FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact cjwatras (at) wisc (dot) edu, 608-356-4892 BOULDER JUNCTION, WI – A new study has found an unexpected connection between water levels in lakes and toxic mercury levels in fish. When droughts cause water levels to drop, the levels of mercury found in fish also plummet. In extended periods of wetter weather, …
Steve Carpenter, professor emeritus of the Center for Limnology at the University of Wiscosnin-Madison, received the Ramon Margalef Prize in Ecology today at a ceremony in Barcelona. The award is given each year by the Government of Catalonia, an autonomous community in the northeastern corner of Spain, in memory of ecologist, Ramon Margalef, who was …
As fall turns to winter and layers of skim ice form in the bays and shallows of Madison’s lakes, another seasonal phenomenon is taking place on the open water. Currently, the far eastern bay of Lake Monona near Olbrich park is filled with thousands of migratory water fowl. From water birds like the American coot, …
When the tiny and invasive spiny water flea began appearing in University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers’ nets in 2009, scientists began to wonder how Lake Mendota, one of the most-studied lakes in the world, went from flea-free to infested seemingly overnight. Subsequent studies found the invader had persisted for years at low population densities that went …
Note, post was originally published 11/28/16 and has been updated to include current conditions. After a rather balmy Thanksgiving, where nighttime lows still hovered above freezing, our forecast calls for highs in the 30s (Fahrenheit) and lows in the 20s this week, which means it’s the time of year when we try to do the impossible …
CFL grad student, Emily Whitaker tows David Buoy toward shore. Photo: E. Whitaker Yesterday we caught a slight break in our string of cold, windy days and researchers here from the UW- Madison Center for Limnology and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences were able to head out onto Lake Mendota to retrieve our invaluable …
The question wasn’t all that surprising – “What can we, as individuals, do to help keep the Great Lakes clean?” It came from an audience member in Shannon Hall, the large theater space at UW-Madison’s Memorial Union, and it was directed at Dan Egan, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter-turned-author who was on campus discussing his …
Yesterday, the folks at Fondriest Environmental published a great article on how science is proving the value of lakes to humans. We just had to share! By Karla Lant on October 11, 2018 Do you have a childhood memory of a favorite lake you used to visit with family and friends? This is one of the most …
We realize that we’re offering a Summer Reading List just in time for fall, but our science communication intern asked folks for some book suggestions this summer and here’s what she found: by Sydney Widell – With summer field season in full swing, researchers on Trout Lake Station are working literally around the clock electrofishing, …
Over the course of the last four months, PhD student Holly Embke and her team of undergraduate researchers have systematically removed more than 80,000 bass and panfish from McDermott Lake in southern Iron County as part of a whole-lake experiment studying the way those species interact with the lake’s declining walleye population. But in a …