Interview with Jonathan Martin, a professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at UW Madison, about why it’s so hot, and what this means for our climate.
“Power Of The Heat:” UW Weather Professor Explains This Week’s Heat Wave
WORT FM
Author: knutson4
Taking a tour of Wisconsin’s aquaculture industry
Wisconsin Public Radio
Yellow perch, rainbow trout and tilapia are just a few of the fish farmed for food in Wisconsin. We break down the aquaculture industry and take a tour of a fish farm. Interview with Sharon Moen, an outreach specialist for the Sea Grant Institute at the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute.
‘It’s not a good scenario’: Wisconsin farmer says continued drought could mean smaller crop yields
Wisconsin Public Radio
Shawn Conley is a soybean and small grain specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He said many farmers who just finished harvesting winter wheat brought in quality grain. Conley said soybean fields are also doing OK, but they’ll need at least an inch of rain per week until September to reach their best yields.
“If we don’t get rain, we’ll start seeing a yield hit on the soybean side of things,” Conley said. “Corn is a different matter. I think we’ve already started to see some corn yield losses out there.”
UW-Madison Celebrates 175 Years
WORT FM
Tomorrow is University of Wisconsin-Madison’s demisemiseptcentennial anniversary as the University of Wisconsin System’s flagship campus celebrates its 175th anniversary. To honor the milestone, the university will be holding a free celebration with music, fireworks, and of course, free ice cream.
Wisconsin’s paper mills are famous, but its paper converters are just as crucial. Here’s why
The Post-Crescent
While paper converters often go overlooked, they play an important role in both Wisconsin’s paper industry and its economy, according to a recent study from the Wisconsin Paper Council and University of Wisconsin titled, “Adding Value to Our Economy – Paper Conversion in Wisconsin.” More than 145 paper converters operated in Wisconsin in 2022, according to the study.
That number gets bigger a lot faster if you factor in companies that use paper along with plastic and other types of products, Scott Bowe, a professor and wood products specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said in the May 31 episode of the Wisconsin Paper Council’s “The Paper Files” podcast about the study.
To reclaim downtowns from traffic, require developers to offer strategies for cutting car use
The Conversation
Written by Chris McCahill, managing director of the State Smart Transportation Initiative at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Native American students, educators have high hopes for bill mandating their history be taught in Illinois schools
Chicago Tribune
Noted: It also educates people and prevents schools from making mistakes like one experienced last year by Bang’s son, who was stopped from walking in his Evanston Township High School graduation ceremony because of what he was wearing. Miskobinis, who is now a freshman at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, said the day after the graduation ceremony, the school’s dean and dean of students hand-delivered his diploma and apologized for what had happened.
The heat index is soaring: Are you feeling more depressed?
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
“It’s been proven that protracted hot weather can make people depressed,” said Dr. Charles Raison, who has done research on heat intolerance and summer-related depression. “It seems as if the system that modulates body temp also modulates mood.”
Raison, professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, said people with mental illness often have trouble with thermal regulation. “From our data, we know that people with depression tend to run body temperatures higher than average, and they don’t sweat as much. So being depressed could set you up to not be able to tolerate heat well.”
A certain danger lurks there’: how the inventor of the first chatbot turned against AI
The Guardian
Noted: Protesters frequently targeted information technology, not only because of its role in the Vietnam war but also due to its association with the imprisoning forces of capitalism. In 1970, activists at the University of Wisconsin destroyed a mainframe during a building occupation; the same year, protesters almost blew one up with napalm at New York University.
Psychedelics might revolutionize therapy. What happens if you remove the trip?
Vox
At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, anesthesiology professor Matthew Banks is tinkering with something in between leaving the trip alone and anesthesia: What if you let people have their full-on psychedelic experience, but then erase their memory of the trip altogether? Do you need to remember a trip for the benefits to stick?
Wait, Barbie is from … Wisconsin?
WCCO
The Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison has a Barbie collection dating back to 1961. That’s two years after she originally debuted in the same iconic black-and-white-striped bathing suit. The museum also has a Barbie dressed in a University of Wisconsin-Madison cheerleader uniform.
‘Dairy farmers are hurting right now’: Milk prices and dry weather impacting farms
Spectrum News
Leonard Polzin tracks dairy markets at the UW-Madison Division of Extension. He said the state is feeling the effects of a post-pandemic lag in milk demand.
