Wisconsin's Magazine for the Life Sciences
About In the Field These alumni represent the depth and breadth of alumni accomplishments. Selections are made by Grow staff and are intended to reflect a sample of alumni stories. It is not a ranking or a comprehensive list. To read more about CALS alumni, go to www.cals.wisc.edu/alumni/ Know a CALS grad whose work should [...]
In less than five years of operation, the CALS-led Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center has produced a number of breakthroughs that may lead to a less oil-dependent future
As a community-based food systems program organizer for the Minnesota nonprofit Land Stewardship Project, van Schaik catalyzes farmer initiatives related to buying and selling good food grown close to home, focusing on distribution and infrastructure. She coordinates events that encourage eaters to buy that food—as parents, school cooks, food service workers and chefs—and trains farmers to take better advantage of the national interest in buying from them. “My driver is land use fueled by a zeal for practical applications that work for ordinary people and the myriad of small- and mid-sized farmers who raise a lot of food we ought to be eating,” she says. In her free time, van Schaik and her family raise grass-fed sheep.
Bowman has nearly 30 years’ experience designing, implementing and managing agricultural development projects in more than 30 countries. Much of his past and current work has revolved around containing bird flu, most recently in Vietnam. Bowman recently accepted the position of senior international affairs specialist for USAID. His favorite part of the job is fieldwork. Or, as Bowman puts it, “Jumping off a plane, putting on my boots and traveling to a farmer’s field to help him find solutions.”
Learn how to improve soil as a medium for plant growth and provides the habitat for biological activity.
As editor of the Canada-based Holstein Journal, Cooper wears a lot of different hats. “I write, edit, proofread and lay out the magazine,” she says, along with working with freelance writers, translators and a graphic designer. Cooper says the hardworking, down-to-earth people of the dairy industry inspire her in her work. Her favorite part of the job is covering dairy cattle shows. She’s familiar with that environment. “I grew up showing cattle as a youth and still enjoy seeing the best cattle in the world compete in the show ring,” she says.
It’s the Wisconsin Idea gone global. That’s one way to describe Colonel Darrel Feucht’s pending mission in Afghanistan. The Fall River resident, a loan services facilities manager in civilian life, is leading a newly formed 58-member National Guard team that includes agronomists, hydrologists, forest scientists and a veterinarian. The goal of their 11-month tour? To help restore Afghanistan’s farmland and provide a viable alternative to growing poppies for the drug trade
Researchers have created a safer culture for embryonic stem cells
Pollutants that are harmful or toxic to humans are likely to be found in certain types of fish. Do you know which ones?
Dean Molly Jahn returns after enlightening experience with USDA.
With a growing population and expanding range, Wisconsin black bears are on the move. CALS researchers are studying their path to figure out where they'll end up.
THESE TWO MAPS were produced by CALS forest ecologist David Mladenoff and colleagues to show where gray wolves live–and are likely to live–in Wisconsin. In the first map, black polygons represent known wolf pack territories mapped by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in 2007, using both radio telemetry and field mapping. They are shown [...]