University of Wisconsin–Madison

Year: 2018

Editorial: Help Lakes Drain to Prevent Future Floods

In case you missed his editorial in Sunday’s Wisconsin State Journal, Dick Lathrop (who spent four decades with the Wisconsin DNR studying the Yahara lakes and holds an honorary appointment with the Center for Limnology) had some thoughts on lake levels and flooding: by Dick Lathrop — Much good reporting has been done about the unprecedented …

A Scientific Life, In Pictures – Art Hasler’s Son Will Recap His Dad’s Career Sept. 14th

Art Hasler discovered how salmon find their way home from the sea. He modernized limnology and firmly established the University of Wisconsin as a leading center of freshwater sciences. He served in Germany at the conclusion of World War II. He, in short, had a remarkable life.  And his son, Fritz, has the pictures to …

80,000 Fish Later, Researcher Wraps Up Summer Season of “Bass-Walleye” Study

by Sydney Widell – Holly Embke’s Subaru is nearly packed and, besides a few boxes, her desk is vacant. In a few hours, she’ll be leaving Trout Lake Station and driving home to Madison – another field season behind her and a summer’s worth of data to process. Which means that Holly’s job is just …

After the Flood – “Doomsday” Climate Change Scenario Looks a Little Less Alarmist

In 2014, the Water, Sustainability and Climate Project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison published “Yahara 2070” a series of stories about potential futures for the Madison area and the Yahara watershed. Using a combination of published scientific research, computer modeling and a dose of science fiction, a team of researchers attempted to answer the following …

Undergraduates Dive in to Mats of Milfoil and the Mechanics of Invasion

Dense beds of Eurasian watermilfoil carpet the surface of Hancock Lake, a few miles east of Tomahawk, W.I., where undergraduate researchers Linden Taylor and Brigid Doyle have come to take samples of the invasive aquatic plant. The plant’s rapid spread has fascinated biologists and frustrated homeowners, who have seen it out-compete native plants, change freshwater …

How A 30-Year Rain Event Became a 100-Year Flood

In case you’ve somehow missed the news, let’s just say that it’s been wet in Wisconsin over the last week. Really, really wet.  Here in Madison we’re still holding our breath, filling up sandbags and hoping no new major rain event pushes water-levels even higher. Already, our lakes have hit near-record water levels, causing floods …

Fish by the Light of the Blood Moon: Late-Night Research on Northwoods Lakes

Night was falling quickly over Big Muskellunge Lake. The pink glow of sunset was fading to grey, and a damp wind that cut through my thin raincoat had kicked up over the water. On our boat, Miriam Burgos pointed low at the horizon. “Do you see it?” she gasped. I followed her finger toward the …

Record Rain in Madison is What Climate Change Looks Like – Especially in Midwest

It’s been more than 24 hours since a severe weather system stalled out over Dane County and dumped anywhere from 3.92 (Dane County Airport), to 11.63 (National Weather Service in Middleton) to an unconfirmed 15.33 inches of rain in Cross Plains. Initially, all of that water couldn’t get off the land fast enough, causing extreme …

Forensic Fishing: Using eDNA to Track Fish Populations

by Sydney Widell – At the start of every fishing season, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources embarks on the arduous task of setting catch limits on the state’s popular game fish like walleye. In order to estimate how many fish anglers may safely remove from a lake while still keeping the population healthy, the …

The Mystery of the “Fairy Rings” on Howe Lake

by Sydney Widell — Howe Lake is hard to get to. It lies at the end of a narrow, rutted-out dirt road, ten miles from the nearest town. And it’s not just physical distance that makes it so challenging to visit. Howe Lake sits in the Huron Mountain Club, a gated retreat and old growth …