Research Centers and Initiatives

Overview

Funded by the Department of Energy, CABBI integrates recent advances in crop and soil science, genomics, and synthetic and computational biology to increase the value of energy crops, primarily miscanthus, sorghum, and sugarcane. Researchers use a “plants as factories” approach to grow fuels and chemicals in plant stems, convert plant biomass into biofuels and biochemicals, and ensure that the resulting products are ecologically and economically sustainable.

Highlights

• CABBI’s research team includes 350 scientists from Illinois and 20 partner institutions nationwide.
• The center has produced 18 patents and inventions, providing new tools and technologies for industry.
•  iSEE worked alongside the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB) to secure the initial five-year Department of Energy grant establishing CABBI in 2017. Funding was later renewed through 2027, to a total of $262.5 million.

Advances

• Developed a new variety of sorghum that out-produces soybeans in oil content per acre
• Deployed robots to engineer new plants
• Harnessed AI tools to accelerate crop breeding
• Created the open-source BioSTEAM software package for the design, simulation, and techno-economic analysis of biorefineries
• Achieved crop improvements that enhance plant photosynthesis, yield, and tolerance to drought and cold.
• Pioneered the precision gene-editing of miscanthus
• Created eco-friendly processes to make high-value chemicals such as succinic acid from sugarcane — a market estimated at $1 billion

Director

Andrew Leakey, Professor of Plant Biology at Illinois

Overview

ASC research focuses on the complex dynamics of crop productivity, its response to management practices and environmental stresses, and its resilience to climate change. Scientists use remote satellite observations, field-based data, and soil measurements to study crop productivity, water use, nutrients, and plant carbon, informing adaptive and sustainable agricultural practices in a changing climate.

Highlights

• The center’s 15 academic partners include the NASA Acres consortium, which uses weather and Earth science data collected from satellites to support agriculture
• Illinois researchers from numerous academic disciplines across campus collaborate on ASC research, from plant biology and crop sciences to engineering and computer science.

Advances

• Pinpointed the causes of a fatal 2023 dust storm along I-55 in Illinois
• Created N2O Net, a global collaborative that tracks agricultural emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas
• Developed the first-ever model explaining spatial and temporal variations in N2O emissions in agricultural fields
• Measured the effects of elevated ozone, a damaging pollutant, on soybean plants

Director

Kaiyu Guan, Blue Waters Professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at Illinois; Chief Scientist, NASA Acres

Overview

A circular bioeconomy would replace the current “take-make-waste” approach with a system that reduces, recycles, recovers, and reuses waste, catalyzing a future in which biological resources are transformed into food, feed, energy, and biomaterials. Relying on collaborative, breakthrough science by economists, social/environmental scientists, biologists and engineers, the Levenick Center’s work addresses urgent concerns about the depletion of natural resources, air and water pollution, the buildup of plastics in our oceans, climate change, and the loss of biodiversity.

Highlights

• The center was created in Fall 2024 with a generous $10 million gift from iSEE donors Stu and Nancy Levenick to iSEE, in partnership with the College of ACES.

Director

Jeremy Guest, iSEE Levenick Professor and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Illinois

Overview

At the I-FARM’s 117-acre agricultural testbed, researchers are using sustainable practices to farm commodity crops, cover crops, and livestock with the help of digital agriculture technologies developed at U. of I. The Farm of the Future features precision farming with remote sensing; new autonomous robots for cover-crop planting and mechanical weeding; and AI-enabled remote sensing for animal health, nutrient quantification, and soil health.

Highlights

• The project was funded for three years and $3.9 million by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). I-FARM was seed-funded by iSEE’s Campus as a Living Laboratory program in 2021.
• The 117-acre testbed is a joint effort by iSEE, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA),and the Center for Digital Agriculture (CDA).CABBI’s research team includes 350 scientists from Illinois and 20 partner institutions nationwide.

Director

Director: Girish Chowdhary, Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering and Computer Science at Illinois

Overview

An interdisciplinary team of agriculture, economics, geography, biology, psychology, and engineering researchers is studying agrivoltaics in a range of cropland environments in Illinois, Arizona, and Colorado, comparing growth, yield, and other factors with conventionally grown crops. Solar panels can protect crops from exposure in the Midwest and preserve soil moisture in the Southwest, helping farmers improve crop yield, reduce water usage, and produce energy to use or sell.

Highlights

• SCAPES researchers work at three sites in Illinois – a research plot at the U. of I. Solar Farm 2.0, a demonstration “hortivoltaics” plot for vegetables at the Illinois Energy Farm, and a new one-acre research plot at the Energy Farm duplicating AV installations in Arizona and Colorado.
• This $10 million, four-year project was funded through USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Sustainable Agriculture Systems program, with the U. of I. as the lead institution.

Director

Madhu Khanna, Alvin H. Baum Family Chair and Director, iSEE; Professor of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at Illinois

Overview

When combined with demographics or climate patterns, geospatial data provides a multidimensional perspective to solve complex problems. This interdisciplinary intercollegiate institute brings together experts working on a variety of geospatial problems, allowing them to access data, run scientific models, and create algorithms to gain insights from complex and massive data and achieve things that can’t be done individually. The team also works with community consortia to get input on establishing priorities for the integrative I-GUIDE platform.

