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July 12, 2024

Research

Winds from black holes are speeding up, UW-Madison study says

Posted on
The Daily Cardinal

Eight years and 130 observations: that’s all it takes to prove the winds coming from supermassive black holes have accelerated.

Led by University of Wisconsin-Madison Assistant Astronomy Professor Catherine Grier and recent graduate Robert Wheatly, a team of researchers compiled years of data to find that quasars, the cores of galaxies where supermassive black holes are messily feeding, are emitting winds that are speeding up over time. This research may mark the first step in understanding how black holes communicate with the galaxies they’re in, according to Grier.

UW-Madison professor and PhD candidate counter white-nose syndrome

Posted on
Channel 3000

The University of Wisconsin-Madison announced Thursday one of its professors, along with a PhD candidate, have made scientific gains in studying how a type of invasive fungus kills North American bats.

UW said Prof. Bruce Klein and PhD candidate Marcos Isidoro-Ayza worked to shed light on the mystery of how the fungus initiates infection and causes “white-nose syndrome,” which has devastated several North American bat species over the years. The pair discovered how the fungus covertly hijacks cells at the surface of bats’ skin.

Higher Education/System

UW-Madison chancellor pay to top $1 million in 2025

Posted on
The Daily Cardinal

The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents approved chancellor pay raises and bonuses for student retention in a closed session meeting Monday.

The new compensation plan will see UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin’s current $811,512 annual salary increased to $892,663. She will also receive a philanthropic bonus of $150,000 for staying at UW-Madison through mid-2025 and $50,000 for each year she stays afterward until June 2029.

State committee considers future of Universities of Wisconsin

Posted on
WKOW

A committee convened by the state Legislature met Thursday to set the scope of its work evaluating changes to be made to the Universities of Wisconsin.

The Study Committee on the Future of the University of Wisconsin System is a bipartisan group of legislators, business representatives, educators and government officials. They represent a cross section of the state stakeholders in public campuses.

Campus life

State news

Wisconsin sees promise in ‘housing first’ support of domestic violence survivors

Posted on
Wisconsin Watch

“It opens up a whole new world of possibilities,” said Kate Walsh, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and part of a team assessing the effectiveness of the statewide pilot project.

The UW-Madison team is gathering survey data from 68 housing recipients across the program’s nine pilot sites. More than half of the participants across the nine sites reported a reduction in exposure to domestic violence and higher satisfaction with their living situations, according to preliminary findings.

Agriculture

Community

Members of Wisconsin football team visit camp for kids

Posted on
WKOW

Members of the Wisconsin football team made a stop at the Salvation Army of Dane County’s day camp.

Team members played games with the kids. Cornerback Amare Snowden says the goal is to give back to the greater Madison community.

The Badgers will open their 2024 season on Friday, August 30 when they take on Western Michigan at Camp Randall.

Athletics

Wisconsin women’s basketball assistant ‘speechless’ after realizing Power 5 dream

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

Coaching at the Power Five level has been on Fro Jerro’s radar ever since she began coaching career over three decades ago.

Opportunities to make the jump from the mid-majors and personal matters never seemed to coincide, however.

When the University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team was in search of a new assistant following the departure of Tiffany Morton in late April, Jerro felt compelled to make another push.

UW Experts in the News

2 cranes try their hand at parenting despite species difference

Posted on
Wisconsin Public Radio

Anna Pidgeon, an avian ecologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said cross-fostering is used in many different ways among domestic and wild species. In this case, a common species chick — a sandhill crane — is raised by a vulnerable species — blue cranes — to help them gain parenting skills.

“Figuring out how to work as a pair, as coparents, is something that just like in humans or other species where it takes two, they get better with time and with practice,” Pidgeon said.

UW-Madison Related

How Hmong women in Wisconsin are tackling domestic violence in their communities

Posted on
Wisconsin Watch

Lo would ultimately escape the abuse and get back on her feet with help from The Women’s Community, Inc., a Wausau-based nonprofit that serves domestic violence and trafficking survivors. Her life would come full circle years later. She would go on to earn a master’s degree in social work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before returning to Wausau to help Hmong women through challenges like she faced.