Back in March of this year, just as it was becoming clear that “business as usual” was about to be a thing of the past, Petra Wakker walked into Room 101 of Hasler Lab and …
Lake Mendota
Guest Post: Why Lake Mendota is Both First (and Fourth) in the Yahara Chain of Lakes
Holding History, a UW-Madison-based project, helps students explore how cultural knowledge is made and preserved and share what they learn with broader audiences. Their series, Water Lines, is produced by 2019 Trout Lake Station summer …
Cool Weather Means Clear Waters for Wisconsin Lakes
Most people think of green, algae-filled waters when talking about southern Wisconsin lakes. And, sure, these highly productive bodies are full of nutrients that run off from the landscape and feed huge algae blooms every …
Water We Talking About? The Wind and the Waves
Remember when songs like this used to mean something? Well, it’s Friday again and, if that doesn’t exactly mark the end of the work week the way it once used to, it does at least …
Madison Lakes Now Ice-Free, Open for Spring
Another year, another ice-off for Madison’s lakes. Yesterday, the Wisconsin State Climatology office – specifically Ed Hopkins (you should read this great write-up in the Wisconsin State Journal) – officially declared the surface of Lake …
Blog Redux: Our Weekend as a Walleye Nursery: Video and Pics
After a week of our walleye research in the news, it made us think back on past posts. Then we stumbled upon this one from 2013 when, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologist, Kurt …
this is not the “new normal” of climate change, it’s a stop on the way to somewhere else
This summer, I led a workshop for journalists (my other gig is with the Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources) on the legacy of the Clean Water Act. We were in Cleveland, Ohio and Kyle …
Can Water Look Cold?
Right now, Lake Mendota is mostly frozen over – its only open water way out in the middle of the lake where winds are keeping the surface too riled up to freeze. But, yesterday morning …
Freeze, Then Thaw, Then Freeze? Lake Ice A Result of More Than Just Cold Weather
On the morning of Wednesday, December 19th, I got off the bus at University Avenue and began my walk north on Park Street – under the pedestrian bridge proclaiming “University of Wisconsin – Madison,” past …
Forget “Needle in a Haystack.” Try Finding an Invasive Species in a Lake
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 …