The Commons – November 2022

  • Everyone's Earth: Conversations on Race and Environment

    Everyone’s Earth lecture discusses enslaved people’s mobility

    On November 2, the Nelson Institute’s Everyone’s Earth lecture series hosted Dr. Christy Hyman, assistant professor of human geography at Mississippi State University, where she spoke on the intersections of the social, political, and economic costs of enslaved freedom seekers and their journey to liberation.

  • Sumaiya Firoze. Photo courtesy of Sumaiya Firoze

    Back in Bangladesh, EC Alumna Uses New Skills

    Traveling from the opposite side of the world, Sumaiya Firoze came to the Nelson Institute determined to grow her conservation knowledge and skills to help her home country of Bangladesh.

  • Kendi Aaron. Photo credit: Blen Wondimu

    Environmental Advocacy in Action

    “Madison in the summer is beautiful," says undergraduate Kendi Aaron. “That's the one thing I will die on a hill for.”

  • The Best Laid Plans

    “The story usually starts with carbon.”

  • The flag of the Ho-Chunk Nation dances in the wind following a flag-raising ceremony at the top of Bascom Hill in front of Bascom Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Sept. 15, 2022. Photo credit: Bryce Richter / UW–Madison

    Advocating for a Shared Future

    While Elliott Funmaker of the Wisconsin Dells Singers drummed a song passed down through generations, officials raised the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin flag outside of the Waunakee Village Hall on the first day of Native American Heritage Month.

  • What’s Stressing Wisconsin’s Wildlife?

    Wisconsin wildlife are stressed by climate change, according to a report from the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (WICCI).

  • Commuter Community

    UW–Madison recognized by Dane County Climate Champions for employee commuting.

  • Climate Influencers and the Politics of Attention

    How youth climate activists strategically leverage attention to gain institutional influence while navigating its uneven distribution across geographies.

  • Nellore cattle grazing in the field at sunset. Photo credit: Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil | iStock

    Despite commitments, Brazil’s beef sector tainted by purchases from protected lands in Amazon basin

    Depending on where it’s from, your next steak could come with a side of illegal deforestation.

  • Tracey Holloway. Courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy

    UW’s Tracey Holloway elected to National Academy of Medicine

    Tracey Holloway, atmospheric scientist and professor in the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, has been elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine in recognition of her leadership in initiatives to connect climate with health.

  • Eight Questions with Jennifer Raynor

    This Nelson alumna and CALS professor combines economic and environmental expertise.

  • Ankur Desai. Photo credit: Jeff Miller/University Communications

    Ankur Desai Honored with Mid-Career Award

    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.

  • Farmland. Photo courtesy of CALS

    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.