Quoted: Adrian Treves is a professor of environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Treves says Wisconsin hasn’t been transparent with its count and that the federal government shouldn’t rely on the state’s numbers.
Quoted: “Europe, the United Nations and other U.S. allies opposed the invasion and annexation,” said Yoshiko Herrera, a University of Wisconsin political scientist. “It wasn’t just Obama who opposed it.”
Noted: Sure, sometimes people do get in the way. They’re curious. What’s this thing for, anyway? They’ll follow the robots to see what they do or tap their buttons to see what happens. “People want to explore them, and they don’t know how to do that,” says Bilge Mutlu, who runs the University of Wisconsin’s Human-Computer Interaction Lab. Rarely do the interventions cause damage.
Noted: Shanan Peters, a geologist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, imagined what would happen if we burned every forest, blade of grass, bacteria and bird on Earth — basically everything except humans — in a presentation slide at a scientific convention in June.
Quoted: “One of the biggest things that impressed me about this paper was the cleverness of that circuit design,” says Michael Arnold, a materials scientist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison not involved in the work.
Our guests are Stan Temple, professor emeritus of forest and wildlife ecology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Leah Horowitz, professor of civil society and community studies in the School of Human Ecology at UW–Madison.
Quoted: “Each institution determines minimum full-time enrollment requirements. This is what is also known as a full course load requirement for international students,” says Roopa Rawjee, international student services director and assistant dean of students at the University of Wisconsin—Madison.
Quoted: “When I grew up, my mom poured a glass of milk at every meal and you were expected to drink it,” said Mark Stephenson, director of dairy policy analysis at UW-Madison. “My mother would say, ‘Drink your milk because it is good for you,’ and scientists said ‘It’s good for you’ and you believed them.”
Quoted: Some scientists argue the state hasn’t been fully transparent or allowed independent verification of Wisconsin’s wolf count since 2012, including Adrian Treves, professor of environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Shanan Peters, a geologist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, is working to understand just how it was that our lucky planet ended up with this strange surplus of oxygen. At a presentation in June, at the North American Paleontological Convention in Riverside, California, he pulled up a somewhat unusual slide.
Quoted: In fact, said University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher Peter Goff, who has studied teacher retention in rural areas, educators value strong support systems, good school leadership and welcoming communities just as much as higher pay.
Quoted: “It’s extremely important for all children who are eligible to receive vaccines because the vaccines actually protect them from disease and also protect others,” said Dr. Jeannina Smith, infectious disease specialist from the UW-Madison.
Noted: Keith A. Findley, Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences, University of Wisconsin Law School
Easiest reforms:
If forensic science wants to claim the mantle of “science,” it must follow fundamental scientific principles, like double-blind testing. Systems should be created to at least shield analysts from domain-irrelevant but contextually biasing information. This can be complicated at times, but it can be done without disclosing the vast array of information that analysts routinely receive today. Proper case management and intake systems can ensure that analysts receive only the information they need, and only when they need it.
Noted: As political scientist and University of Wisconsin professor David Canon points out, athletes garner more media coverage than traditional candidates, which is especially advantageous when running against an incumbent, according to the Dallas Morning News. Typically incumbents dominate the media coverage, as one July 2004 study concluded, so a background in professional athletics can be a major boost for a challenger.
Quoted: Despite the publicity of CTE, doctors cannot predict whether a child will have it later on, says Julie Stamm, Ph.D., LAT, ATC, who researched the issue at the Boston University CTE Center. “We do not understand why one person gets it and the other does not get it,” adds Dr. Stamm, also a clinical assistant professor in the department of kinesiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Think back to what you still remember from science class. No, there’s no need to strain your brain recalling the particulars of cellular mitosis or the periodic table. Instead, consider the idea that spanned any science class from biology to physics: the scientific method, the five-step process for analyzing problems, collecting data and coming to a well-supported conclusion.
But what if the scientific method is actually inaccurate—or at best reductive? What if spending so much time on this framework is giving students the wrong idea about how rigorous work is done by scientists?
That’s the unusual hypothesis being made by John Rudolph, an education professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of “How We Teach Science: What’s Changed, and Why It Matters.”