“Total supply is up, and demand is down. We’re increasing inventory, cows keep producing every day, and we just can’t turn it off. Our inventory numbers of all dairy products are increasing, and buyers know that. Buyers are not hungry for product,” explained Polzin.
From cheese tasters to product testing, the Center for Dairy Research continues innovating industry
CBS 58
For 37 years, the Center for Dairy Research (CDR) has helped innovate the dairy industry.
“Cheese-making has been around, there are lots of different guesses right now, but probably somewhere in the region of 8000 years,” CDR and University of Wisconsin Madison Professor of Food Science John Lucey said.
Lois Brooks on artificial intelligence and higher education
PBS Wisconsin
UW-Madison Chief Information Officer and Vice Provost for Information Technology Lois Brooks describes how the university is managing the use of generative AI among students, faculty and researchers.
UW-Madison grad and midfielder Rose Lavelle makes her second Women’s World Cup appearance
Wisconsin Public Radio
The U.S. Women’s National Soccer team is poised to make history in Australia and New Zealand with a chance to win the FIFA World Cup for a third time in a row. And Wisconsin businesses are taking advantage of the hype.
Wisconsin students still majoring in education, but teacher retention is down
Wisconsin Public Radio
Maddison Iwen beams when she talks about teaching fourth graders at Coloma Elementary School in the Central Wisconsin-based School District of Westfield.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate, who will begin her fourth year heading a classroom this fall, says she was born to teach. But even with this enthusiasm, Iwen knows it might not be for everyone.
American poverty can be abolished, Pulitzer winner Matthew Desmond argues in new book
Wisconsin Public Radio
After netting a Pulitzer Prize in general nonfiction for writing a book about evictions in Milwaukee, Princeton University sociologist Matthew Desmond sought to tackle a broader lens: Why is there so much poverty in a nation as wealthy as the United States?
In his new book releasesd this year, “Poverty, by America,” the University of Wisconsin-Madison alum argues one underlying reason for poverty is that many Americans benefit from it.
Garden Talk: Become a Master Gardener
Wisconsin Public Radio
Learning more about gardening in Wisconsin is only a mouse click away. Our horticulture guests from the UW Extension share information on taking Master Gardener classes and answer your gardening questions.
How Biden’s SAVE plan fits could affect student loans
Wisconsin Public Radio
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a Biden administration program for student loan relief, President Joe Biden is out with an alternative plan. The Department of Education is calling the Saving on Valuable Education plan the “most generous” repayment program of its kind. Nicholas Hillman, a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at UW-Madison, gives an update on federal student loan policy.
‘More than just a job’: Wisconsin dairy industry focused on workforce amid state’s labor shortage
Wisconsin Public Radio
Leonard Polzin is dairy markets and policy specialist for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension. He told Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Central Time” that most dairy processors have ongoing recruitment efforts and continue to think about ways to compete with employers hiring from the same labor pool. But he said processors are also starting to pay more attention to advancements in technology and how automation could make jobs easier or replace them altogether.
“If they can take what once was done by 10 people and do it by one person through the advent of additional investment, that’s always a topic of discussion,” he said.
What’s causing a milk oversupply?
Wisconsin Public Radio
Farmers across the Midwest are again dumping volumes of milk down the drain as an oversupply floods the markets. We talk with Leonard Polzin, UW-Madison Extention’s Dairy Markets and Policy Outreach specialist, about what’s causing the milk surplus and how long it may last.
What to know about Rose Lavelle, University of Wisconsin alumna in World Cup for USWNT
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Rose Lavelle, a star for the U.S. in the last World Cup four years ago, will be once again in the mix. The Cincinnati native played college soccer at the University of Wisconsin.
Supreme Court justice writes DEI education for attorneys would create ‘goose-stepping brigade’
Wisconsin Public Radio
Quoted: University of Wisconsin Madison associate professor of political science and legal studies Howard Schweber said given the current state of politics, it’s not surprising that the state’s high court denied the DEI education request. But he called Bradley’s comments shocking.
“Whatever tattered shreds of civility were left within the legal profession have surely vanished when you have a Supreme Court justice saying about her own state’s bar that they are effectively in a conspiracy to take over America and to make an explicit Nazi reference in doing so,” Schweber said.
Federal agriculture officials declare drought disaster in southern Wisconsin
Wisconsin Public Radio
Josh Kamps is a crops and soils educator for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension in the southwestern region. He said crop conditions vary greatly across his area, even from farm to farm.
