From advancing environmental justice to using technology to develop sustainable solutions, our students approach our planet’s most pressing environmental challenges from a diverse range of backgrounds, interests, and experiences. Check out how some of our future environmental leaders are making a difference, both locally and abroad.
From Lab Work to Land Management
For Linnea Patterson, studying biology was — well, in her biology.
March 13, 2024
Introducing the Nelson Ambassadors
Since it first opened to students in 2011, the Nelson Institute’s environmental studies undergraduate major has seen rapid growth — after just one year, the number of declared students nearly doubled.
February 19, 2024Building a Sustainable Community
Imagine a community where people work together to preserve natural resources, protect their watershed, and learn about the importance of conservation.
February 9, 2024Connecting Water, Connecting People
For Heidi Putnam, water resource conservation is less about understanding the hard sciences than it is about understanding the communities relying on those water resources.
December 11, 2023A Bird’s-Eye View of Conservation
Soumika Gaddameedi’s passion for the environment began at a young age, stemming from childhood memories of hiking and surrounding herself with nature.
December 6, 2023A Full-Course Meal
Ashley Cheung’s life has always been intertwined with the environment.
December 1, 2023Industry Revolution
Making copies, sorting files, delivering documents. These are tasks one might associate with your standard internship, but they’re nowhere to be found in the lineup of duties for students participating in UW–Madison’s Corporate Sustainability Internship Program.
September 14, 2023The 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.
July 31, 2023An On-Track Diversion
If Travis Blomberg is successful, only 10 percent of UW–Madison’s waste will end up in a landfill.
July 26, 2023EC 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.
July 24, 2023A Welcome Return
Caitlin Williamson’s connection with the Nelson Institute runs deep, having graduated with the very first cohort of students to complete the environmental conservation (EC) master’s degree in 2015.
July 6, 2023Continuing a Legacy
Being out in nature and working with the land is within graduate student Jesse Eddinger’s genes.
June 22, 2023Taking 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.
June 14, 2023