Noted: Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at UW-Madison, said while Duffy’s district heavily leans Republican, it’s not impossible for Democrats to win it in a special election.
He said before the 2011 map making that redrew the district in Republicans’ favor, former President Barack Obama won the district by 13 points in 2008 when he won Wisconsin by 14 points. In 2012 — after the new maps were drawn — Obama lost the district by 3 points, Burden said.
Deborah Blum is a science writer and the director of the Knight Science Journalism Program at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology. Prior to that, she was a professor of journalism at UW–Madison from 1997 to 2015. She is the author of many books, including The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York (Penguin, 2010) and The Poison Squad: One Chemist’s Single-Minded Crusade for Food Safety at the Turn of the Twentieth Century (Penguin, 2018).
Quoted: If a new sixth-grader has no one to sit with in the lunchroom one day or bombs a test, “they may start to question whether they fit in socially or can succeed academically,” notes Geoffrey Borman, a professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Borman and Rozek conducted research to see whether it was possible to bolster kids’ sense of belonging by underscoring that all students have difficulty at the start of middle school but eventually feel better.
Quoted: “Optimism is one important psychological dimension that has emerged as showing some really interesting associations with health,” said neuroscientist Richard Davidson, professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the founder and director of the Center for Healthy Minds.
Quoted: Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the district tends to favor Republicans.
“It really is a combination of the drawing of the district lines in a way that was intentional to favor Duffy and Republicans who were in charge of that process, but also just really migration of that district in the Republican direction,” he said.
Noted: Régner suggests that a “habit-breaking intervention,” such as that described by the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Patricia Devine and colleagues, might help to facilitate gender equity at academic institutions. In these sessions, participants are made aware of their implicit biases and learn strategies to counter them. This year, the CNRS began offering training sessions on gender stereotypes to evaluation committee members and each committee has appointed a reference person in charge of gender equality issues. Raymond tells The Scientist this self-evaluation and corrective action should take place at all academic institutions, but may be a long time coming.
Quoted: Beth Graue, Director at the Center for Research on Early Childhood Education at UW-Madison, said it’s important for parents to realize that it’s not only students who go through a transition.
New pencils, notebooks and backpacks may be on the checklist as the summer winds down and kids gear up for a new school year, but Dr. Shilagh Mirgain says it’s also an important time of year to check in with kids on how they’re feeling about heading back to school.
“We spend a lot of time preparing our kids for school by buying them school supplies or back-to-school clothes, but our families should equally spend time preparing kids mentally for the start of the school year and pre-school jitters and anxiety,” said Mirgain, a clinical psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health.
Quoted: “Deforestation was a well-known problem in the classical world,” said Dr. Paul Robbins, Director of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “For example, the historian Strabo wrote in the 1st century B.C.E. that the lowland areas of the island of Cyprus were once covered with forests that prevented cultivation, but these had all given way to farming and other activities.”
Quoted: “Optimism is one important psychological dimension that has emerged as showing some really interesting associations with health,” said neuroscientist Richard Davidson, professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the founder and director of the Center for Healthy Minds.
Quoted: “We know that most cities on average are warmer than rural areas. Trees tend to humidify the air,” said Ankur Desai, UW professor of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.
UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden said “it’s not impossible” for a Democrat to win, but that structural factors, particularly the way the district was drawn in 2011, favor Republicans.
Prof. Steve Wright talks about the Wisconsin Innocence Project.
“When you meet the exonerees…someone who lost 20 yrs like Robert Lee Stinson, whose life is forever changed & destabilized…we all should work hard to ensure wrongful convictions don’t happen”
Quoted: Throughout the country, 10-year storms, which have a 1 in 10 chance of happening in any given year, are occurring about 40% more often than in the 1950s, said Daniel Wright, a civil and environmental engineering professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In the eastern half of the U.S., 100-year storms are happening 85% more often.
It’s very clear that climate change is increasing the number of storms we’re seeing, Wright said. “If we continue to ignore these problems, the cost of ignoring these problems is going to increase as the planet continues to warm.”
