Year: 2017

Golden Gophers Worried About Golden Shiners

Happy Fish Fry Day, everyone! Restaurants across Wisconsin are battering up bluegill, perch and walleye (and, yes, even cod) and featuring fish as the daily special and so are we. As we work our way across the epic and inspiring Fishes of Wisconsin poster, it’s time to reflect today on a species any self-respective angler …

Tiny Invasive Species Eats Enough to Devour an Entire City

by Jake Walsh We (or scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, at least) have known for years that the spiny water flea, a tiny, non-native zooplankton that has invaded Madison’s Lake Mendota, has a voracious appetite. But when I got together with my colleagues, Jake Vander Zanden and Dick Lathrop, at the UW–Madison Center for …

All About Wisconsin’s H2O: Water@UW-Madison Symposium, May 9th

On the morning of Tuesday, May 9th, dozens of researchers from across Wisconsin will gather at Gordon Commons on the UW–Madison campus for Water@UW–Madison’s half-day symposium discussing all sorts of water-related research going on in the state. The event will feature 30 “speed talks” on topics ranging from infectious diseases in groundwater, the health of …

Science on Tap: 5 Must-Have Skills for Gardening in Wisconsin

Jason Fishbach got the gardening bug thanks to a drought, a dry lakebed and a handful of green beans. Tonight at 6:30pm he will share the tips and tricks of gardening in Wisconsin for Science on Tap-Minocqua. Current or aspiring green thumbs are invited to join us either in person at the Minocqua Brewing Company …

Thinking Big About Invasive Species: Q&A with Jake Vander Zanden

A recent study in the journal, Ecosystems, says that, when it comes to invasive species, it’s time to think bigger. While the movement of species from their native ranges to exotic lands is a major component of global ecosystem change, the authors contend, too often the scientific study of these invasive species is, well, local. …

CFL in Thailand: Whirlwind Road Trip with Coolers Full of Fish

CFL graduate student, Aaron Koning, just returned from a research trip to Thailand and shared this story of his epic road trip. You can read and see more of Aaron’s adventures doing fieldwork in Thailand on his blog. by Aaron Koning I just got back from a brief trip to Thailand. The trip was a …

Fish Migrations Underway in Wisconsin

Each spring, as birds take to the sky and head north, bringing bright colors and cheerful songs with them, an equally massive migration is taking place just beneath the surface of our inland waters. In the eight states and two provinces surrounding the five Great Lakes, many of these migrations are of fish heading from …

Blog Redux: Secchi Disk Celebrates 150 Years of Clarity

Tomorrow will mark the one hundred and fifty-second birthday of the Secchi disk. We dusted off this post from two years ago to tell you all about our favorite scientific instrument. Enjoy! (Originally published April 20, 2015) – A time-honored instrument of limnology turns 150 today. The Secchi disk, the black and white plate at …

The Art of Science: Exploring Our Relationship With Water

  Several months ago, Kelly O’Ferrell, the Hasler Lab coordinator here at the Center for Limnology had the brilliant idea to beautify the cinder-block hallways by turning our stairwell into a rotating exhibition of local artists. So Kelly put out a call to any artist working with aquatic themes. The results have been striking. We …

North America’s Freshwater Lakes are Getting Saltier

by Kelly Tyrrell, UW–Madison Communications  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – MADISON, WI – Road salt is making North America’s freshwater lakes saltier, according to a new study published today [April 10, 2017] in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study, conducted by a team of 15 researchers with the Global Lake Ecological Observatory …