Category: Features
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Posted on March 5, 2025
In Pursuit of Mudpuppies
The first time Mason Polencheck BSx’25 met a mudpuppy, he was nine years old, on a fishing trip in the waters of Lake Superior. […]
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Pristine Waterways: How to Put a Price on the Priceless
Americans are demanding cleaner lakes, beaches, and rivers. In survey after survey, people rank water quality as the environmental issue that worries them the […]
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Honorary Degrees and Deep Connections
It’s like the ultimate sleepover with the grandparents: ice cream for breakfast, a behind-the-scenes tour of Camp Randall Stadium, and then an afternoon of […]
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Posted on October 23, 2024
The Landfill Lady, Hungry Microbes, and Leaping the Valley of Death
Erica L-W Majumder might be an alchemist. Her goal? Turn trash into environmental gold. This assistant professor of bacteriology believes landfills like the one […]
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How Wet is America’s Soil? Nobody Really Knows, But AI Can Help
From sudden floods to weeks of scorching heat, increasingly unstable weather is a headache for U.S. farmers. Known as “weather whiplash,” these disorienting swings […]
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A Prolific Partnership Enters a New Era
The day promises to be witheringly hot. Guolong Liang BS’19, MS’22 arrives at Isherwood Farm around 8 a.m. to get an early start. As […]
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Posted on July 1, 2024
Science Through a Glass Darkly
In the 1980s, the steps involved in a high school research paper assignment looked much different than today. Given a hot-button health topic of […]
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The Secrets of Cold Weather Soil Unearthed
When hydrology engineer Anita Thompson was growing up in Minnesota, she knew what to expect from winter. The temperatures would drop below freezing around […]
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Most Humans Can’t Multitask to Save Their Lives. But These Microbes Can.
We often look to the smallest life-forms for help solving the biggest problems: Microbes can make foods and beverages, cure diseases, treat waste, and […]
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Bovine Belch Busters
It’s easy to ruminate over methane when thinking about dairy and its production challenges. Cattle are essential to Wisconsin’s $45.6 billion dairy community. But […]
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Posted on March 8, 2024
Emissaries of Science
It’s a summer evening in early July, and the sun is sinking into Lake Mendota. Along University Bay, the windows of campus buildings bathe […]
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A Celebration of Curiosity
Jassim Al-Oboudi, a Ph.D. student in microbiology, recalls a flash of inspiration from his childhood. He was watching a PBS documentary at home, in […]