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rofessor of Scandinavian Studies, Folklore, and Religious Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.June 27, 2025
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Research
University Research Park and Forward BIOLABS Partner to Power Madison’s Science and Tech Startups
Partnering with Forward BIOLABS — one of the many tenants that call the research park home — URP helped create a new shared coworking lab incubator in Madison. Forward BIOLABS offers turn-key life science labs, fully equipped, maintained and supported with networking, training and other growth services aimed at startups.
“With millions of dollars of shared lab equipment, Forward BIOLABS is an ideal place to get started,” said Aaron Olver, managing director of the University Research Park. “And MERLIN Mentors creates customized volunteer mentor teams to help companies achieve liftoff.”
UW report links housing stress to worsening health in Wisconsin
Housing financial stress has been rising among Wisconsin residents, and it is tied to an increase in negative health outcomes, according to a report from the University of Wisconsin-Extension.
The report found that housing instability is linked to worsened mental and physical health and may cause food insecurity, physical exhaustion, hypertension and lowered fertility. While this stress is more common among renters than homeowners, the consequential health impacts were linked more with older homeowners, co-author of the report and associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics Tessa Conroy said.
Interview: UW-Madison physics professor among Wisconsin ties to new Vera C. Rubin Observatory
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory released its first images this week.This is the most advanced telescope and camera system available, allowing scientists to study these incredible, high-resolution time-lapse images.
They include a Ph.D. in physics and a UW-Madison professor, Keith Bechtol.
Mysterious radio pulses found in Antarctica seem to defy physics, and researchers are trying to trace their origins
“They are expected to arrive from slightly below the horizon, where there is not much Earth for them to be absorbed,” Justin Vandenbroucke, a physicist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who was not involved in the research but peer-reviewed it, tells CNN’s Ashley Strickland. Models predict these pulses would come in at angles of only one to five degrees below the horizon—these came through the ice at a much sharper 30 degrees, leaving researchers unable to identify their origins.
Higher Education/System
Madison’s residency programs support creativity across disciplines
At the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Department hosts an elder-in-residence for a week each semester. Writers-in-residence at the Illuminating Discovery Hub, housed within UW–Madison’s Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, can craft anything from play scripts to music with the Institute’s support — so long as the work features or portrays science in some way.
Artists who don’t fit the bill there can consider two options at UW–Madison’s Division of the Arts: the Interdisciplinary Arts Residency Program or the International Visiting Artist Program.
Republicans set to restart work on state budget after breakdown in talks
The state Legislature’s finance committee is scheduled on Friday, June 27, to take votes on the 18 remaining areas of the budget that have yet to be written.
The expected work comes after the committee canceled a planned set of votes on key areas, including funding for the University of Wisconsin System, amid an impasse that materialized between the two Republican caucuses and Evers.
Facing ICE detention, former UW-Milwaukee professor from China skips his sentencing hearing
A foreign-born former University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor who pleaded guilty to defrauding students didn’t appear for his June 12 sentencing hearing, which was a few months after federal immigration agents appeared at one of his hearings, according to federal court records.
Yue Liu, also known as Troy Liu, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and unlawful monetary transaction in 2022 after a university investigation found he netted nearly $1.2 million by swindling students.
Current, former teams mourn ex-Wisconsin football player, Rufus King alum Nate White
“News of Nate White’s tragic passing has been sad and difficult to comprehend for all of the Wisconsin Badger Football family,” Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell said. “We remember Nate as a friend and teammate and we stand in support of Nate’s family and loved ones.”
Manufacturers barking up wrong tree blaming UWM for engineering program cuts
If legislators truly want viewpoint diversity and top talent to help Wisconsin citizens earn a college degree and achieve a better future, they should begin by paying UW System faculty at least an average salary. Not by cutting the UW System budget even more than they have already.
University of Wisconsin provides nearly $136K to student sex group that gives ethical porn programming
The University of Wisconsin–Madison has reportedly approved doling out $136,000 to fund a group that provides sexual programming, including a 90-minute “Ethical Porn” session for students.
The approved budget for the FY 2026 budget says that the Sex Out Loud club, billed as a “peer to peer sexual health resource,” requested $136,475 for 2025–2026 and was approved to receive $135,706.5
State news
Wisconsin’s 20 Most Influential Asian American Leaders for 2025, part 5
Badri Lankella represents Madison’s west side on the Common Council, winning election earlier this year, and serves as a commissioner of the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District. He holds a degree in civil engineering and an MBA from UW-Madison.
This Wisconsin-founded group is keeping tabs on global nuclear proliferation
“Almost 40 years ago, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison named Gary Milhollin, who had worked as a judge on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, had an idea that more needed to be done to prevent countries from building weapons of mass destruction,” said Valerie Lincy, executive director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control. “He created the organization with the mission of stopping the spread of these weapons by stopping trade in items that can be used to make them. We’ve been working with that mission ever since.”
Unpacking the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s rejection of congressional redistricting lawsuits
University of Wisconsin Law School Professor Robert Yablon, who co-directs the State Democracy Research initiative, told WPR that one can only speculate about why the court didn’t take up the cases. He said it could be that justices felt lower courts are better equipped to handle the factfinding necessary to rule on gerrymandering claims.
Yablon said it’s also possible justices were leery about the U.S. Supreme Court “looking over its shoulder” and potentially overturning any ruling they make on the map guiding elections for federal lawmakers.
Unanimous Wisconsin Supreme Court blocks UW Health nurses’ unionization, backing Act 10
UW Health is not legally required to recognize its nurses’ union or engage in collective bargaining, a unanimous state Supreme Court ruled.
The court’s ruling upholds previous decisions by the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission and a Dane County Circuit Court judge.
Athletics
JJ Watt and his wife, Kealia, announce the birth of their second child
In a joint Instagram post, NFL legend and Wisconsin native JJ Watt and his wife, Kealia, announced the June 14 birth of Niko Benjamin Watt, their second child together.