Quoted: Hummel, who spent a year in Israel researching his book and now teaches in the history department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says the tours designed for evangelicals generally have minimal contact with Palestinians, even with Palestinian Christians.
Quoted: Among Christians, “it’s much more of a culture-wars mentality,” says Dan Hummel, a historian at the University of Wisconsin at Madison who studies Christian Zionism. “It’s about winning and maintaining power.”
Noted: Steve Ackerman and Jonathan Martin are professors in the UW-Madison department of atmospheric and oceanic sciences.
Noted: Spencer Black served for 26 years in the state Legislature. He was chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee and the Assembly Democratic leader. Since leaving the Legislature, Black has been vice president for conservation for the national Sierra Club and adjunct professor of planning at UW-Madison.
It’s a common misconception that immigrants to the United States automatically gain citizenship status when they marry a U.S. citizen, said Erin Barbato, director of the Immigrant Justice Clinic at the UW Law School. Barbato said the process to citizenship even after marriage is time-consuming, expensive and complicated.
“The process of obtaining (lawful permanent residence) is often expensive, costing thousands of dollars in government and attorney fees, is stressful on the entire family, and is a demanding process for many couples who are still in the first stages of their marriage, all while they are simply attempting to build their lives in the U.S.,” Barbato said.
Quoted: UW Health Anxiety and Disorder Director, Marcia Slattery said the most common anxieties she sees are in kids who are transitioning from elementary to middle or middle to high school.
Quoted: Howard Schweber, a political science professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, said ultimately, he believes the case has little chance of being thrown out.
President Donald Trump’s offer to purchase Greenland from Denmark earlier this week bewildered many, Assistant professor of Scandinavian studies Claus E. Andersen spoke to BBC radio about the impact on relations between the U.S and Denmark. Cue to the 17 minute mark to hear his thoughts.
The guest is Sarah Halpern-Meekin, associate professor of Human Development and Family Studies at UW-Madison’s School of Human Ecology.
Noted: Susan Paskewitz, Ph.D., professor and chair of the of the Department of Entomology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and senior author on the study, says checking out mouse nests was a logical choice. “We were developing an agent-based model that explored mouse behavior and blacklegged tick numbers on the mice,” says Paskewitz, who conducted the research alongside Wisconsin graduate students Ryan Larson and Tela Zembsch and research associates Xia Lee, Ph.D., and Gebbiena Bron, Ph.D. “The model suggested that mice spend so much time in nests during the day that ticks should be detaching and ending up in that environment at greater rates than we had suspected. So, we decided to look in nests, which turned out to be more difficult than you might imagine.”
Noted: We close out the summer’s birdy nerdery with a celebration of some of these bird geniuses, and learn how researchers are investigating their minds through experimentation and observation. UCLA pigeon researcher Aaron Blaisdell and University of Wisconsin neuroscientist Lauren Riters join Ira and producer Christie Taylor to talk about the brightest minds of the bird world, and the burning questions remaining about avian brains.
Written by Robert Enright, a Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Board Member of the International Forgiveness Institute, Inc.
Quoted: “Bees actually require the non-plant proteins of these pollen-borne symbionts to complete their growth and development — which makes them omnivores,” said Dr. Shawn Steffan, a research entomologist with the Vegetable Crops Research Unit of the Agricultural Research Service in Madison, Wisconsin and the Department of Entomology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
In the study, the Dr. Steffan and his colleagues from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Cornell University and Hokkaido University used isotope- and gas chromatography-based methods to calculate the ratio of nitrogen in two types of amino acids (glutamic acid and phenylalanine) in the tissues of adult bees and in beebread.
Noted: Prarthana Dharampal of the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Shawn Steffan, who works jointly at the university and the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), assessed 14 different bee species in six of the seven bee families. They found that bees eat substantial amounts of microbes, enough to change how they fit within food webs. Scientists use a scale to categorize where organisms belong in that web: those that make their own food, such as plants, register at so-called trophic position 1 (TP 1), herbivores register at TP 2 and carnivores do so at TP 3, or even higher if they eat other carnivores.
It’s been a wet summer in Wisconsin and wet summers are often filled with mosquitoes. But that isn’t how 2019 has played out so far, according to a Wisconsin scientist.
