Category Employee News
Grasshoppers signal slow recovery of post-agricultural woodlands, study finds
New research by Philip Hahn and John Orrock at the University of Wisconsin–Madison on the recovery of South Carolina longleaf pine woodlands once used for cropland shows just how long lasting the legacy of agriculture can be in the recovery of natural places. By comparing grasshoppers found at woodland sites once used for agriculture to similar sites never disturbed by farming, Hahn and Orrock show that despite decades of recovery, the numbers and types of species found in each differ.
Flower links Civil War, natural history and ‘the blood of heroes’
On August 14, 1864, in a Union Army camp in Georgia, a captain from Wisconsin plucked a plant, pressed it onto a sheet of paper, wrote a letter describing the plant as "certainly the most interesting specimen I ever saw," and sent it with the plant to a scientist he called "Friend" in Wisconsin.
AAAS honors four UW–Madison professors for advancing science
Four members of the University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the society announced today.
Satellite history at UW–Madison comes full circle with award
Michael Pavolonis thinks of himself as a volcano guy.
Ecologist/hunter talks deer, plants, hunters and balance
UW-Madison Professor of Botany Donald Waller is a pioneer in exploring the impact of deer in natural habitats. For more than 20 years, Waller - who counts himself among the state's deer hunters - has led research on the economic, health and environmental impacts of deer, including:
Halting the hijacker: Cellular targets to thwart influenza virus infection
The influenza virus, like all viruses, is a hijacker. It quietly slips its way inside cells, steals the machinery inside to make more copies of itself, and then - having multiplied - bursts out of the cell to find others to infect.
‘Active learning’ takes center stage at School of Nursing
The classroom is changing. Massive lecture halls used to mean you could sit quietly in the back, with rows of fellow students perched above a lecturing professor. But you won’t find any lecture halls in the School of Nursing’s Signe Skott Cooper Hall. For students at the new Active Learning Classroom (ALC), the learning is — well, active.
Faculty and staff invited to thank Morgridges for historic gift
Photo: Jeff Miller On Saturday, John and Tashia Morgridge announced a landmark $100 million gift to support new and enhanced professorships…
Lavigna answers common questions about HR Design
If attendance at recent information sessions is any indication, interest in the HR Design project is increasing.
Crops play a major role in the annual CO2 cycle increase
In a study published Wednesday, Nov. 19, in Nature, scientists at Boston University, the University of New Hampshire, the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota, the University of Wisconsin–Madison and McGill University show that a steep rise in the productivity of crops grown for food accounts for as much as 25 percent of the increase in this carbon dioxide (CO2) seasonality.
Imagination, reality flow in opposite directions in the brain
As real as that daydream may seem, its path through your brain runs opposite reality. Aiming to discern discrete neural circuits, researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have tracked electrical activity in the brains of people who alternately imagined scenes or watched videos.
Scientists get to the heart of fool’s gold as a solar material
As the installation of photovoltaic solar cells continues to accelerate, scientists are looking for inexpensive materials beyond the traditional silicon that can efficiently convert sunlight into electricity.
Grad program honored for closing science-society gap
The University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Neuroscience and Public Policy Program was honored by the Society for Neuroscience with the Neuroscience Graduate Program Achievement Award.
UW-Madison ranks ninth nationally in study abroad participation
The University of Wisconsin–Madison ranks ninth among U.S. universities and colleges in the number of students who studied abroad in 2012-13, with 2,157 students earning academic credit outside the country, according to the 2014 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. This marks the eighth consecutive year that UW–Madison has been among the top 10.
Social media for social good: Researchers estimate air pollution from online posts
University of Wisconsin–Madison computer science researchers have developed a method for using social media posts to estimate air pollution levels with significant accuracy.
Morgridges give $100 million to invest in UW–Madison faculty
The University of Wisconsin–Madison has received a landmark gift of $100 million from John and Tashia Morgridge, representing one of the largest single contributions from individual donors in the history of the institution.
School of Education’s Underwood to return to faculty
After nearly a decade leading UW–Madison’s School of Education, Dean Julie Underwood announced today that she is stepping aside from her post in August 2015 to return to the faculty.
Morgridge scientists find way to ‘keep the lights on’ for cell self-renewal
One remarkable quality of pluripotent stem cells is they are immortal in the lab, able to divide and grow indefinitely under the right conditions. It turns out this ability also may exist further down the development path, with the workhorse progenitor cells responsible for creating specific tissues.
Interactive map shows where traffic deaths are occurring
UW–Madison’s Traffic Operations and Safety Lab (TOPS) has partnered with Madison news website Channel3000.com and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to create an interactive map that plots the locations of fatal traffic accidents in Wisconsin dating back to 2001.
Reminder: Campus inclement weather policies
With winter-like weather returning, the Office of Human Resources is reminding employees about campus inclement weather guidelines. The chancellor or her designee is responsible for…