Kit Saunders-Nordeen, women’s sports pioneer, dies
Saunders-Nordeen was perhaps the single most important person in the advent of women's intercollegiate sports at UW–Madison, and thousands of women student-athletes benefited from her commitment. Read More
These dogs had their day
More than 30 registrants participated in the Wisconsin Union's Hound Hike on Jan. 9. Participants and their dogs got a free bandana and had a "pupfessional" photo made, and then sauntered around campus. Read More
Prime rime (ice) time on campus
Campus took on an enchanted look when freezing fog created rime ice coating the branches of trees and bushes Read More
Spring semester COVID-19 weekly update for faculty and staff
A message to faculty and staff on spring semester testing requirements; how to download the Safer Badgers app; privacy protection; and exposure notification. Read More
First employees and students receive COVID-19 vaccine at University Health Services
The arrival of vaccine provides a lot of hope for students and employees that campus will ultimately return to normal, says Jake Baggott, executive director of UHS and associate vice chancellor for student affairs/health and wellbeing. Read More
Covering faces around kids won’t mask emotions
If children can do better than guessing at emotions even with a mask in place, they’re likely to do even better in real-life situations. Read More
How to communicate with students about COVID-19, according to science
The guidelines encourage campuses to emphasize social solidarity, work with students to craft and share messages, to avoid amplifying misinformation — even to debunk myths about the disease — among several other recommendations. Read More
University of Illinois, partner in UW spring testing, surpasses 1 million COVID-19 tests
Beginning in January, the University of Wisconsin–Madison will implement a new campus safety and testing program called Safer Badgers, adapted from a successful system called Shield T3 developed by the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Read More
UW-Madison geographer recognized for work to diversify geoscience
Erika Marín-Spiotta has worked to enact meaningful policies against sexual harassment, bullying, and discrimination, and to take meaningful steps to make the geosciences more diverse. Read More
Contactless thermometer helps monitor student health
A prototype “contactless” thermometer was created by borrowing the sensor from a commercially available thermometer and adding a microcontroller and distance sensor controlled by open-source code. Read More
Are U.S. cities ready for autonomous vehicles?
Autonomous vehicles could transform urban planning by, for instance, reducing the need for parking ramps. Yet many cities aren't planning for those changes, research shows. Read More
How to teach anatomy in a pandemic? Graduate TAs create video library
Even students physically in class benefit from the lab livestreams, which show things like 360-degree views of the bones of an alligator skull or a walkthrough of a grad student dissecting a sheep eyeball. Read More
Statewide data shows four-fold increase in recent COVID-19 infections
The antibody study showed that 1.6% of survey participants had evidence of antibodies when tested in July and early August. Between October and December, the number was up to 6.8%. Read More
Santa visits kids in hospital — through video call
The pandemic can't stop a visit from Santa Claus. The jolly one on Wednesday made video visits with patients at American Family Children's Hospital. Read More
COVID questions: Post-vaccine precautions, ingredients, pregnancy
Do I have to distance after getting the vaccine? What's in the vaccine? Is it safe for pregnant women? Read More
Badger Talks video: Vaccine arrival is first step
“I could see that by fall 2021 things could start to look substantially different than what we’ve all been living with," says global health expert James Conway. Read More
Trailer to be center of testing
A mobile lab run by University of Illinois System subsidiary Shield T3 was set up Friday in Lot 64 near the WARF building. The lab will conduct diagnostic PCR testing of saliva samples collected at sites across campus from students and employees starting in January. Read More
Research effort driving advances to combat traumatic brain injuries
A team of researchers led by University of Wisconsin–Madison mechanical engineer Christian Franck is working on better ways to detect concussions and better protective equipment to prevent them. Read More
Vaccine arrives at UW Health
UW Health received its first doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine the morning of Monday, Dec. 14. By early afternoon, the first doses were given to frontline medical personnel. Read More
Winter commencement: Rose Lavelle lauds grads of ‘greatest university to ever grace this planet’
Chancellor Rebecca Blank praised the nearly 3,000 winter graduates for overcoming great challenges to get to this moment. The pandemic will shape this generation, she said, just as wars and terrorist attacks shaped prior ones. Read More