Category: Uncategorized

Science on Tap Adds New Short-Format Series to Its Video Archives

On the first frigid Wednesday night of February, 2013, Science on Tap-Minocqua held  its first event at the Minocqua Brewing Company in northern Wisconsin. On February 3rd, we’ll mark the 3-year anniversary with a talk by Trina McMahon on the “Microbes All Around Us.” We’re celebrating the anniversary with a new series of short-format “highlight” …

Awards, Judges Set for “Our Waters, Our Future” Writing Contest

MADISON — Two of Wisconsin’s literary leaders will help decide the winner of the Our Waters, Our Future writing contest. Peter Annin, journalist and author of Great Lakes Water Wars, and Fabu, as Madison’s third poet laureate is professionally known, have agreed to help select the top stories that imagine a positive future for water …

Fish species, rural livelihoods threatened by new dams on world’s largest rivers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Advocates of huge hydroelectric dam projects on the Amazon, Congo, and Mekong rivers often overestimate economic benefits and underestimate far-reaching effects on biodiversity, according to an article in the Jan. 8 issue of Science by a cadre of scientists representing 30 academic, government, and conservation organizations in eight countries. “These three river …

From Supporting Actor to Star: Will Ecology Take the Lead Role in Future Climate Conferences?

by Steve Carpenter If climate change was the star of the recently concluded Paris Climate Conference (COP21), ecology played a key supporting role. At COP21, 195 nations agreed to hold global warming below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and, by 2050, to reduce emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases to a level that land and …

Field Samples: Cracking (Genetic) Code to Understand Microbe Diversity

Field Samples is a Q&A with aquatic researchers. Today graduate student, Sarah Stevens, talks computer programming and microbes in lakes. Sarah will give a public lecture on her work today at noon in the Water Science & Engineering Lab as part of the Center for Limnology’s weekly Wednesday seminar. Who are you, where are you …

Study Says We’ve Seriously Underestimated Emissions in Streams and Rivers

Do not underestimate the babbling brook. When it comes to greenhouse gases, these bucolic water bodies have the potential to create a lot of hot air. According to a new analysis in the journal Ecological Monographs, by researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and colleagues, the world’s rivers and streams pump about 10 times more …

Turning Science Outreach Obligations into Opportunities

Happy Fish Fry Day, when Wisconsin (and your trusty blog) put fish on the menu. Today’s offering – Ellen Hamann’s excellent post, originally written for the Canadian Science Publishing website on her “Fish on the Run” project. Enjoy as a scientist delves into the world of outreach and kinda, sorta likes it!  So, you wrote …

Rollin’ on the River: High-Speed Limnology on the Mighty Mississippi

A new study says that, despite dozens of locks and dams and backwater habitats that slow it’s flow, the Upper Mississippi River isn’t good at retaining the nitrates that run into its waters from intensively farmed states like Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa. Published July 12th in Environmental Research Letters, the study finds that just 12.5% …

Announcing “Our Waters, Our Future” Writing Contest

Water is essential to our lives and those of future generations, but big changes, like a warming world, are bringing big challenges. Imagining positive futures for our waters and communities and sharing those visions is one way everyone can be part of the conversation to build them. We are excited to announce the “Our Waters, …

Of Models and Math: Predicting the Future of a Watershed

by Jenny Seifert Using a tool similar to a computer game, Melissa Motew is peering into the future. Motew is a modeler. She uses computers and mathematics to simulate ecosystems and make sense of nature. Her task is to shed light on what the Madison area’s environment could be like by the year 2070 and …