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September 14, 2022

Research

Wisconsin’s first grassland climate adaptation site is a ‘best case scenario’ for mitigating climate change

Posted on
Wisconsin Public Radio

Quoted: Jack Williams, a climate scientist and chair of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Geography, explained that prairie plants, with their deep roots and soil horizons, can store carbon and mitigate climate.

“There’s a lot of below-ground carbon sequestration in grasslands,” Williams said. “So a healthy grassland can also be a good climate mitigation strategy.”

Ellen Damschen, a UW-Madison professor in the department of biology, echoed that view, stressing that it’s important because small, local seed populations are at greater risk of getting wiped out.

“If seeds move, they’re moving their genes. You want to allow population sizes to get bigger, and you want to allow movement between sites,” she said.

Campus life

UW-Madison opens exhibit confronting its history of exclusion

Posted on
The Capital Times

The gallery is a culmination of the university’s Public History Project, titled “Sifting & Reckoning,” which confronts the challenges of marginalized communities on campus. The exhibit runs through Dec. 23, featuring photographs, archival materials and oral histories spanning 175 years.

New Exhibit Highlights UW Madison’s History of Discrimination

Posted on
WORT-FM 89.9

“Public history is, at its simplest, history that is written and made accessible for the public, for the people in our community. While many other universities have looked into their histories, no other has made public engagement the center of their work, this project has. Our work, including this exhibit, is focused on our community, and how best to make this accessible to them,” Lucchini Butcher says.

Health

Cooperation holds promise for a healthier, stronger Wisconsin

Posted on
The Capital Times

Evers got the two sides talking and they reached an agreement that will allow the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission to determine if UW Health and the nurses who work there are covered under the Wisconsin Employment Peace Act, which establishes protocols for workers to organize unions and to engage in collective bargaining.

This is a step in the right direction, which we hope will lead in short order to recognition of the nurses union.

Athletics

50 years of Title IX has helped level the playing field for women

Posted on
The Capital Times

This year, as fall sports seasons are underway, we are marking the 50th anniversary of Title IX, which became law in 1972. It was a law of great consequence. As the U.S. Department of Education says, “Title IX protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.” Specifically, the law says: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

Opinion

UW should address hate speech

Posted on
The Capital Times

Dear Editor: The UW campus was defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti on the first day of classes. The UW news release stated that anti-Semitic sidewalk chalkings appeared around campus labeling Jewish student groups as “racist,” “genocidal” and “having blood on their hands.”

UW Experts in the News

MMSD teachers, parents alarmed by lunches early in the year

Posted on
The Capital Times

The board is expected to continue its discussion of hourly wage increases next week. Jennifer Gaddis, a UW-Madison associate professor and expert on school food programs, suggested increasing pay is one place parents and staff disappointed with the food options so far should focus their energy.

“There’s not a whole lot that you’re going to see improve in terms of a reduction in prepackaged foods or greater freshness or variety unless MMSD can attract and retain the labor to prepare those kinds of meals,” Gaddis said. “There are things that the district could be doing if they had a fully staffed workforce, and I think that if they were able to invest and build out higher-quality jobs, that would really translate pretty directly into improved meals for kids.”

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