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 be highlighted in Grow? E-mail us at: grow@cals.wisc.edu

Next issue: Alumni from Landscape Architecture

Chief among our stakeholders are our students. And when it comes to thinking about how and why our college is growing, students are a revealing group to consider.

Their numbers confirm that in fact we are growing, and at an impressive pace. CALS has 3,059 undergraduate students enrolled this fall—up 7.3 percent from last year and 33 percent from 10 years ago.

What’s drawing students to CALS? Their areas of study are an indication. We’re seeing continuing growth in such majors as biology, biochemistry and genetics as well as microbiology, nutritional sciences, biological systems engineering and food science, which has doubled since 2008. Biology, with enrollments divided between CALS and Letters and Sciences, is now the biggest major at UW–Madison, and more than half of biology majors are enrolled in CALS.

Deans at our peer colleges around the country report similar trends. What we’re seeing is that students, among their reasons for studying the agricultural and life sciences, want to make an impact on the grand challenges facing our world. And yes, they also are attracted to the good job prospects in many of our disciplines.

That’s certainly what I’m hearing in talks with students in various settings—at presentations and awards ceremonies and, most extensively, in the CALS First Year Seminar I had the pleasure of teaching last semester. The course, intended to give freshmen an overview of CALS, is designed around the grand challenges that concern them.

Many of our talks focused around the needs of a planet that soon will hold nine billion people. How do we provide enough food, water and energy in a sustainable manner? Our discussions concerned everything from the need to develop crops that make more efficient use of nutrients to tapping the potential of renewable energy to better understanding the impacts of changing climate conditions and what constitutes optimal nutrition.

We need to ensure that we equip students to meet these challenges. We’re not here only to teach them about the tools we have today. We need to educate them in a way that allows them to think across disciplines, to innovate, to come up with solutions possibly not yet imagined.

That’s a challenge for us now as we formulate our strategic plan. And in the best Wisconsin tradition I invite us all to look forward.

For information and to provide input on the CALS strategic plan, visit www.cals.wisc.edu/about-cals/administration/strategic-planning/

“We don’t have a clue. We just don’t know much about badgers in Wisconsin,” says Jimmy Doyle, a forest and wildlife ecology graduate student who is studying the reclusive carnivores as part of a joint UW-Madison–Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) project called the Wisconsin Badger Study.

The project, which relies on surgically implanted radio transmitters to monitor the movements of badgers living in the southwestern part of the state, represents the first big effort in Wisconsin to better understand these animals. It will shed light on the landscapes where badgers prefer to live, where they prefer to hunt, how far they roam, whether their territories overlap and much more.

But first, Doyle has to find and catch them.

Working with various DNR technicians, he has walked through scores of miles of grassland over the past two seasons looking for dens, setting traps and then coaxing badgers into travel crates. The effort yielded three badgers in 2011 and 12 in 2012.

“They tend to be pretty feisty,” says Doyle. “There’s lots of snarling and snapping.”

Once caught, the badgers are driven to Madison for a health exam and to have a small radio transmitter the size of an AA battery surgically implanted just below the skin at the scruff of their necks. It’s a quick procedure, and the badgers are returned to their dens within about four hours. The transmitters enable Doyle and his DNR collaborators to track the badgers’ movements at night from the comfort of an antenna-equipped truck—without ever needing to get near the animals again.

The project has a second purpose: to help inform DNR efforts led by DNR grassland community ecologist David Sample to protect grassland-nesting birds in the study area.

Wildlife ecology professor Tim Van Deelen, who is Doyle’s advisor, explains the connection. “Grassland birds have this problem in the Midwest where they have to pull off reproduction in a very predator-rich environment—just think of all the small rodents that would love to eat a little bird egg,” he says. “Badgers might actually be good for birds because they might suppress some of those predators—by eating them.”

Kohn BS’08, who earned degrees in biology and agricultural education at CALS, teaches a class called Biotechnology and Biofuels in which students hunt for bacteria that naturally secrete enzymes called cellulases. Cellulases are named for their ability to break down cellulose, the sugar polymer in plant cell walls that gives stems and leaves their structure.

