Three graduate students won CEOS mini-grants for research over the next year!

These students in Agricultural and Consumer Economics all demonstrate a detailed plan and clear use of funds towards sustainability-related research projects in their applications.

Husain Krawadwala is studying consumer perceptions of health and environmental impacts of plant based meat products under his advisor, Brenna Ellison. Joel Tansey is looking at the sustainability of the Illinois cannabis industry. Juo-Han Tsay will use the funds towards research into the effect of conservation practices on farmland value. Both Ms. Han and Mr. Tansey are working with advisor Nicholas Paulson. 

Congrats to our winners! 

Learn more about the mini-grants here.

Most of us don't have the resources to read or understand every painstakingly-researched and written article that interests us. That's where the CEOS podcast comes in! 

When scholars publish new research, they tell us the major points and takeaways in about ten minutes.

We are still figuring this out, so bear with us as we continue to learn and produce these.

If you would like to hear an interview on a specific paper or be interviewed about newly published research, please send a request to ceos-contact@illinois.edu.  

1. Madhu Khanna and Ruiqing Miao on the interactions and impacts of birds and pesticides

2. Amy Ando and Bryan Parthum on nutrient runoff in the Mississippi River Basin

3. Shadi Atallah on quantifying spiritual value of the tiger amongst the Soligas Tribe in India

Did you miss out on the December Economics of Sustainability Mini-Talks? All four talks, hosted by Amy Ando, Madhu Kanna, Hope Michelson, and Yilan Xu are now available on the CEOS Youtube channel!

Speakers:

Joe Janzen | "How much U.S. farmland is organic?"

Ben Gramig | “If less tillage costs less, then why don’t more farmers use conservation tillage?”

Brenna Ellison | "Digging in: Food waste along the supply chain"

Shadi Atallah | "Are consumers willing to pay for both local brewing and local hops?"

In case you missed it, watch Associate Professor Ben Gramig's insightful presentation on the factors that lead to some farmers choosing not to adopt conservation tillage practices. This presentation was recorded during  our December "Mini-Talks" series. If you're interested in learning more, subscribe to our mail list for to be the first to know about upcoming Mini-Talks!

Alongside Head-author, Assistant Professor at Northern Ohio University, and UIUC Graduate program alum Laura Logan, a group of experts including CEOS' co-director Amy Ando recently co-authored new research that attempts to quantify tradeoffs between electricity generation and fish populations via population habitat duration curves (PHDCs). The paper analyzes the threat posed by thermal pollution via electricity generation to aquatic ecosystems using data from The Shawnee Fossil Plant on the Ohio River. PHDCs were generated from this data, providing a valuable quantitative model that decision makers can use in economic analyses. The ecosystem gains through fish population growth and electricity generation losses are presented in a scenario in which the river temperature changes by 1.1 degrees Celsius. The PHDCs demonstrate how water temperature can be quantified as a resource, as well as the tradeoffs between operating thermoelectric power plants, and promoting sustainability in aquatic ecosystems.

One of CEOS' biggest goals is to encourage interdisciplinary sustainability research, and this paper is a great example. The different academic lenses applied serve to enhance the scope and relevance of its findings. Logan, Gupta, and Stillwell work within the Civil and Environmental Engineering departments at Northern Ohio University, Cornell University, and the University of Illinois respectively, Suski in the Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences department at Illinois, and Amy