Kamps said producers who were able to plant early in the season got enough rain to get crops started, allowing the plants to grow deeper roots that tapped into water farther below the surface as soils dried out.
“We have areas where crops were planted a little bit later, maybe toward the end of May,” he said. “Those crops are really struggling. These last couple of rain showers this week are going to definitely help.”
‘Here & Now’ Highlights: Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Alder Russell Stamper II, Howard Schweber
PBS Wisconsin
Here’s what guests on the July 14, 2023 episode said about a 2% sales tax in the city of Milwaukee that comes with specific policy conditions and a surprising circuit court ruling in the Wisconsin abortion statutes lawsuit.
Includes interview with Howard Schweber, professor emeritus of political science at the UW-Madison and affiliated faculty at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Survey: Just under half of Wisconsin businesses plan to hire additional employees over the next six months
Wisconsin Public Radio
Steven Deller, professor of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said businesses remain in “wait and see mode,” as they’ve dealt with economic uncertainty since the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates more than a year ago.
“Six months ago, it was like, the Fed is raising interest rates, the sky is falling, the leading economic indicators are all pointing towards recession,” Deller said. “Now, people are going, ‘Well, wait a minute, the sky is not falling.'”
Menzie Chinn, a professor of public affairs and economics at University of Wisconsin-Madison, said Goldman Sachs’ prediction might be a little rosier than that of most economists. He said economists are anticipating an economic slowdown in the latter half of 2023 or early 2024.
“While people think the chances of a recession are receding, I think the average forecaster still sees a recession coming,” Chinn said. “That being said, I think most of them also think it would be a mild recession.”
Rare, stinky corpse flower on the verge of blooming at Milwaukee’s Mitchell Park Domes
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: Amorphophallus titanum, the flower’s official name, is native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The Domes received a gift of a dormant corm — similar to a bulb or tuber — about 15 years ago from the University of Wisconsin and have since grown 10 corpse flower corms from the original.
Long-unfunded Wisconsin State Climatology Office boosted by USDA grant
Wisconsin Public Radio
For the first time in a decade, the Wisconsin State Climatology Office is receiving government funding. A USDA grant will focus the office on rural needs, particularly those of farmers. We talk to Steve Vavrus, the Wisconsin State Climatologist and a senior scientist for the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies Center for Climatic Research at UW-Madison, about this and funding for a statewide network of weather stations.
The northern lights in Wisconsin tonight
Wisconsin Public Radio
Francisco Ley, a graduate student in the UW-Madison Department of Astronomy, talks about how and why we might be able to see the Northern Lights this evening around Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Republicans banned race-based hiring in local government. It’s already been illegal for over 50 years.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
One of the measures put forth by Republicans sliced $32 million from the University of Wisconsin System budget in an attempt to eliminate nearly 200 DEI jobs on UW campuses.
Vos relabeled the DEI acronym “division, exclusion and indoctrination” and called diversity programming at Wisconsin’s public universities the “single most important issue” facing humanity last month at a Republican state party convention in La Crosse.
With ‘Top Chef’ coming, these are some of Wisconsin’s most iconic reality TV moments
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Speaking of food, a pair of University of Wisconsin food science graduate students won “The Amazing Race 25,” winning the globetrotting contest that featured 11 teams.
UW-Madison, Alliant Energy partner to build a solar park at Physical Sciences Lab in Stoughton
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The University of Wisconsin-Madison and Alliant Energy are partnering to build a solar park that will also serve as a research center to explore mixing solar and agriculture, soil impacts, water issues and more.
New research and therapy development at UW Carbone Cancer Center
Wisconsin Public Radio
According to Newsweek, the UW Carbone Cancer Center is listed as the top cancer hospital in Wisconsin for 2023. We learn about the hospital’s latest work, including prostate MRI’s and proton therapy. Interview with Dr. Joshua Lang, associate director of translational research, and Dr. Nataliya Uboha, an oncologist and faculty leader for Cancer Therapy Discovery & Development, both at the UW Carbone Cancer Center.
Earth entering a new, human-caused, geologic age
Wisconsin Public Radio
A panel of scientists are saying the planet is entering a new geologic epoch for the first time in civilization’s history: the Anthropocene. It’s also the first era sparked by humanity’s planetary impact. We talk with Elizabeth Hennessy, a UW-Madison Environmental Studies associate professor, about the effects of humanity on the planet.