“Cellulases are important for bioenergy because they are necessary to turn cellulose into a fermentable product that can be made into ethanol and other biofuels,” says Kohn.

To find those cellulase-producing bacteria, Kohn sends students out to collect samples from the compost heaps and animal pens behind their school in a quest known as “bioprospecting.”

Back in the classroom, students drop the samples into test tubes filled with media solution and a strip of filter paper. If cellulases are present, the cellulose-based paper will disintegrate as the enzymes do their work.

That process of discovery excites students. “You see this light in their eyes when they realize that they are participating in science directly, and that their work could lead to actual breakthroughs and results,” Kohn says.

Kohn developed the activity as a participant in “Research Experience for Teachers,” a program at the UW’s Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC). For his project he shadowed Cameron Currie, a CALS professor of bacteriology and a GLBRC researcher who uses genomic and ecological approaches to study biomass-degrading microbes.

“Teachers are not only learning about current science—they are embedded in the lab,” says John Greenler, GLBRC’s director of education and outreach. “When teachers have that primary experience, they are in a better position to engage their students because they ‘get it.’”

Connor Williams, a high school senior who helped develop the bioprospecting lab with Kohn through his participation in the National FFA Organization (formerly Future Farmers of America), says his favorite element is the hands-on, independent work.

“I learned that answers to biofuel challenges literally can be found right in our backyards,” Williams says. “You just need to know where to look.”

Most of the state’s market farms are small. They grow produce on a few rural acres, rely heavily on family labor and sell at farmers markets or roadside stands. But “the Farm,” as it’s simply called, is different. It’s big—it grows 26 kinds of fruits and vegetables on about 150 acres—and anything but pastoral, being located on the grounds of the Milwaukee County House of Corrections. Hundreds of people, mostly volunteers, work the fields. And everything they harvest is given away.

The Farm is operated by the nonprofit Hunger Task Force (HTF) as a way to supply fresh produce to more than 80 food pantries and meal programs in the Milwaukee area. HTF leases the former prison farm from the county for a token fee, and with help from hundreds of community volunteers and several dozen workers employed through its job training program, provides hunger relief sites with 350,000 pounds of everything from apples to zucchini.

That’s impressive, especially considering that HTF embarked on the project some eight years ago with little expertise in horticulture. Farm manager Rich Richardson’s background is in information technology.

That’s where CALS comes in. For the past few years, CALS and UW-Extension specialists in horticulture, soils, agronomy, entomology, plant pathology and other disciplines have been
providing hands-on, in-the-field advice on topics ranging from soil fertility and weed control to irrigation and orchard management. And CALS dairy science grad Jay Janowski BS ’07 is Richardson’s second in command.

The UW experts have been happy to help—the project not only serves a worthy cause, it also offers a unique set of challenges.

“This is very ambitious. It’s not a market garden, it’s a very large, diversified vegetable farm,” says CALS horticulture professor Jed Colquhoun. “It’s a tremendous task when you consider the number of crops and that most of them have to be hand-harvested.”

“They’re doing a great job,” agrees CALS soil scientist Matt Ruark. “Last year they were having issues with nutrient deficiency. We reviewed their fertilizer program and helped them make adjustments. Everything looked good this year. Now we’re working with them on trying some other management practices, such as cover cropping, to improve fertility.”

HTF executive director Sherrie Tussler says her organization is grateful for the help. “CALS has helped us overcome many of the challenges we’ve faced as new farmers,” she says. “The expertise CALS provided helped us grow 350,000 pounds of fresh Wisconsin produce this past season. Hungry people in Milwaukee were fed—and for this we are thankful to our friends at CALS.”

To learn more about the Farm’s impact on families in need, visit www.hungertaskforce.org/the-farm

His education at CALS gave him the foundation to understand the chemistry and processing of foods and the techniques to tackle complex problems and come up with solutions, Berg notes: “As I have progressed in my career, the importance of my education has become more evident with each position I’ve held.”

