Like many other Indigenous groups, the Maya don’t view nature as a resource to take from, but as a collection of subjects to build reciprocal relationships with.
The Commons
Learning without Limits
Our exploration crew has safely landed on the alien planet called “Earth.”
Reflections on Climate Change and Tourism and Outdoor Recreation
Natalie Chin, climate and tourism outreach specialist, shares the local impacts of climate change — and what can be done to help.
Boots on the Sand
On the north coast of Trinidad, there’s a long, remote stretch of beach.
Finding the Fun in Bureaucracy
At the end of the spring semester, the Nelson Institute welcomed the newest member of the senior leadership team: Steph Tai, professor of law, who joined the institute as its associate dean for education and faculty affairs.
The Psychology of Sustainable Farming
Nelson Institute environment and resources PhD student Sophia Winkler-Schor has spent most of her life fascinated with both the environment and Latin America.
Jon Martin Q&A
Growing up in northeastern Massachusetts, the frequent winter snowstorms (and days off from school that accompanied them) piqued Jon Martin’s interest as a kid.
An On-Track Diversion
If Travis Blomberg is successful, only 10 percent of UW–Madison’s waste will end up in a landfill.
EC Graduate and Board of Visitors Member Helps connect People to Urban Green Spaces
Hidden among the pavement and large buildings of many urban areas are small but sacred green spaces. From a young age Angélica Sánchez-Mora was able to appreciate both urban and rural living. Now, she works to help connect those living in urban spaces to the slices of nature around them.
The Impact of Climate Change on Walleye
Learn why one of Wisconsin’s most important native fish species is at risk – and what can be done to help.
Nelson Around the World
Although the Nelson Institute is housed within Science Hall at 550 North Park Street, our faculty, students, and alumni are sharing our mission and conducting research internationally.
Science Hall: A History
Science Hall is a building that bares its soul, says Daniel Einstein, historic and cultural resources manager at UW–Madison and graduate of the Nelson Institute.
Meet Chris Kucharik
Chris Kucharik is an expert in both atmospheric sciences and land management and ecology.
A New Perspective
It’s 61 degrees — a warm 61 — with mostly sunny skies save for a haze brought down by the Canadian wildfires.
Delight versus Displacement
For students in Environmental Studies 922: Historical and Cultural Methods in Environmental Research, research doesn’t take place in a lab or a library.
All Risk, All Reward
When Martha Goodell sat down in Science Hall for her first class as a Nelson Institute graduate student, she did as any new student would do — chatted with the person sitting next to her.
Paper co-authored by UW–Madison professor and student receives Frontiers Planet Prize
In spring 2023, Nelson Institute faculty member Holly Gibbs and Seth Spawn-Lee, a UW–Madison graduate research assistant and member of the Gibbs Land Use and Environment Lab, worked on a team that published a paper featured in Nature Food.
Alpha Advocate
As a kid, Francisco Santiago-Ávila had a plan to become a priest.
Continuing a Legacy
Being out in nature and working with the land is within graduate student Jesse Eddinger’s genes.
Taking Stock of the United Nations Paris Agreement
Nova Tebbe, a PhD student in the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment, exemplifies the interdisciplinary research of the Nelson Institute.
Hands-On Watershed Management
Determined to remove a log from a large pile, several Nelson Institute water resources management students attempted to pull on a system of connected several ropes by leveraging their bodyweight backwards across a field at Badger Farms in Deerfield.
And the Award Goes to …
Nearly 5,000 Nelson Institute alumni work in government, business, and nonprofit organizations, applying their knowledge and skills to make the world a better and more sustainable place.
Director’s Cut: Sean Schoville
It has been a great year for the Center for Ecology and the Environment (CEE)!
A Sense of Place
The Odyssey Project is a unique program at UW–Madison that invites adult students with economic barriers to higher education to take humanities courses on campus.
Moving Forward on Climate Action
After its initial assessment report, the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts looks to the future.