The Commons – January 2023

  • Linda Vakunta

    Nelson Alumna Among Most Influential Black Leaders

    Nelson Institute alumni award winner Linda Vakunta has earned another impressive accolade: she was recently named one of Wisconsin’s most influential Black leaders by the Madison-based news outlet Madison365.

  • Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies UW–Madison

    Nelson Embraces the Work Ahead

    Since an initial Campus Climate Survey in the fall of 2016 and a follow-up in 2021, the Nelson Institute has prioritized addressing the experience for its faculty, staff, and students.

  • Photo by Jeff Miller / UW–Madison

    Partnership in the Air

    Imagine you’re on a beach, and you pick up one single grain of sand.

  • Lewis Hanson

    Remembering Lewis Hanson

    Lewis “Lew” Hanson, UW–Madison alumnus and devoted supporter of the Nelson Institute, passed away on November 23, 2022, at the age of 90.

  • Stephen Born

    Introducing the Stephen Born Scholarship

    When it comes to Wisconsin conservation and water management, few names are more synonymous than Stephen Born.

  • Hannah Zanowski

    Q & A: Meet Hannah Zanowski

    If you have ever asked yourself the question “What’s really going on in the ocean,” Assistant Professor Hannah Zanowski has the answers for you.

  • Mercedes Pascual

    CEE Fall Symposium

    When Sarah Ensor was invited to open the Center for Ecology and the Environment (CEE)’s 2022 Fall Symposium, she accepted with a disclaimer: “What I would have to say as a literary scholar, environmental humanist, and queer theorist, would undoubtedly sound like it was coming out of left field,” joked Ensor, a Nelson affiliate and assistant professor of English, in her opening remarks.

  • Schoville (center) helped create a mobile app called Yosemite Butterflies, an interactive field guide to the park’s unique butterfly fauna. Photos courtesy of Sean Schoville

    Director’s Cut

    I’m grateful for the opportunity to reintroduce myself as the director of the Center for Ecology and the Environment (CEE), the newest research center in the Nelson Institute.

  • Mosquito Hill Nature Center

    Creating A Buzz for Mosquito Hill Nature Center

    On a brisk October afternoon, a group of University of Wisconsin–Madison students set out on three miles of trails winding through Mosquito Hill Nature Center to fully experience the outdoor community resource in Outagamie County.

  • Windmill turbines in rural Wisconsin farm land northeast of Madison near Baraboo are pictured in an early morning aerial taken from a helicopter on Oct. 23, 2018. Photo by Bryce Richter / UW–Madison

    UW Establishes Rural Partnership Institute

    The Nelson Institute’s Center for Climatic Research (CCR) will be partnering on a new initiative to support Wisconsin’s rural communities.

  • Adapting to Evolving Climate Challenges in Wisconsin

    WICCI’s Community Sustainability Working Group addresses challenges and shares recommendations.

  • UW–Madison Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin and Brigadier General Dean Thompson, 353rd Civil Affairs Command, shake hands after signing the MOU between UW–Madison and the U.S. Department of Defense. Photo by Jason Gohlke

    Operation Wisconsin Idea

    On Wednesday, Dec. 14, Bascom Hall hosted an intriguing trio: leaders from UW–Madison leadership, the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, and the United States Department of Defense (DOD).

  • When the River Runs Dry in Lusitu, Zambia

    Their parents were forcibly displaced by a colonial dam project in 1958. Now, the residents of Lusitu, Zambia, rely on traditional knowledge to grow food in the face of climate change.

  • The Resilience of Mallards, and Us

    Allyson Mills, an environmental studies certificate student, was one of three winners of the Office of Sustainability’s inaugural Sustainability Writing Awards.