What fuels her passion? “Making a difference and giving back,” she says. “I am totally committed to the importance of mentoring and coaching young people in their careers. And I’d be less than truthful if I didn’t say I guide them into STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) disciplines at every chance.”

And when Applebaum offers advice on graduate study? “For those wanting advanced degrees in food science or another STEM specialty, UW is at the top of my list,” she says. “Wouldn’t
the world be grand if more folks were Badgers?”

Tedeschi was already working at CALS’ Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (CIAS) on a program called Farm to College, which sought to increase purchasing of locally grown foods by Wisconsin colleges and universities. But looking around her children’s cafeteria, she saw another arena for improvement.

Kids were being served plastic-sealed lunches in the form of “hot packs” and “cold packs” featuring meal components delivered largely through national distribution companies or the USDA commodities program. Hot packs contained items to be heated up—a meat patty and french fries, for example—in a school kitchen so minimally equipped that no real cooking could take place there, a typical set-up in many school buildings. Cold packs contained accompanying items—a bun and ketchup for the burger, for example, and a serving of a raw fruit or vegetable such as carrots.

“There were no choices or self-serving that would allow children to take ownership of what they ate,” recalls Tedeschi. It also squandered “a potential learning moment,” she says, for teaching children all kinds of things about food—what makes a good portion size, the pleasures of colors and textures, what nutrients are found in different foods and why they’re good for you—in a hands-on way that could set kids on a course of healthier eating for life.

That was in 2001. And Tedeschi and her fellow parents weren’t the only ones who wanted to make some changes. In lunchrooms around Wisconsin and, indeed, the nation, parents and professionals in nutrition, agriculture, food service, health care and education were starting to envision and create improvements. Their efforts emerged alongside growing interest in strengthening local food economies and concern about the consequences of poor diets such as the rise in childhood obesity, particularly in areas with limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables.

Their grassroots initiatives became known as “Farm to School,” programs that connect schools with local or regional growers in order to serve their produce in school cafeterias, often drawing many other types of food businesses—food processors, manufacturers, distributors and related operations—into the process. Farm to School also encompasses educational activities such as school gardens, field trips to farms, food tastings and cooking classes with local chefs and farmers, all focused on growing, preparing and eating healthy food.

Resources serving Farm to School sprang up as interest grew. Today they include the nonprofit National Farm to School Network (NFSN), a USDA program and numerous grant opportunities at federal, state and local levels. According to NFSN, Farm to School programs now operate in more than 10,000 schools in all 50 states.

From the beginning the movement had a vibrant presence in Wisconsin. When Tedeschi had her “cafeteria moment,” she shared her ideas at CIAS, most notably with her mentor, Jack Kloppenburg, a CALS professor of community and environmentalsociology who had long been working to strengthen ties between urban communities and area food growers. He and Tedeschi received federal and other funding to launch “Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch,” essentially Wisconsin’s first Farm to School program, with Tedeschi serving as coordinator. The program was carried out in partnership with REAP Food Group, a Madison-based nonprofit that Kloppenburg helped found and that remains a Farm to School leader in southcentral Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin program had a wide influence and helped ignite other Farm to School initiatives nationwide. CIAS remains a leader in the field, providing technical assistance and resources throughout the state and region. Activities include working with the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) on a Farm to School AmeriCorps program that provides staff for eight Farm to School sites around the state; serving as host of the Great Lakes Region Farm to School Network, one of eight regional groups comprising the national network; and advising on Wisconsin’s first Farm to School legislation, passed in 2009, which among other things calls for a new staff position at DATCP to foster development of Farm to School. And CIAS last year convened the first statewide Farm to School summit in Wisconsin to serve the growing demand for information, networking and
assistance.

