Category: UW Experts in the News

Quoted: Nete Schmidt is a Scandinavian studies professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison.  She spent most of her life in Denmark.

“You can choose to go two ways.  You can ignore the weather or you can embrace the weather, and I think that in Denmark, I just chose to ignore the weather,” Schmidt said.

Noted: Games where a player takes on another person’s perspective or becomes immersed in a specific environment can be beneficial in building positive interpersonal relationships, according to Tammi Kral, a research assistant at the Center for Healthy Minds at University of Wisconsin-Madison who is not affiliated with Junub Games or Salaam. Kral says that as video game developers explore the potential for games to inspire “prosocial” behavior, they would do well to collaborate with psychologists and behavioral scientists who understand the impact of games on specific brain networks.

Noted: The November meeting did draw some reading experts — including UW-Madison cognitive neuroscientist Mark Seidenberg and Madison reading advocate Laurie Frost — who have been publicly critical of the district’s teaching approach to reading. When they spoke, Morateck emphasized that the meeting was meant for parents, not the community at large, although she did not ask anyone to leave.

Noted: Mark Stephenson, the director of dairy policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said this deal gets the U.S. dairy industry back about where it was in the original North American Free Trade Agreement, and it was the best the U.S. could get after fractured relationships from the original call for a renegotiation.

Noted: As winter asserts its dominance with a new cover of white over major portions of Wisconsin, Brody and Jill Thein-Nissenbaum offer tips about how to stay safe while shoveling. Thein-Nissenbaum is an associate professor in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Doctor of Physical Therapy Program.

Quoted: Mark Stephenson, the director of dairy policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said this deal gets the U.S. dairy industry back about where it was in the original North American Free Trade Agreement, and it was the best the U.S. could get after fractured relationships from the original call for a renegotiation.

Noted: Not everyone agrees. A 2017 survey at the University of Wisconsin-Madison asked 1,600 members of the general public about their attitudes toward gene editing. The results showed 65 percent of respondents think gene editing is acceptable for therapeutic purposes. But when it comes to whether scientists should use technology for genetic enhancement, only 26 percent agreed.

Quoted: Quantifying the ramifications of more-limited water vapor measurements to meteorological models is difficult, says meteorologist Jordan Gerth of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. “Short-term weather forecasts for areas far away from cities where these 5G networks exist may not be impacted substantially,” he says. “Long-term forecasts downstream of big cities and populated areas may be impacted more.”

Quoted: Suskind and Katherine Magnuson, director of the Institute on Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, keynoted the session.

Magnuson said, “Those inequalities that we see at 16, 17 or 18 are present when kids enter school. Those first five years forecast what comes later.”

Noted: The greatest challenge for teachers is that, though impeachment is a question of national urgency, it also aggravates partisan divides. Despite these trends, I have written about and researched with the dean of University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Education, Diana Hess how teachers do find ways to engage students in political discussion in ways that their parents and other members of their communities suppo

Quoted: “We do this ’Keeping up with the Joneses’ thing, where we compare what we have to what other people have. But really, that is a recipe for unhappiness,” says Christine Whelan, a clinical professor of human ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: Adrian Treves, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor and founder of the Carnivore Coexistence Lab, thinks the DNR has undercounted the number of illegally killed wolves.

Noted: “It’s like an apartment building of sorts,” explains Jordan Gerth, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. “There’s some general expectation that everybody keeps relatively quiet. In the spectrum land, we have our meteorological application, our science applications, and those that require a very quiet environment and [quiet] adjacent environment. But the telecom signals are typically very loud, and are also susceptible to leaking outside their space.

Noted: Paul Mitchell, director of the Renk Agribusiness Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said farmers have received a small portion of food dollars for years. He said the trend is driven by consumers’ desire to buy the cheapest food products available.

Noted: According to Jerry O’Brien, Executive Director of the Kohl’s Center for Retailing at UW-Madison, while the crowds may not seem as big as they did a decade ago, Thanksgiving weekend still brings out roughly 170 million shoppers. That’s why, he said it’s still serious business for big box retailers.

Noted: “Farmers had prepared themselves for three-year cycles, but not five,” said Mark Stephenson, director of Dairy Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: “We’ve been salting very heavily for going on 60 years,” said Hilary Dugan, an assistant professor in freshwater sciences at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Quoted: “Wisconsin has been one of the major states in helping provide the samples and making the determinations that have moved the investigation forward,” said Noel Stanton, chemical response coordinator at the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: Marina Maes, an assistant professor specializing in family medicine at UW-Madison’s School of Pharmacy, said she has worked in states where similar legislation is already enacted.

Noted: University of Wisconsin-Madison economist Andrew Reschovsky praised the study, but called Harris’ claim misleading.

Quoted: Christopher Kucharik, professor and chair of the agronomy department at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, citing data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, and the National Weather Service, says three of the six wettest years ever recorded (since 1869) in Madison have happened in the past several years?—?2013, 2016 and 2018.

Noted: “I don’t understand the conceptual model for global competence that leaves language out,” said Dianna L. Murphy, director of the Language Institute at the University of Wisconsin.

Noted: Christopher Kucharik, professor and chair of the agronomy department at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, citing data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, and the National Weather Service, says three of the six wettest years ever recorded (since 1869) in Madison have happened in the past several years?—?2013, 2016 and 2018.

Quoted: When Chia Youyee Vang heard about Sunday night’s horrific shooting in Fresno, she pictured her brothers.

“They get together to watch Sunday Night Football, too,” said Ms. Vang, the director of the Hmong Diaspora Studies Program and a history professor at the University of Madison-Wisconsin. “It was so tragic because it was part of a normal routine in life — you’re not hiding in the jungle, you’re not in a war zone.”

Quoted: UW-Madison Director of the Personal Finance Program Linda Lepe said when it comes to sticking to your budget one of the best tips is, “do your homework.” “Know what you’re shopping for before you hit the stores,” Lepe said.