While it wasn’t a record-setting early date for Lake Mendota to return to its more, um, liquid state this year, the official March 10th “ice-off” date is right in line with the long term trend …
Sorry, Mendota, Trout Lake Has the “Good” Ice
Last week, I ventured out on the ice of Lake Mendota as Ted Bier, senior research specialist for the North Temperate Lakes Long Term Ecological Research study (LTER), drilled through the ice to take samples …
Winter Sampling on Lake Mendota Yields Unusual Results
(Go Here to see Slideshow) On February 22nd, Ted Bier, senior research specialist for the North Temperate Lakes Long Term Ecological Research study (LTER) and Dave Harring, the Center for Limnology’s facility manager, walked a …
War Hazard Eliminated. Lake Effects Unknown?
Well, that’s one way of getting rid of surplus sodium. Thankfully, what is/isn’t an appropriate use of our freshwater lakes seems to have evolved a bit since the late 1940’s. The unfortunate scene of this …
In the Field with Zoology 511 – Ecology of Fishes
I recently spent an afternoon with the Ecology of Fishes class. Check out the video below!
Rare Footage of E. A. Birge in His ‘Natural Habitat’
Thanks to our friends at the UW-Madison archives, the forefather of modern limnology, E.A. Birge, is on YouTube! For your viewing pleasure, We present this 30 second silent film of Birge in his campus lab …
Lake Wingra’s Complicated Relationship with Wisconsin’s Flu Season
Several years ago, Jon Temte, a professor in the UW-Madison Department of Family Medicine, got interested in the variation of flu season from year to year in Wisconsin. He brought an undergraduate student into the …
Climate change & variability: where does 2011’s late freeze rank?
We here at the CFL have been eagerly awaiting word so we could anoint the winner of our annual Lake Mendota “Ice On” pool. Well, the state climatology office has made it official – our …
The Curious Case of the American Eel
When most people think of eels, they immediately turn their thoughts to the ocean. Perhaps, even, to the “electrical” variety. But there was a time in this country when eels inhabited nearly every river and …
Animal Planet: Lake Mendota Edition
An interesting scene has been playing out in Lake Mendota lately. Right outside the doors to Hasler Lab, common loons and common mergansers are busy fishing all day long. In January, this is undoubtedly easier …