Highlights

• iSEE helped establish I-GUIDE in 2021 by securing a $15 million, five-year grant through NSF’s Harnessing the Data Revolution initiative. Five such institutes across the United States now explore questions at the frontiers of science and engineering.
• A key I-GUIDE theme is convergence science — bringing together the people who focus on cyberinfrastructure innovation to work directly with scientists harnessing the power of computing and data to pursue solutions to complex problems. Similarly, I-GUIDE fosters collaborations between those doing quantitative research and those doing qualitative research.

Advances

• A data-driven scientific visualization produced by I-GUIDE and the Advanced Visualization Lab at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at U. of I. highlighted a disastrous flooding event that affected South Carolina in 2015. The visualization introduced the general public to the problem of aging dams; I-GUIDE’s ongoing research provides insights for this national-scale problem.
• Among the dozens of I-GUIDE scientific publications, a recent study used a cyberGIS framework to visualize and analyze human reactions to heat exposure in Chicago and nationwide through real-time, location-based social media data; the findings can be used to guide responses to extreme heat.

Director

Shaowen Wang, Professor of Geography and Geographic Information Science (GIS) at Illinois

Overview

Regenerative agriculture emphasizes conservation and rehabilitation in food and farming systems through sustainable techniques, such as increasing biodiversity, improving water use, and strengthening the health and vitality of soil through low-till farming. It also mitigates climate change by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in plants and soil. I-Regen is strategically positioned to develop regenerative agriculture partnerships across the I-States through seed grants, community engagement, and projects like the Coalition of Regenerative Agriculture, Food and Health (CRAFH).

Highlights

• Originally established as the Illinois Regenerative Agriculture Initiative and sponsored in 2020 by Fresh Taste, the project was renamed in 2023 with funding by the Midwest Regenerative Agriculture Fund (MRAF).
• I-Regen is a partnership between the Department of Crop Sciences, the College of ACES, U of I Extension, and iSEE.

Director

Emily Heaton, Professor of Crop Sciences at Illinois

Overview

Enhanced weathering involves applying ground-up silicate rock to crops in the field, a process that can sequester carbon in the soil. Leverhulme’s Illinois research involves applying basalt annually to miscanthus and corn-soybean crops at the Illinois Energy Farm, then measuring crop performance and analyzing the water that leaches from the crops.

Highlights

• Several iSEE researchers are involved in the Leverhulme project, including plant biology professors Lisa Ainsworth, Carl Bernacchi, and former iSEE Director Evan DeLucia.
• The Leverhulme Centre also has research partners in New York, California, Asia, and Australia.
• The project is funded by a grant from the Leverhulme Trust.

Advances

• A recent study by U. of I. researchers showed that applying ground-up basalt rock to Midwestern farm fields can capture significant amounts of carbon dioxide and prevent it from accumulating in the atmosphere. Researchers also successfully quantified those climate benefits for the first time.

Overview

Midwest CASC addresses regional climate issues, including heavy rainfall and drought, warming winters, lakes and streams, novel ecosystems, and climate adaptation. It provides relevant scientific information, tools, and techniques to resource managers and communities in Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. The focus is on “co-production of knowledge,” in which researchers, practitioners, and the public work together from the start of a project, with a special focus on tribal concerns and experiences.

Highlights

• Jeff Brawn and Cory Suski, professors in the U. of I. Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, serve on the consortium leadership team.
• Midwest CASC is part of a network of 10 Climate Adapation Science Centers overseen by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Advances

• Researchers have laid the groundwork for a three-year Midwest CASC study to explore how freshwater invertebrates respond to more intense and variable weather; the numbers of mussels, crayfish, and aquatic insects in Midwest bodies of water are declining, which could affect freshwater health, water purification, and food for wildlife.

Overview

Using data from field trials and other tools, researchers are assessing the yield of advanced switchgrass varieties for potential commercialization. They also are examining other warm-season perennial grasses such as switchgrass blends, big bluestem, prairie cordgrass, and miscanthus, to learn what new varieties of energy crops can produce the best fuels and most valuable products.

Highlights

• Led by Illinois crop sciences researchers, the project includes partners from USDA-ARS, Iowa State University, South Dakota State University, Argonne National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, and several industry partners.
• iSEE was instrumental in helping the team land the original $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the five-year project, which will wrap up next fall.

Advances

• Project researchers published two studies outlining the economic and environmental benefits of new switchgrass cultivars to help meet federal targets for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

Director

DoKyoung “D.K.” Lee, Professor of Crop Sciences at Illinois

Overview

Interdisciplinary experts at U. of I. are working together to investigate fundamental questions about infrastructure design and planning, energy sources, the integration of transportation systems, public policy, and regulation.The goal is to serve the transit needs of urban and rural communities while ensuring clean energy systems for agricultural production, industry operations, and residential buildings.

Highlights

• This project received iSEE seed funding — part of a $1 million gift the Institute is designating for sustainability research initiatives.
• In March 2025 researchers launched an electric vehicle charging study at U. of I., installing eight Level 1 EV chargers that use basic 120V AC outlets in a campus parking garage. It’s the first phase of a three-part study that will gather direct user data related to EV charging on campus.

Director

Yanfeng Ouyang, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Associate Director for Mobility at the Illinois Center for Transportation