Experts say only far northern Wisconsin has a chance to see the northern lights this week
Wisconsin Public Radio
Jim Lattis, director of University of Wisconsin’s Space Place, said auroras are caused by charged particles from the sun interacting with gasses like nitrogen in the Earth’s atmosphere. He said a lot of things have to go right for that to happen.
“There are solar flares popping off on the sun every other day or daily these days, but those flares have to emit something that then crosses an awful lot of space between us and the sun, and then actually interacts with the earth,” he said.
Summer nights are getting warmer in Wisconsin. Here’s why that’s a problem.
Wisconsin Public Radio
Warmer nights can be especially concerning because the body no longer has a chance to cool down, said Elizabeth Berg, a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who studies the effect of heat in urban environments.
“If temperatures stay above a certain threshold overnight, that’s when it’s … constant stress on your system,” she said. “And that’s when things get dangerous.”
2 Republican bills would ban transgender women and girls from competing in female sports
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Wisconsin Republicans released two proposals Wednesday that would ban transgender girls and women from participating in female sports at every grade level and in college.
The bills, authored by Republican Rep. Barbara Dittrich of Oconomowoc and Sen. Dan Knodl of Germantown, would bar male and transgender female students attending publicly-funded K-12 schools, University of Wisconsin System campuses and state technical colleges from competing in sports designated for females.
Wisconsin schools that went remote for longer saw expanded gaps in graduation rates
Wisconsin Public Radio
Wisconsin schools that had a longer period of virtual or hybrid learning during the pandemic saw graduation rates rise among wealthier students and fall among those at an economic disadvantage, a new study found.
The study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, published in the journal Educational Researcher, analyzed data from 429 public high schools in the state during the 2020-21 school year and two years before then.
Wisconsin’s Watt brothers will appear on a Wheaties box
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
They’ve shared a household, a Pewaukee High School legacy, an NFL football field and now a cereal box.
Wheaties, the iconic brand that’s pictured prominent athletes on its orange cereal boxes since the 1930s, will release a new box that features J.J. and T.J. Watt on the front. The University of Wisconsin standouts have combined for four NFL Defensive Player of the Year trophies, and J.J. has been busy in his first offseason of retirement, recently announcing he’d be joining the NFL on CBS crew in the fall.
20 languages, 50 staffers: Milwaukee clinic tailors work to immigrant mental health needs
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“(The) clinic is actively involved with all of the communities from which people come,” said Fred Coleman, a 20-year clinic partner and psychiatrist on the clinical faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
How the history of pharmacy resonates today
Wisconsin Public Radio
More than 80 years ago, the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy was founded at UW-Madison. Today, the organization supports pharmacy education around the country. We speak with Lucas Richert, the institute director, and Hannah Rose Swan, the archivist at the UW-Madison School of Pharmacy, on how the history of pharmaceuticals resonates today.
After quintuple bypass heart surgery, Wisconsin powerlifter eyes 500-pound record this year
Wisconsin Public Radio
“Michael (Love) was one of the healthiest people we’ve ever seen who needed this procedure,” UW Hospital surgeon Dr. Satoru Osaki said after the procedure. “It was clear to us that he would take his recovery very seriously because he was so serious about his goals.”
Farming Mental Health
Wisconsin Public Radio
Shereen Siewert welcomes Wisconsin bestselling author Michael Perry and University of Wisconsin Center for Dairy Profitability Farm Succession Outreach Specialist Joy Kirkpatrick for a discussion on farmer well-being and mental health.
Gov. Evers vetoes required merger of UW campus and technical college in Washington County
Wisconsin Public Radio
Supporters of a plan to merge a two-year University of Wisconsin System campus and nearby technical college in Washington County say they’ll go it alone after Gov. Tony Evers struck the proposal from the state budget this week.
With full plants, dairy industry experts say reports of milk dumping are unsurprising amid spring flush
Wisconsin Public Radio
Chuck Nicholson, agricultural economist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said it’s not unusual to see some milk dumping in late spring and early summer.
“We tend to see a peak in the production of milk per cow around this time of year,” he said. “That’s based on biology of the cow and the timing of what the climate looks like to make that milk.”
With some UW-Madison building projects millions over budget, state considers suing contractors
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The board overseeing Wisconsin’s public universities on Friday approved spending nearly $60 million to finish several University of Wisconsin-Madison building projects that are over budget.
The Supreme Court rejected student loan forgiveness—what does that mean for borrowers?