Lyric Bartholomay, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor who studies infectious disease agents such as mosquitoes and ticks, told WPR’s “The Morning Show” Thursday that the state has seen average numbers of mosquitoes so far this year.
Noted: Howard Schweber, a political science professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, said ultimately, he believes the case has little chance of being thrown out.
Most economist agree that a recession is coming. UW-Madison professor Moses Altsec is here to remind us not to panic.
Noted: A study by Monica Turner, an ecologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, showed that even broader tree cover can reduce urban temperatures by up to 5C.
Noted: Research that one of us, Bill, did with Willie Choi of the University of Wisconsin and Gary Hecht of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, suggests that simply talking about strategy with people is not sufficient. In other words you can’t just invite them to boardroom briefings and hang signs around the building promoting the strategy—you need to involve people in its development.
A Stark County resident is tracing his German-Hungarian family’s roots through a project called Preservation on the Prairie. The project, which was sponsored by the Stark County Historical Society via grant from Humanities North Dakota, is headed by Anna Andrzejewski, a professor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She, along with graduate students Travis Olson, Laura Grotjan and Carly Griffith, are working to preserve the history of Stark County’s German-Russian and German-Hungarian families.
“We get out a tape measure and we create floor plans of the buildings as well as sometimes drawings of the exterior of the buildings,” said Andrzejewski. “We’re using the buildings kind of to learn about the people, but we can’t do it just with measured drawings like this. We have to learn from maps, other kinds of records, atlases — talking to people is the best resource that we’ve found. You guys know when your properties were homesteaded. You have information that has been passed down to you about the history of these buildings, and that helps us fill the gaps.”
Many Madison residents have directed disdain toward “Nails’ Tales” over the past 14 years and the criticism revived during the removal process. But art experts say “Nails’ Tales” sparked conversation in the community, and for that it’s been a success … UW-Madison professor Gail Simpson, who specializes in public art and sculpture, said she finds “Nails’ Tales” to be a “funny and smart” commentary on football culture.
Noted: A 2002 federal law requires election officials to offer provisional ballots as a safeguard for people who show up at the polls but find they aren’t on the rolls or can’t verify their eligibility. Election officials review the ballots after the polls close and count them if it turns out the voter is eligible and throws them out if they’re not. It’s a requirement born from the chaos in Florida during the 2000 presidential election, when voters turned up at the polls and suddenly found they weren’t on the rolls, said Barry Burden, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of its Elections Research Center.
Noted: Nandini Pandey, an associate professor of classics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and an expert on Augustus, notes that the Dio remark documenting that Augustus harangued the populace to “replenish the fatherland” is taken quite out of context.
Quoted: “It’s basically taking away the unknown and helping that child feel prepared, which makes them feel empowered and then their brain feels like ’I’ve got a plan, I’m ready,” Dr. Marcia Slattery, UW Health Director of Anxiety and Disorders, said.
Noted: “Americans may love on some level the notion of having some of the greatest universities in the world, but basically we like practical things, as opposed to the life of the mind, which is seen as slightly European, elitist, [and] not quite connected to the larger culture,” says William Reese, a professor of educational-policy studies and history at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Noted: One advocate for automated enforcement is David Noyce, chair of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and director of the Traffic Operations and Safety Laboratory at UW-Madison, a research group partnered with the DOT dedicated to improving traffic safety.
Quoted: “Tariffs are part of the story,” said Tessa Conroy, an economist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Quoted: With the renewed rise of outlets that lean left or right, the country now has a “hybrid system,” said Michael Wagner, a journalism professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.”What’s good about that is some organizations are upfront about their points of view,” he said. “What’s bad about that is not everyone is, and it’s really hard to tell the difference.”
Noted: To learn more, Dr. Meyer turned to stored blood samples and other records from a relevant earlier experiment. That research, which he had conducted as a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin, had involved women with major depression completing a number of workouts on stationary bicycles.
Interviewed: University of Wisconsin-Madison Director of the Center for Climatic Research Jack Williams talks about the role climate change plays in extreme weather events like the flooding that happened in southern Wisconsin in August 2018.
