Blog Post

The Power of Primary Care Physicians: A Discussion on Advocacy with Dr. Scott-Wellington

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By Rowan Dunbar, C2ST Intern, University of Illinois Chicago

With reports projecting a shortage of over eighty-seven thousand full-time primary care physicians (PCPs) by 2037, there has never been a better time to highlight the importance of primary care. Research has shown that patients with better access to primary care live longer, healthier lives. To learn more about the critical roles PCPs play in people’s health, specifically adolescents, I spoke with Dr. Felicia Scott-Wellington, a proud Chicagoan, adolescent medicine physician, and advocate for her patients. We discussed her path to adolescent medicine, why this field is unique, and how marginalization impacts her patients. 

Event

First Stories: The Ice Age Art of Sulawesi

The Chicago Council on Science and Technology, the Leakey Foundation, and the Field Museum present a lecture with Adam Brumm, professor of archaeology and founding member of the Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution at Griffith University.

In the 1950s, the discovery of prehistoric rock art was reported for the first time on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. These images were found in limestone caves in the karst hills of Maros-Pangkep. At the time, it was believed this art had been left by early Neolithic farmers, making them about 4,000 years old. However, in 2014, an Australian-Indonesian team dated the Maros-Pangkep art for the first time using a uranium-series analysis of natural mineral coatings that had formed on some of the images. The earliest dated image yielded a minimum age of 40,000 years, making it compatible with cave art in Spain, the oldest known art in the world at the time. The Sulawesi art therefore challenged the long-accepted story that the birthplace of human art and culture had been in Europe. The earliest painting, with a minimum age of 51, 200 years, is a scene portraying human-like figures interacting with a pig. It is the oldest cave art attributed to humans and the earliest known examples of visual storytelling in the world, providing crucial insights into the development of human cognition.
Event

Partner Event: colLABorate Consilience 2025

ColLABorate consilience is a half-day event exploring how an interdisciplinary approach can yield unique, novel solutions for sustainable laboratories.

Three project teams will share three complementary case studies providing examples of collaborative efforts across multiple disciplines that were instrumental in the synthesis of their facility design, construction, operation, or policy development.

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Blog Post

Into the Ant Hill: An Interview with Entomologist Dr. Suarez

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By Zyara Morton, C2ST Intern, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

We share the earth with a wide array of diverse animals, insects, and plants. Within our day-to-day life, however, we might only come across a few of the many species residing on this planet. One type of small and abundant creature we see a lot of is the ant! Ants are incredibly diverse, and with such a wide variety in behavior, I began to wonder more about these little critters. Luckily, I had the incredible opportunity to interview Dr. Andrew Suarez, an Assistant Professor of Entomology, or the study of insects, at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Suarez specializes in ant ecology and behavior. So put your worker hat on, and follow me into the ant hill, as we learn more about Dr. Suarez, and these tiny creatures.

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From The Ohio River To The Great Lakes: Exploring The Health of Waterways

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By Rowan Dunbar, C2ST Intern, University of Illinois Chicago

When I first moved to Chicago for college, I quickly realized the city’s love for outdoor recreation. Water plays a key part in how many Chicagoans spend their free time, from the Chicago Riverwalk to the beaches of Lake Michigan. However, I struggled to understand why my friends would want to walk the shoreline – much less swim in an unchlorinated body of water. I knew that Chicago’s drinking water comes from Lake Michigan and that Chicago has ‘good water,’ which means it is generally clean or safe, so why did this free body of water intimidate me so much? That is when I realized that the river I grew up by – its bank covered in broken glass, bottle caps, and cigarette butts – is home to one of America’s most polluted waterways – and is the only endangered river in Illinois: the Ohio River.   

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