University of Wisconsin–Madison

Year: 2013

Muckraking Mendota: Breaking the Surface Barrier

by Emily Hilts While walking along the lakeshore to my first day of work, I spotted a smallmouth bass hanging out in the rocky shallows of Lake Mendota. After watching for a minute, it finally struck me … the water was clear. I could see the bottom! So much for the scummy cesspool I’d imagined. …

Notes from the Northwoods: A Bog Walk and Youthful Exuberance

by Aisha Liebenow “You love what you know.” This is how Susie Hoffman, Director of the Center for Conservation Leadership (CCL), described the interest that the Lake County high school students showed during Trout Lake Station director, Tim Kratz’, presentation at the North Lakeland Discovery Center. She continued, “You know how when we first came …

Fish Fry Day: Black Crappie

Once again, the batter is coming out in the kitchens of restaurants across Wisconsin and folks are preparing to cap off another work week with the time-honored ritual of eating fried fish – happy Fish Fry Day everyone! Today’s special: black crappie. As any angler knows, May and June are good months for crappie fishing …

Muckraking Mendota: Learning to Love a Lake

This summer, UW-Madison undergrad, Emily Hilts, will be exploring Lake Mendota and the other Yahara lakes and writing a running diary of sorts detailing what she finds. Stay tuned for more great posts from her about the history and ecology of the lake, as well as closer looks at the animals and plants that call …

Announcing Hasler Lab’s 2013 Open House – Friday, June 21st

You’re Invited to the 2013 Hasler Lab Public Open House! On Friday, June 21st, from 2pm to 6pm, the Center for Limnology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will open the doors of Hasler Lab for a “behind the scenes” tour of the study of lakes, rivers and streams. The open house will offer visitors a …

Limnology in Action: Numb Feet and a Bucket Full of Rusties

The weather keeps alternating between chilly and warm as Lindsey Sargent, a graduate student from the University of Notre Dame, steers our small boat out into Star Lake in northern Wisconsin’s Vilas County. We’re on the hunt for the invasive rusty crayfish. Today, Lindsey is out collecting crayfish to bring back to Trout Lake Station, …

Spring Blitz! Global Collaboration Gets to the Bottom of Plankton Diversity

As spring moves to summer, an unprecedented scientific collaboration is sending researchers around the globe scrambling into their boats and simultaneously heading out onto the world’s lakes. It’s called “Spring Blitz,” and, from Wisconsin to Florida to Switzerland, scientists are out monitoring everything from water temperature to dissolved oxygen to plankton communities as lakes in …

Notes from the Northwoods – Week 1: Edible Invasives

by Aisha Liebenow Northern Wisconsin, or the ‘Northwoods’, is known as a beautiful summer vacation spot with thousands of clear, pristine lakes. Every year, tourists fill restaurants for fish fries, buy homemade salt water taffy at local shops, and partake in all sorts of other outdoor activities, from hiking to fishing to paddling. But there …

Fish Fry Day: Smallmouth Bass Begging for Food

Happy Fish Fry Day! The day when Wisconsin puts fried fish on the menu and we put fun fish on the blog. Earlier this week, I was up north at Trout Lake Station with our summer outreach undergrad, Aisha Liebenow (you’ll hear more from her later this summer). We got to go out with Lindsey …

Blog Redux: Time-Lapse Video: Latest Spring Thaw in 32 Years at Trout Lake

May 24, 2017 – As we struggle through a particularly cold and dreary May, it’s important to remember the little things – like the fact that, at about this time 4 years ago, Trout Lake was barely a week removed from being covered in ice! Enjoy this time-lapse video courtesy of Tim Meinke! [Originally published …