Category: UW Experts in the News

Quoted: Bill Tracy, an organic corn breeder and professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, says, “Many CRISPR-induced changes that could happen in nature could have benefits to all kinds of farmers.” But, the NOSB has already voted on the issue and the rules are unlikely to change without significant pressure. “It’s a question of what social activity could move the needle on that,” Tracy concludes.

Quoted: “We know from long-standing research that young people are more sensitive to changes in election law,” said Barry Burden, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. “Young people haven’t established a voting habit yet. So these things either get in the way or enable them to get that habit started.”

Quoted: John Hawks, a palaeontologist at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, voiced similar doubts: “Can we really use a small part of the skull like this to recognise our species?” he said. “The storyline in this paper is that the skull is more rounded in the back, with more vertical sides, and that makes it similar to modern humans. I think that when we see complexity, we shouldn’t assume that a single small part of the skeleton can tell the whole story.”

Quoted: Barry Burden, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Elections Research Center, predicted many of the hopefuls would be stubborn and persist because “the race appears to be in flux.”

Quoted: “There is enough evidence to be concerned, not enough to be alarmed. But there is no time to waste,” said Dr Michael Hernke, a co-author of the study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, stressing further research was needed.

Quoted: “They exacerbate climate change by increasing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants as well as some direct leakage of HFCs,” said David Abel, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was referring to hydrofluorocarbons, chemical coolants that are also powerful greenhouse gases.

Quoted: Emily Stanley, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Limnology and Department of Integrative Biology, said although they haven’t yet seen large blooms she describes as “epic” in Madison’s lakes, they are seeing frequent blooms. She said people should stay away from water that looks like it has white, blue or green foam floating on the top.

Quoted: “This is a very unusual event,” says Jonathan Martin, an atmospheric and oceanic scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Indeed, Jalisco Gov. Enrique Alfaro Ramírez said in a video posted to Facebook that the storm was “one we haven’t seen before,” a statement that leads Martin to theorize that that kind of event happens in Guadalajara at most only once every 60 to 100 years.

Quoted: The deadly European heat wave of 2003 is a cautionary tale. The first to die were manual laborers, such as roofers, says Richard Keller, a medical historian at the University of Wisconsin Madison who wrote a book on the extreme event called Fatal Isolation: The Devastating Paris Heat Wave of 2003. “It’s always easy to rationalize those deaths away, but they may be a harbinger of things to come,” he says.

“A guilty pleasure is something that we enjoy, but we know we’re either not supposed to like, or that liking it says something negative about us,” said Sami Schalk, an assistant professor of gender and women’s studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“That negative thing often ends up being an association with categories of identity we disparage and marginalize in society,” according to Dr. Schalk.

Quoted: “It gets complicated,” says Paula Niedenthal, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who was not involved in the recent research.

Quoted: “All of the Democrats, I think, will feel obligated to be on board with some kind of redistricting reform,” said Barry C. Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “I think it guarantees that it’s going to be a prominent issue throughout this next election cycle.”

Quoted: That heat wave fell in the month of August, when many in France take vacations and leave critical services understaffed and ill prepared to deal with the emergency, said Richard Keller, professor of medical history and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who wrote a book on the 2003 event.

Quoted: Europe has learned from the 2003 heat wav, which killed more than 70,000 across the continent, said Richard Keller, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of medical history. The death toll should be more limited this year, said Keller, the author of Fatal Isolation, a book on the Paris heat wave of 2003 that killed thousands. “France is much better prepared, emergency services are in place, and awareness of the dangers is much higher,” Keller said.

Quoted: Karen Oberhauser, a monarch butterfly researcher and director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum not affiliated with the study, has major concerns around releasing nonnative butterflies.