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Tag Geography

Teaching Indigenous land dispossession in Wisconsin and beyond

January 18, 2023

Thanks to new funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, an interdisciplinary group of UW–Madison faculty, staff and graduate students will be able to help teach the history of land taken from tribal nations to benefit land-grant universities.

Despite commitments, Brazil’s beef sector tainted by purchases from protected lands in Amazon basin

October 17, 2022

Despite improvements by meatpackers to keep their supply chains free of cattle grazed on protected or illegally deforested lands, many slaughterhouses in Brazil — the world's top beef exporter — continue to purchase illegally pastured animals on a large scale, a new study shows.

UW–Madison mourns influential, beloved geography professor Yi-Fu Tuan

August 15, 2022

Yi-Fu Tuan, a towering intellectual figure and University of Wisconsin–Madison professor emeritus of geography died Aug. 10 at UW Hospital in Madison at age 91. Tuan was a prolific writer and deep thinker who was known as the father of humanistic geography.

Ancient example of modern global warming was too hot for tiny, important ocean creatures

March 9, 2022

During another time in which Earth warmed rapidly in conjunction with a spike in atmospheric carbon similar to our modern climate, seawater temperature and chemical changes decimated an important piece of the food web in the tropical Pacific Ocean.

40-year map project, History of Cartography, draws to a close

October 28, 2021

The series brings together cutting-edge research and a colorful collection of stories and histories told through maps. It has drawn international attention to the history of maps and mapping.

Modeling COVID-19 infection based on movement can improve public health response

June 16, 2021

The research team — which includes geographers, mathematicians, an epidemiologist and communications experts — used the model to examine decisions to ease restrictions as the pandemic seemed to wane in mid-2020.

UW researchers investigate mining-related deforestation in the Amazon

June 2, 2021

While these mining operations are often called “artisanal” or “small-scale,” in aggregate they are very destructive.

Earth’s vegetation is changing faster today than it has over the last 18,000 years

May 20, 2021

The research suggests that humanity’s dominant influence on ecosystems that is so visible today has its origin in the earliest civilizations and the rise of agriculture, deforestation and other ways our species has influenced the landscape.

UW-Madison geographer recognized for work to diversify geoscience

December 18, 2020

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.

PhD candidate Xiao wins fellowship for work in Lagos

June 24, 2020

Allen Xiao spent 15 months in Lagos, Nigeria, collecting more than 100 life stories, and then conducting follow-up interviews and even visiting their hometowns and going to social events with his subjects.

UW–Madison researchers tracking travel, social media to help contain virus

April 13, 2020

New data shows that Wisconsinites traveled more during Tuesday’s election than they did on the days leading up to the statewide vote, according to University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers who are tracking the mobility of Americans increasingly urged to stay still.

Complex local conditions keep fields of dunes from going active all at once

February 26, 2020

New research on dunes in China describes how even neighboring dunes can long remain in different and seemingly conflicting states — confounding the assessment of stabilization efforts and masking the effects of climate change.

View from on high: UW–Madison houses Wisconsin aerial photos

June 20, 2019

Geography Department's many aerial photos vividly show Wisconsin's changing landscape since 1937.

Hmong PhD reflects on research, family pride

October 9, 2018

Pao Vue became one of the first Hmong Americans to receive a PhD when he got his doctorate degree in geography at UW–Madison in spring 2018.

Vacant, but not empty: Student explores use of abandoned properties

June 1, 2018

Vacant buildings are often seen as remnants of the housing crisis or industries in decline, but graduate student Elsa Noterman says these properties are often put to constructive use.

‘Driftless’ reading echoes Wisconsin’s past, present, future

November 1, 2017

The geography and culture of Wisconsin’s Driftless area were celebrated through the words of writers known and unknown, in a theater named for a writer who dedicated his life to encouraging homegrown artistic and literary talent.