Environment

From the shores of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan to the bluffs of La Crosse, the UW System is helping to preserve and enrich the environment and abundant natural resources of our great state. Increasing energy efficiency, purifying the Great Lakes and creating habitats for endangered animals are just a few examples of the environmental goals our institutions are working toward.

  1. Nine UW-Stout students present applied research at annual state Capitol event

    Photo of food science major Caitlyn Lisota working in a Heritage Hall lab on E. coli test kits, part of her research presented at the state Capitol.

    March 29, 2023

    Research in the Rotunda includes food science major explaining work on consumer and commercial test kits for E.coli and coliforms A research spotlight shone on nine UW-Stout students on Wednesday, […]

  2. UW-Platteville student presents research on evening bat

    Photo of Kirsten Magedanz researching the evening bat.

    March 24, 2023

    One University of Wisconsin-Platteville student spent her summer learning about bats and researching whether the species of bat Nycticeius humeralis, commonly referred to as the evening bat—which has historically stayed south […]

  3. Wisconsin cave holds tantalizing clues to ancient climate changes, future shifts

    Photo of then-UW student Cameron Batchelor (left) and Richard Slaughter (right), director of the Geology Museum at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, studying cave walls while doing research at the Cave of the Mounds near Blue Mounds, Wisconsin. Batchelor led the analysis of mineral samples to identify a possible link between ice age warm-ups recorded in the Greenland ice sheet. PHOTO: BRYCE RICHTER

    March 15, 2023

    Even in their dark isolation from the atmosphere above, caves can hold a rich archive of local climate conditions and how they’ve shifted over the eons. Formed over tens of […]

  4. UW-Stevens Point student prepares for UW System research showcase

    Photo of Kyle Pulvermacher, an actuarial mathematics major and economics minor, who is among the six UWSP students presenting their work at Research in the Rotunda.

    March 7, 2023

    How does a college education impact income inequality? University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point junior Kyle Pulvermacher took on this question as part of research he will present at the UW System […]

  5. UWO geology students thrive on field-based learning, demand for grads strong

    Photo of UW Oshkosh students posing with a geological rock formation. UW Oshkosh’s summer geology field camp is designed to expose students to a wide variety of rock types and geologic settings. Projects are conducted in the Wasatch Mountains, as well as other parts of Utah and Nevada. (Photo courtesy of UW Oshkosh)

    February 27, 2023

    The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh’s geology program has a history of turning out highly prepared graduates—the kinds who are sought by employers all over the world. “Geologists are highly employable […]

  6. UWM research seeks to find how small microplastics become in waterways

    Photo of Laodong Guo, professor of freshwater sciences, investigating the molecular structures of microplastics to determine how small they ultimately become in waterways. (UWM Photo/Elora Hennessey)

    January 26, 2023

    The tsunami of plastic waste flooding into oceans and the Great Lakes eventually breaks down into bits that are about the size of a sesame seed in a process called […]

  7. Reptile read: UWL alum authors book detailing state’s turtles, frogs and more

    Photo of Josh Kapfer, ’99 & ’02, who is the co-author and primary editor “Amphibians and Reptiles of Wisconsin,” a new book offering a detailed look at these organisms. Kapfer is a professor and certified wildlife biologist at UW-Whitewater.

    January 19, 2023

    Growing up in Stoughton, Wisconsin, Josh Kapfer always had an intense interest in wildlife — particularly amphibians and reptiles.  Like many, his first wildlife experiences were capturing turtles and frogs […]

  8. When hurricanes threaten, national media turn to UWM prof’s website

    Photo of Clark Evans, professor of atmospheric science in the School of Freshwater Sciences, who maintains a website that translates meteorological data into an accessible format so that it can be used to create maps. The graphics are also available every six hours through a Twitter account that is linked to the storm data. (UWM Photo Services)

    January 10, 2023

    As hurricanes loomed over the southeast United States, both the Washington Post and the New York Times consulted a database on a UWM professor’s website for information on these storms, […]

  9. New pier, trail surface help make UWSP Schmeeckle Reserve more accessible

    Photo of Friends of Schmeeckle, donors and community members attending a ribbon cutting for the new accessible fishing pier and Lake Loop Trail at Schmeeckle Reserve on Sept. 29.

    December 19, 2022

    Schmeeckle Reserve is now more accessible for people of all abilities, thanks to a fundraising project completed by the Friends of Schmeeckle earlier this fall. A new accessible fishing pier […]

  10. UWM alum helps uncover oldest-ever human footprints discovered in North America

    Photo of soil rich with gypsum, which helped preserve human footprints from some 23,000 years ago at what is now White Sands National Park. (Photo courtesy of the National Park Service)

    December 13, 2022

    Millennia ago, before the pyramids were built, before the development of pottery, before mammoths and mastodons went extinct, children were splashing in puddles on the shores of paleo-lake Otero in […]

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