Category: UW Experts in the News

Even P.J. Liesch, who, as director of the University of Wisconsin’s insect diagnostic lab in Madison, called it far out of the ordinary. “We’re seeing very unusual numbers,” Liesch said. “Typically we have some of them around, but in general, in Wisconsin this time of year, they start quieting down.

Noted: University of Wisconsin, Madison Director of Dairy Policy Analysis Mark Stephenson said he’s not surprised at the declining trend.

Noted: According to Tom Richards, an entomologist with the University of Wisconsin- Madison, as we get our last taste of summer, mosquitoes are getting one last taste of us.

Noted: But child welfare, like medicine, for example, has a fundamentally different mission than immigration enforcement, said former HHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Maria Cancian, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Muddying the two could undermine the best interests of the children, she said.

Noted: It would be difficult to differentiate between bacterial colonies washed in from recent rain or bacteria that had been in the lake all along, said Richard Lathrop, a University of Wisconsin-Madison expert on freshwater lakes.

Noted: Some insurers could opt to exit the market for health insurance sold directly to individuals and families, said Justin Sydnor, a professor of risk management and insurance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Quoted: “Freshwater flooding poses the greatest risk to life,” explains James Kossin, an atmospheric scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. And Florence could cause extensive freshwater flooding for two reasons.

Noted: Timothy Smeeding, who teaches public affairs and economics at the University of Wisconsin, put it more bluntly. “You can see dynasties starting to form,” he said.

Quoted: “It takes a certain skill-set to be able to do this,” says Liam Johnston, a third-year graduate student in the UW–Madison Department of Statistics.

Quoted: “People entering the system can use a talk like this because it lets them know they’re not alone if their views don’t perfectly match what’s on the parties’ menus,” Wagner said. “And it’s nice for older citizens because they can kind of think about where they’ve been in their lives.”

Noted: “Agriculture has been a positive net trade balance for the U.S. In other words, we export more agricultural products than we import,” said Mark Stephenson, director of dairy policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In this month’s installment of Field Notes, Scott Bowe of Kemp Station discusses Milkweed in Wisconsin.

Rain and flooding has brought out the mosquitoes in southern Wisconsin. UW-Madison entomologist Susan Paskewitz says they bring two concerns with them — disease and the nuisance factor.

Noted: Story references a new working paper by Justin Sydnor and other researchers about the “gap between intentions and actions.”

Noted: Universities typically choose to redistribute loans first because students benefit more from keeping grants and scholarships, said Karla Weber, communications manager at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Office of Student Financial Aid.

Quoted: “I think both men and women are now more accepting and open about having cosmetic procedures. They’re not so secretive about it anymore,” said Dr. Ahmed Afifi of UW’s Transformations Clinic.

Noted: Radesky and co-author Megan Moreno of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison first recommend that parents step back and think about their relationship with their phone. Instead of using it as a stress reliever, take deep breaths and go for a walk. Instead of withdrawing into a phone to avoid difficult family interactions, purposefully engage with others and potentially confront issues. Instead of losing track of time, be aware of attention hogs and notice how much time has passed when checking e-mail or social media. 

The University of Wisconsin-Madison last week sent out contact information for experts on issues related to the annual return to school, and the range of topics covered struck us as such a good checklist we thought we’d share it with you.

A nascent labor organization held a brief media event last week to draw attention to a proposal once considered far-fetched: a minimum wage of $15 an hour. (Three UW experts are quoted.)

Noted: A new paper by Dean Corbae of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Ross Levine of the University of California, Berkeley, presented at this year’s Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, suggests an elegant solution to this dilemma: Regulators should push banks to become more like partnerships. Putting senior employees and executives first in line to bear losses would reduce the damage from crises by tempering their willingness to take bets with skewed risk profiles. The problem is not competition itself, but the effect of competition when bankers are playing with other people’s money.

Quoted: Other research finds that hearing a word can help you see it thanks to a theory known as the feedback hypothesis. For instance, if you are looking for something, talking about it out loud could help you find it. “For tasks with a multi-step sequence, talking to yourself out loud can help you keep out distractions and remind yourself where you are,” said Gary Lupyan, a researcher and psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison said in the New York Times.