CHAMPAIGN-URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — A longtime researcher at the University of Illinois is being recognized as atrailblazer, and for driving change in agriculture and global food security.
Stephen Long, the Ikenberry Endowed Chair Emeritus of Plant Biology and Crop Sciences at the U of I, was named a2025 Top Agri-food Pioneer (TAP)by theWorld Food Prize Foundation. 39 innovators around the world were chosen, representing 27 countries. Each of the nominees worked to transform food systems, and work in fields related to food or agriculture.
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Long’s research showed that by engineering crops to improve photosynthesis, it leads to better productivity. His work offered solutions to make crops more resilient in the face of climate change. He also ledRealizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE), an international research project, from 2012 to earlier in 2025.
“The world is running out of food relative to the number of people, and every year more people are starving according to the United Nations’ definition,” Long told the College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences. “Improving photosynthesis is one way to boost the food supply, and it has two main advantages. First, it will enable us to produce more per acre of land. Second, the process is fairly similar across crops. So if you can find a way of improving it in one, you can probably do it in all of them.”
Long said over time, his work has shown that making crops more resilient is possible.
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“I’ve been studying photosynthesis in crops for 50 years, and people used to believe that you can’t improve it, or nature would have already done it,” he said. “We’ve been able to show that is not the case; our crops probably only achieve about a third of the theoretical efficiency of photosynthesis. This suggests there’s quite a lot of room for improvement, and now some of that improvement is being made.”
Long also said that after looking back, one of the things he is most proud of is the time he spent mentoring young researchers who are now carrying on the work.
The 2025 TAP trailblazers will be recognized at theBorlaug Dialogue in Des Moines, Iowa, in October.
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