Wisconsin Farm to School programs are blooming in school districts large and small. Chilton, a district of nearly 1,200 students in Calumet County, has set the gold standard for what Farm to School can be by incorporating not only fruits and vegetables but also meat and dairy from area farms into a healthful, varied menu of scratch-cooked meals. Middleton–Cross Plains, a district feeding 6,250 children, during the fall features a local item on the menu almost daily and, with such long-storage items as apples and potatoes, maintains a regular appearance of local foods throughout the school year.

Golden snub-nosed monkeys, black-necked cranes, snow leopards, Tibetan bears and an astounding number of other animals and plants thrive in its temperate forests and alpine meadows. And five million people from 26 of China’s 55 ethnic minorities live in the province’s remote high-altitude forests and valleys.

This biologically sensitive region has for the past half-dozen years been a field site for collaboration between the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Yunnan, a partnership that focuses on biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.

The idea arose from conversations between visiting scientist Ji Weizhi, former director of the Kunming Institute of Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Yunnan, and Kenneth Shapiro, an emeritus professor of agricultural and applied economics who was then associate dean of international agricultural programs at CALS.

“Ji was impressed by the interdisciplinary approaches that some of the UW departments were using to address complex problems like biodiversity conservation,” says Shapiro. “Ji could see that the traditional narrow ‘stovepipe’ or isolated discipline approach to biodiversity research cannot bridge the gaps in understanding diverse problems in biodiversity conservation. He understood that scientists needed a broader understanding of the relationships between the biology, livelihoods, economics and politics of Yunnan to protect its biodiversity and promote sustainable development.”

Yunnan’s name roughly translates to “south of the colorful clouds”—and indeed, the province’s beauty is self-evident. Less obvious, perhaps, is its environmental importance. The region provides critical ecological services across much of Asia. To take water alone as an example, nearly half of China’s population, along with millions of other southeast Asians, depend on the fresh water passing through the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas, which lie within the drainage basins of the Yangtze, Mekong and Salween rivers. If the natural forests in this region were destroyed, vast areas and populations downstream would suffer from severe floods and huge reductions of water supplies and quality.

After centuries of semi-isolation, Yunnan—the northwestern part of the province in particular—has been discovered by China’s new middle class of tourists, most of them Han Chinese, who make up more than 92 percent of China’s population. Where only hikers, horses and mules trod before, roads are being built by local and provincial governments to carry millions of tourists. Old-growth forests are being logged to accommodate them. Yunnan’s ethnic communities are having to transform centuries-old land use traditions. And the government is pressing Yunnan for economic development. Ji was aware that transforming Yunnan could have devastating effects on its biodiversity, on China’s fresh water supplies and on the livelihoods of ethnic minorities.

What Yunnan’s scientists needed was a model of an interdisciplinary approach to sustainable development and biodiversity conservation. Collaboration with UW, it was hoped, would mark a pioneering step toward developing that model.

Shapiro and other UW scientists, led by the late Josh Posner (see sidebar on page 27), found a home and funding for their part of the partnership under the auspices of IGERT (Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship), a highly competitive National Science Foundation program that supports scientists and engineers pursuing graduate degrees in fields that cross disciplines and are deemed to have broad societal impact. The UW proposal drew on the strong support of the staff of CALS international programs, and the research also benefited from significant supplementary funding from the Graduate School, the chancellor’s office and the CAS.

Nineteen UW doctoral students, called “trainees,” were selected from disciplines ranging from political science and economics to conservation biology and anthropology, and included five CALS trainees from agronomy, forest and wildlife ecology, and community and environmental sociology. All participants were expected to learn Mandarin Chinese and, beyond their own disciplines, become literate in other fields relevant to conservation and sustainable development. While in Madison, trainees also attended weekly seminars on Northwest Yunnan’s history, politics, culture, society and ecology.

While some trainees received help getting their initial permits and contacts in Yunnan, it was up to each of them to work through such daily obstacles as getting around, finding translators for the many dialects and gaining the trust of locals.

Most trainees had done some kind of international work before joining IGERT. For example, Jodi Brandt in forest and wildlife ecology had worked in Guatemala with the Peace Corps, and community and environmental sociologist John Zinda had lived and taught in China.