It’s Spring 2016! Help Us Monitor Mendota’s Clear-Water Phase

Last year at this time, we asked you to help us monitor Lake Mendota, as we worried that we’d missed its “clear-water” window. We’re happy to report that, in 2016, we’re nearing a 6 meter …

Researchers Get to the Bottom (& Beyond) of Lake Mendota Invasive Species

It looks like ice-off is only a couple days away on Madison’s lakes. Before we hit the completely open water season, though, here’s a look back at some semi-frozen fieldwork from early March. Graduate student, Jake …

New Map Offers Better Look at World’s Water-Logged Regions

Until recently, when ecologists wanted to study aquatic ecosystems at a large spatial scale, they had to rely on maps that weren’t exactly fine-tuned. In fact, these satellite-generated maps were assembled from plot points of 25 …

Humanity Crosses 4 of 9 ‘Planetary Boundaries,’ Q&A with Steve Carpenter

The journal Science published an article online today that says civilization has crossed four of nine “planetary boundaries” due to human activity.  According to an international team of 18 researchers, climate change, the loss of biosphere integrity, land-system change, …