | Bruce Branham | Bryan Endres | Ben Campbell | Elizabeth Murphy | Luis Rodríguez | Sarah Fisk | University of Illinois College of ACES | Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics | Department of Agricultural & Biological Engineering | University of Illinois Extension | University of Illinois Chicago College of Engineering

🏙️ 🗺️ How much urban land is there? 🗺️ 🌆 Tirthankar "TC" Chakraborty, Zander Venter, Matthias Demuzere, Wenfeng Zhan, Jing Gao, Lei Zhao, and Yun Qian look at several #Urban #LandCover datasets. The data agrees that we've tripled urban land cover from 1985-2015 but the true cover of urban land is in disagreement. Without accurate urban #Mapping how can we plan for future urban policy and meet the #SDGs goals? Why do the different historical methods, projections and #RemoteSensing techniques lead to different values? How do you think we should measure urban land? 📚 Check out the full paper out now in Nature Communications: https://lnkd.in/eAQbcPVs Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Norwegian Institute for Nature Research; B-Kode; Nanjing University; University of Delaware; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE); National Center for Supercomputing Applications

iSEE's sixth Critical Conversation will explore solar farming on cropland, relevant challenges, and potential solutions to better integrate solar energy with agriculture in the Midwest. ☀️ Join us for a public keynote by Karen Maguire, Research Economist with the USDA Economic Research Service, "Solar Development in Rural Areas: Examining the Trade-Offs.” ✅ 5-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13 ✅ Illini Center in Chicago Details/register ➡️ https://lnkd.in/exayb_ps Madhu Khanna | Paul Gharzouzi | Bowman Dennis | Bruce Branham | Bryan Endres | Ben Campbell | Elizabeth Murphy | Luis Rodríguez | Sarah Fisk | University of Illinois College of ACES | Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics | Department of Agricultural & Biological Engineering | University of Illinois Extension | University of Illinois Chicago College of Engineering

Want to help change the world? 🌍 Join global changemakers in Chicago next summer for the 2025 Sustainability Research and Innovation Congress from June 16-19 co-organized with the University of Illinois System. SRI2025 will gather leaders with the purpose of meaningfully advancing efforts towards a #sustainable, #equitable, inclusive, and just future. We're looking for sessions with interactive and informative content that aligns with SRI2025's mission from all sectors of society: research, government, business, technology, and more. Learn more about SRI2025 and find the session proposal link on our website www.sricongress.org #SRI2025 Future Earth Belmont Forum

Great feature on the global impact of Carl Bernacchi's agricultural #climate research at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign!