Category: UW Experts in the News

Noted: Dane County and other small- to medium-sized metro areas are seeing most of that population growth, said David Egan-Robertson, applied demographer with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Applied Population Laboratory.

Noted: Professor emeritus Bob Cropp from the University of Wisconsin-Madison said milk prices usually decrease later in spring as nice weather brings an increase in milk production.

Quoted: “Fruits are treated differently in Asian culture and in Japanese society especially,” Soyeon Shim, dean of the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, tells CNN. “Fruit purchase and consumption are tied to social and cultural practices.

Waisman Center’s Sigan Hartley talks to Channel 4 about Sesame Street’s new muppet, Julia.

“High turnout has been maintained by a combination of three factors: a strong culture of civic participation, supportive election laws and competitive elections,” said Burden. “The participatory culture probably did not change substantially since the last election. The more likely culprits are changes in election laws and the competitiveness of the 2016 campaign.”

“We are looking for a much improved year for dairy farmers,” said Cropp, professor emeritus with University of Wisconsin-Extension and UW-Madison. “Feed prices are lower and milk prices will be higher, which will improve margins — returns over feed cost. As of now it looks like milk prices could average about $2 per hundredweight higher than last year.”

Noted: “Study after study has shown that this assumption is not supported by the data,” says Dietram Scheufele, who studies science communication at the University of Wisconsin.

Noted: Nancy Keller, who studies fungal pathogens at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, also emphasizes the importance of studying the corn outside of a greenhouse laboratory. Regulatory agencies would insist on all this testing before allowing the modified corn to be introduced globally.

Noted: Karen Strier, a University of Wisconsin-Madison anthropologist, just visited the forest, which lies within the federally protected RPPN Feliciano Miguel Abdala reserve near the Brazilian city of Caratinga.

Recently, Wisconsin has lagged by this measure even as the cost of renewable energy has fallen, said Greg Nemet, a UW-Madison La Follette School of Public Affairs professor who specializes in energy policy.

Noted: One of your best weapons during a disease outbreak is knowledge, says Dr. Jonathan Temte of the University of Wisconsin.

We’ve all heard of the great divide between life in rural and urban America. But what are the factors that contribute to these differences? We asked sociologists, economists, geographers and historians to describe the divide from different angles. The data paint a richer and sometimes surprising picture of the U.S. today. Contributor: Tessa Conroy, Economic Development Specialist, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Noted: Dr. Diane Heatley, an ear, nose and throat specialist for children, echoed the pinch-and-hold method in a piece on the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health’s website, noting that an ice pack is also useful as, much like your fingers, cold surfaces work to constrict blood vessels in the nose. However, she also said that these cold items must be applied to the nose only — so if you’ve heard others tell you to place an ice pack near your neck or mouth, it wont help. Said Dr. Heatley, “A cold cloth or small ice pack on the bridge of the nose will also slow blood flow by constricting blood vessels. … But an ice pack on the back of the neck won’t do much.”

Noted: “Probably in other sciences this is where you’d be done. However, in math that’s just the beginning. Now we want to know for sure,” said Melanie Wood, a mathematician at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Noted: Air quality, in particular, represents an enormous environmental-health achievement, said Tracey Holloway, a professor of environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Noted: Marine fisheries tend to be commercial operations, while freshwater fishing is almost exclusively a means of subsistence. “Most freshwater fish catches don’t enter the global trade economy, so they draw less interest,” says University of Wisconsin–Madison zoologist Peter McIntyre.

Noted: “Understanding and addressing pay gaps in higher education is a complex matter. Unpacking how these gaps continue to exist, albeit with some progress, requires both a close look at the institutions and individuals involved,” says Dr. Jerlando F.L. Jackson, the Vilas Distinguished Professor of Higher Education at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Noted: Kim Truong, a 2016 graduate of the full-time MBA program at the University of Wisconsin—Madison’s Wisconsin School of Business, says she learned some companies mainly recruit full-time MBA candidates.

Quoted: Hart Posen studies competition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and says these skirmishes underscore Airbnb’s success.

They’re prepping for a huge Lyme disease year in the northeast but maybe not so much in Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin entomologist Susan Paskewitz says she’s seen nothing to suggest the state as a whole will face a Lyme outbreak this year – just not the kind of mouse population explosion happening in the northeast.

Quoted: “When you buy into a franchise, you are buying a system of operations and you are buying an accepted brand,” says Michael Williams, director of entrepreneurship activities and director of the business and entrepreneur clinic and faculty associate at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship. “Franchising ebbs and flows with the economy; when we have a slowdown or recession and people are laid off, there may be an uptick in franchising as people look to replace their incomes.”

Quoted: “We had about 65 days of lake ice on Mendota this year,” Hilary Dugan, a postdoctoral researcher studying limnology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said.

Quoted: “By 1900, it was estimated that as many as 10% of all tuberculosis cases in humans were caused by infection via milk consumption,” wrote University of Wisconsin food science professor John Lucey in a review for the journal Nutrition Today. (I usually only consult with professors at Wisconsin for dairy-related matters.)

Noted: Susan Paskewitz, professor of entomology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, began checking Wisconsin sites in response to the news, to see if this state’s mouse population was also growing.

White-nose syndrome is named for the fuzzy white growth of fungus observed on the faces of infected bats. Infected bats show unusual behavior, such as flying during the day in summer or leaving caves during their usual winter hibernation, when no bugs are present for them to eat. A wildlife veterinarian at the University of Wisconsin confirmed the disease kills bats by causing their bodies to overheat, burning energy too quickly and at a time — in winter — when no insects are present to replace the lost calories and when it’s far too cold for the mammals to survive outside.

Quoted: “There’s a general belief in the public that teachers shouldn’t be using their classroom as a soapbox but there’s a ton of variation on what’s allowed and what’s not allowed,” said Paula McAvoy, program director at the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Ethics and Education.

Noted: Geologist Huan Cui of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and colleagues discuss their findings in a recent paper, “Redox-dependent distribution of early macro-organisms: Evidence from the terminal Ediacaran Khatyspyt Formation in Arctic Siberia,” published in the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.

Noted: Checking for fairness could eventually become a basic aspect of programing, says Samuel Drews, a graduate student at University of Wisconsin-Madison who works on a similar fairness-checking tool.

A political science professor and elections expert will discuss the Electoral College during a presentation at 5 p.m. Wednesday in Room 1415 of Centennial Hall at UW-Eau Claire.

Noted: Allyson Bennett, a developmental psychobiologist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison who works primarily with rhesus macaques (which are not covered by the PETA request), argues that if the animals are removed from research, they may end up in zoos or other settings with a lower standard of care and less public oversight and transparency. “That is not a win for the animals,” Bennett says.