Wisconsin Public Radio
Last week, the United States Supreme Court ruled against the Biden administration’s attempt to cancel or reduce student loan debt. Nicholas Hillman, a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at UW-Madison and expert on higher education finance, joins us to talk about what the decision means for millions of borrowers.
Inside the GOP plan to guarantee UW-Madison admission to top 5 percent of high school graduates
Wisconsin Public Radio
We learn about a potential new bill that would aim to prevent losing top academic talent in Wisconsin to other states.
The financial costs of romantic relationships
Wisconsin Public Radio
Love can be expensive, whether its dates, a wedding or even having children. Sarah Halpern-Meekin, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Human Ecology, joins us to discuss the impact that costs and economics have at different stages in romantic relationships.
Extreme drought threatens Wisconsin corn crop
Wisconsin Public Radio
July is a key month for corn pollination, making the next few weeks all the more critical for the crop. That’s according to Jason Otkin, an associate research professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who specializes in drought.
“We’re entering a really important time of the year now for the corn crop — pollination in July is so critical. So if we stay dry, and if we get really unlucky and have a big heat wave, that’s going to do quite the number on the corn crop,” he told “The Morning Show.”
Robin Vos: $32M in UW funding won’t be released unless diversity programs end
Wisconsin Public Radio
Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says Republicans will withhold $32 million in funding for the University of Wisconsin System unless it ends diversity, equity and inclusion programming. The statement comes one day after a veto from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers reinstated 188 DEI positions at state campuses with a budget veto.
UW Regent pushes for more transparency after budget cuts, campus closure
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
At least one member of the board overseeing the University of Wisconsin System is pushing for more transparency about the dire financial situation facing some campuses.
Bice: Who won this legislative session? Gov. Tony Evers did with novel vetoes.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The governor protected the 188 positions within the University of Wisconsin System focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, a point of emphasis for Vos. Evers eliminated a tax break for people in the top two income brackets, prompting a rebuke from the Assembly leader.
Gov. Evers uses line item veto to spare 188 diversity, equity, inclusion staff at UW System from termination
Wisconsin Public Radio
Gov. Tony Evers has signed a Republican-drafted state budget that includes income tax cuts for most residents and a major increase in funding for K-12 education, more state aid to local governments and workforce housing. With his powerful veto pen, Evers spared 188 UW System diversity, equity and inclusion staff positions from elimination and eliminated tax cuts for the state’s two highest income brackets.
Tony Evers uses veto powers to extend annual increases for public schools for the next four centuries
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Evers also vetoed a plan from Republican lawmakers to eliminate 188 positions within the University of Wisconsin System focused on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, but maintained the $32 million cut in funding that was paired with the staffing reduction. Republicans put $32 million into a fund UW officials may request money from as long as the GOP-controlled committee approves the officials’ plans for its use.
Gov. Evers vetoes GOP plan to merge West Bend college campuses
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a Republican plan Wednesday that would have merged the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Washington County with Moraine Park Technical College.
Gov. Tony Evers issued 51 partial vetoes to the state budget. Here’s what they do.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
In signing the state’s two-year spending plan Wednesday, Gov. Tony Evers used his partial veto authority to ensure rising public school funding for four centuries, remove proposed tax cuts for top earners, and retain University of Wisconsin System diversity positions.
UW-led team of astrophysicists identifies invisible ‘ghost particles’ in Milky Way using AI
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Astrophysicists have long predicted that the Milky Way is a source of ghostly particles called neutrinos, but haven’t been able to detect them. Until now.
In a new study led by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a massive detector at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory finally caught a glimpse of high-energy neutrinos being emitted from within the Milky Way.
‘Here & Now’ Highlights: Tommy Thompson, Charles Franklin, McCoshen & Ross
PBS Wisconsin
Tommy Thompson, a former governor and former president of the UW System, said the time is now to address the fiscal future of the statewide public university system and overlaps with technical colleges across Wisconsin.
‘Institutionally refusing to accept science’: Wisconsin DNR at center of lawsuit against beaver management program
Wisconsin Public Radio
David Drake, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor and Extension wildlife specialist, teaches a class on wildlife damage management. He said that the beaver population is not at risk of being endangered or threatened. Rather, he said, beavers, which are a rodent species like mice or rats, breed regularly.
“The beaver population is healthy in the state of Wisconsin, as it is throughout the United States. And I think the management is justified and I think it’s responsible and I think it’s ethical and professional,” Drake said.