Ankur Desai, an affiliate of the Nelson Institute Center for Climatic Research and professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences (AOS) in the College of Letters and Science, was recently awarded the American Geophysical Union’s (AGU) 2022 Joanne Simpson Medal for Mid-Career Scientists — one of the highest honors bestowed by AGU.
News
MWCASC Hosts First Annual Meeting at UW-Madison
On August 26–27, 2022, the University of Wisconsin–Madison hosted the first annual gathering of the USGS Midwest Climate Adaption Science Center (MWCASC) where over 90 individuals from across the Midwest met to share research, discuss management priorities, and provide training and professional development for students and post-docs.
The Business of Forests
It was hard to keep Nelson Institute environmental observation informatics (EOI) MS grad Alex Ramos away from his hometown of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada when the opportunity to turn his passion into a full-time career came knocking.
Enlightening Lightning
Lightning storms, lightning bugs, Lightning McQueen — the sky’s electrostatic discharge has been the stuff of entertainment and legend for time immemorial.
Living History
On June 20, 2022, a small flotilla could be seen off the southwest shoreline of Teewąąšikhomįik, He Who Lies There (English name, Lake Mendota). The air was still, as was the water, while the group …
Creating a Cleaner Future
Sustainability came into Ashok Sarkar PhD’97’s consciousness on a roof on a New Delhi summer night.
Sharing Credit Where Credit Is Due
When Robert Ribe was 17 years old, his mother handed him a book.
The Connector
Margaret Krome finds connections everywhere.
Extreme Heat and Drought in Wisconsin
The Nelson Institute Issue Brief is a quarterly publication that summarizes and conveys up-to-date scholarship from across the UW–Madison campus on key issues of environmental concern.
Leave No Trace
Every summer, typically at the start of August, downtown Madison’s sidewalks transform into junkyards — or, perhaps, thrift stores for the Hippie Christmas devout.
From the Catbird Seat
Megan’s special place was a tree. It was a big, old elm in Warner Park, where she spent the afternoons with Bird Buddies, her after-school group.
In the Shadow of the Old
“We’re building the new in the shadow of the old,” Keefe Keeley MS’14, PhD’21 mused as we meandered about the fields and woodlands of the Savanna Institute’s North Farm, five miles from Spring Green, Wisconsin.
New Faculty Q & A: Becky Larson
It’s a messy business, manure, but it’s one that Becky Larson tromps through with grace.
Making Freight Sustainable
Nelson Institute undergraduate student Zebulon Grove sees a hopeful future for sustainability in business practices.
Director’s Cut
I am writing to introduce myself as the new director of CHE. It is a very great privilege to take over responsibility for an organization that plays such a vibrant role in the life of …
Introducing: The Jim Miller Graduate Scholarship
“Water is fundamental to all life,” states the leading sentence on the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies’ water resources management (WRM) program website. It’s a short and simple sentence, but one whose importance cannot be …
Notaro Teaches AOS 100 Class
It was a summer of firsts for Nelson Institute Center for Climate Research Director and scientist Michael Notaro and the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Summer Collegiate Experience (SCE) program.
Fortifying Farmland
Anyone who’s driven through rural Wisconsin — or had their eye pressure checked — is familiar with the idyllic picture of the Midwest: a two-lane road between rolling pastures leading to a little red farmhouse.
EC and EOI Cohorts Finish 15-Month Programs
As summer comes to a close, so does the 2021–22 Environmental Conservation (EC) and Environmental Observation and Informatics (EOI) cohorts.
UW-Madison Geography Students Share Appleton International Airport’s Sustainability Story
Geography 309 partnered with UniverCity Alliance to connect students with communities.
Climate Hazards Worsen More Than Half of Infectious Diseases
Chances are you’ve known that climate change isn’t just affecting the environment, but human health as well.
Thoroughly Modern Canid
What do buses, Starbucks, and coyotes have in common? If you said, “things you find in a city,” you’d be correct.
EC Student Aspires to a Role in Conservation Planning Despite Facing Adversity
Nelson Institute environmental conservation (EC) master’s student Carrie Lovelace has persevered through some of life’s toughest challenges while completing her degree.
The “Jalisconsin Idea”
In June, UW alumnus and visiting Nelson Institute professor Eduardo Santana Castellón was presented with the Environmental Merit Award from the Jalisco (Mexico) State Congress.
Nuclear Fallout: From the Sky to the Sea
Blocked out sunlight, crop failure, and … sinking oceans? Elizabeth Maroon, faculty member in the Nelson Institute’s Center for Climatic Research, discusses the threat that nuclear war poses to the planet’s oceans.