The Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute is proud to introduce our 2026 Community-Academic Scholars (CAS). Representing 23 majors and minors in seven colleges, the 19 scholars in this cohort encompass a diverse array of fields of study, from kinesiology to computer engineering to urban studies.
Researchers from across the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus are working with community partners to support a variety of projects, from sustainable food systems and community-based needs assessment to culturally responsive health tools, immigrant health education, and multilingual learning. Some projects leverage technologies like digital health monitoring, robotics, and extended-reality (XR) to support older adults and people with disabilities, look at how indoor environments affect health, and promote equity-focused, responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in community-based health care and public health settings. One project will even evaluate CAS itself, offering insight into how the program supports community-academic partnerships.
CAS Welcomes the Bug2School Research Fellows
The CAS program leaders are also pleased to welcome the Bug2School research fellows to the cohort! Led by Carmen Blubaugh, a visiting research scientist in the Department of Crop Sciences, Bug2School is a multi-generational co-learning alliance between university researchers, college students, teachers and school-age students. They perform coordinated, collaborative ecology experiments together using school gardens as a study system.
This summer, six Bug2School fellows will join community partner, C-U Farm2School, and Dr. Blubaugh to examine how edible living mulches might smother weeds in urban garden beds while enhancing production capacity and protecting crops from insect pests. They will then translate the results of their experiments and make them accessible for their diverse audience of teachers, school-age students, and community members.
One member of the team is Earth, Society, and Environmental Sustainability student, Sydney Geiger-Bryce. She is minoring in the Sustainability, Energy and Environment Fellows Program. A returning student, Sydney has lived and worked in more than 30 countries and speaks English, Spanish, and Italian. She has also traveled to Costa Rica and—with the support of a Schlesinger Travel Grant—to Sweden to better understand the impacts of climate change and sustainability efforts. A self-described naturalist, Sydney plans to apply her lifelong passion for nature to research, translation, and education, specifically focused on the relationship between urban insect ecology, native plant selection, and green infrastructure.