“I worry that it is being done too quickly, without appropriate scrutiny of the potential outcomes,” said UW-Madison’s Dr. Jonathan Temte.
Federal vaccine committee overhaul is a ‘radical change,’ says former committee chair
Wisconsin Public Radio
June 20, 2025
Research
Federal vaccine direction gives Wisconsin researcher ‘profound sadness’
The Cap Times
The decision sent shockwaves throughout medical and public health circles, with Dr. Jonathan Temte, former committee chair and an associate dean at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Medicine and Public Health, calling the removals, “totally unprecedented.”
Fossils suggests sea levels could rise even faster in the future
Forbes
Newly uncovered evidence from fossil corals suggests that sea levels could rise even more steeply in our warming world than previously thought.
“This is not good news for us as we head into the future,” says Andrea Dutton, a professor of geoscience at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Dutton and her PhD student Karen Vyverberg at the University of Florida led an international collaboration that included researchers from University of Sydney, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Victoria University of Wellington and University of Massachusetts Amherst who analyzed fossilized corals discovered in the Seychelles islands.
Higher Education/System
UWs need more state dollars to avoid closures, layoffs, leader says
The Cap Times
The leader of Wisconsin’s 13 public universities said without additional funding in the next state budget, he expects more branch campus closures, decreased affordability for students, layoffs and program cuts.
“All of which will hit hardest at our most vulnerable UWs,” Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman said on social media this week.
Finance committee delays action due to budget disagreements, child care providers disappointed
Wisconsin Examiner
One in four Wisconsin child care providers could close their doors if the state support for centers ends in June, according to a survey of child care providers commissioned by the state Department of Children and Families (DCF) and produced by the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Wisconsin state budget work breaks down as deadline nears
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Assembly GOP leaders said they’ve had “productive conversations towards a budget that cuts taxes, puts more money into K-12 schools to stave off higher property taxes, and funds childcare and the university system in exchange for meaningful reforms.”
Health
Prosecutors say cyanide poisonings led to hazmat investigations
Spectrum News
“One of the things that you can see as a symptom of cyanide poisoning is someone having difficulty breathing,” said John Berry, a chemistry professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “This happens very quickly.”
Berry said cyanide, which used to be in rat poisons because of its potency, can be combined with other substances to form gasses or salts that can dissolve in water. He also pointed out that cyanide is extremely difficult for someone outside of a research lab to get their hands on.
Business/Technology
Campaign ad utilizes artificial intelligence, prompting the question: What impact will AI have on the 2026 election?
Spectrum News
“The models that we’re seeing right now are able to create content that is incredibly persuasive, and incredibly hard to detect as AI generated. It’s impossible to predict just how corrosive this will be to political discourse in this country,” said Annette Zimmerman, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. “It’s just not feasible for ordinary citizens to do a ton of extra research on which content is actually legitimate.
UW Experts in the News
Scientists solve the mystery of the ‘Dragon Man’: Ancient skull is first ever found from lost group of ancient humans that lived 217,000 years ago
Daily Mail
Professor John Hawks, a paleoanthropologist from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, told MailOnline: “Harbin gives us a strong indication that some of them are large, with large skulls.
“But we have some good reasons to suspect that Denisovans lived across quite a wide geographic range, from Siberia into Indonesia, and they may have been in many different environmental settings.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they are as variable in body size and shape as people living across the same range of geographies today.”