Category: UW Experts in the News

Putting together such a massive amount of information was “a huge job” by Eppley, said co-author Karen Strier, a professor in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s anthropology department. Strier has studied the northern muriqui, a primate species in Brazil since 1982.

“It’s like bringing the kids to day care from different suburbs,” said Dr. Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. “As they commingle, that’s where the virus moves around on a global scale.”

“If Russia pulls its troops out, the war is over — so, conceptually, it’s not like this is so complicated,” said Yoshiko Herrera, a professor of political science and a Russia expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “But, practically speaking in terms of what is likely to happen, Ukraine seems quite dedicated to preserving their sovereignty and nation, because it looks like they’re winning. And Russia seems committed to continuing the fight.”

That’s all intentional, said Jorell Meléndez-Badillo, a professor of Latin American and Caribbean history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “You will see that the reason why Puerto Ricans were not granted statehood [at the time] was precisely because the United States — including the president, congressmen, and academics as well — did not think that Puerto Ricans were fit to govern themselves.”

Michels is in his first campaign since an unsuccessful run for U.S. Senate 18 years ago. Barry Burden, a political science professor and director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin, said such candidates “make mistakes sometimes.”

In particular, as rocks erode, they disintegrate into sands and eventually muds made from clays. Clays tend to incorporate more heavy oxygen, explained Annie Bauer, an assistant professor and geochronologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who was also not involved in this study. Subducting mud and mixing it into the mantle would result in melt—and likely zircon—featuring heavier oxygen than a melt that incorporates no crustal material or crust that experienced less weathering.

Mike Wagner, a professor and political scientist at the University of Wisconsin, said it’s important to remember that “the facts don’t matter” for many people who share misinformation. They often don’t trust mainstream news sources or political institutions. Find the shared experiences that bring you together and demonstrate you’re not on the attack or calling them stupid.

“Aim for the heart, not the head,” he said. “If facts worked, there would be no need to have the conversation.

At the time, the ancient DNA field was “kind of a joke,” full of incredible claims that would turn out to be incorrect as scientists tried to recover DNA from dinosaurs, said John Hawks, an anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

“That’s the origin story,” says Nicholas Hillman, a professor of educational leadership and policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. “There became this general acknowledgment that individuals benefit a lot from college, so it justified a shift toward individuals paying.”

Classified documents, such as those containing nuclear weapons information, have restrictions on who can access them based on the calculation that the information’s release could pose a danger to national security, according to Kenneth Mayer, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin.

“Flood insurance is not equally distributed  in risky areas — homeowners who are more wealthy and in Whiter areas are more likely to have coverage,” said Max Besbris, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and coauthor of a recent book on the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.