1. UW-Stevens Point faculty awarded UW Innovation Grant for research on improving Wisconsin soils

    Photo of Associate Professors Brian Barringer and Ann Impullitti (left) working with UW-Stevens Point students on researching how hemp plants can be used to remove synthetic materials from soil.

    Five faculty members at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and a collaborator at UW-Madison were awarded one of three 2023 Universities of Wisconsin Innovation Grants for research on phytoremediation, the removal of synthetic materials from soil using living plants. The group’s proposal, Phytoremediation of PFAS in Wisconsin Soils using Hemp and Alfalfa, was funded $175,000, […]

  2. Biology major finds UWO perfect for college education and first professional job

    Photo of UW Oshkosh recent biology grad Jackie Behrens, of Menomonee Falls, Wis.

    From her first glimpse at campus, recent biology grad Jackie Behrens, of Menomonee Falls, knew the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh was the school for her “UWO was an ideal location for me. When I toured, I met Dr. Misty McPhee who shared all the amazing wildlife research she did here,” Behrens said. Fast forward through […]

  3. UW-River Falls Institute Helps Students Hit the Ground Running

    Photo of El Bartho (right) and Myah Eliason documenting curly leaf pondweed, an invasive aquatic species.

    For UW-Stout senior El Bartho, interning at the UW-River Falls Ecological Restoration Institute (ERI) was the perfect way to determine what she wants to do after graduation. The Environmental Science major interned as a conservation technician in summer 2023, working on a pilot project with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) St. Croix Wetland […]

  4. Crossing borders: UW-Stout students engineering new, clean water system for village in Ecuador

    Photo of UW-Stout students part of the university’s Engineers Without Borders chapter who traveled to a village in Ecuador to help build a clean water system. A return trip is planned in 2024 to continue the two-mile-long project. / Photo courtesy of Engineers Without Borders chapter

    After first visit in 2023, return trip planned in 2024 for second phase of two-mile-long mountainside project Residents of a village in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador are looking forward to having — for the first time — clean water, thanks to the skills and efforts of determined engineering students at UW-Stout. The students are […]

  5. UWO Students Conduct R&D for Wisconsin-based Whirl-Pak

    Photo of UW Oshkosh graduate student Erick Carranza who says working on R&D for Whirl-Pak has broadened his skills.

    Water research can result in a lot of plastic waste. High-quality sample collection — such as that for researching emerging contaminants like perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — requires sterilized containers that, unfortunately, can’t be reused or even recycled in most cases. Is there an economical and efficient way to reduce the waste? Product engineers […]

  6. Watershed Game Makes Water Science Fun for Students and Educators

    Photo of Wisconsin educators learning how to play and teach the Watershed Game.

    On a bitterly cold morning in January, teachers and educators from around northeast Wisconsin gathered at Barkhausen Waterfowl Preserve to learn how to play and teach the Sea Grant Watershed Game. The interactive board game helps students and local leaders understand the connection between land use and water quality. Through a series of active, hands-on simulations, participants learn […]

  7. Ready to change the world: Holly Folyer found UW-Superior’s online sustainability management program to be a perfect fit

    Photo of UW-Superior student Holly Folyer and Sakib Mahmud, Ph.D., a professor of sustainable management and economics at UW-Superior

    Sustainability: This important buzzword is ubiquitous these days. And, with good reason. The future of our earth – and its inhabitants – depends on a deeper understanding of climate change, which all circles back to sustainability. The University of Wisconsin-Superior offers a degree track which caters to this exact field of study. It’s called sustainable management. […]

  8. UW-Superior students win third place at Global Sustainability Supply Chain Case Competition

    Photo of University of Wisconsin-Superior students in the TRSP 300 Supply Chain Management class, part of the transportation & logistics management and supply chain management programs, who took part in the Global Sustainability Supply Chain Student Competition sponsored by the United Nations Group of Friends for Sustainable Transport during the Fall 2023 Semester.

    University of Wisconsin-Superior students in the TRSP 300 Supply Chain Management class, part of the transportation & logistics management and supply chain management programs, took part in the Global Sustainability Supply Chain Student Competition sponsored by the United Nations Group of Friends for Sustainable Transport during the Fall 2023 Semester. In this international event, the UW-Superior team of Hayden […]

  9. Health benefits of forest bathing for kids

    Photo of 2019 forest bathing experience led by Namyun Kil, UW-La Crosse associate professor of Recreation Management & Recreation Therapy.

    Study finds mental and physiological health benefits for kids and teens who participate in structured forest therapy A UW-La Crosse study found substantial health and well-being improvements for children and adolescents who participated in a structured forest bathing session. The improvements were both mental and physiological — including a measured decrease in blood pressure over the course […]

  10. Building a Better Response to PFAS Contamination

    Photo of student research, FCW

    A career in water or the environment never occurred to AJ Jeninga until she took a winter break course to Yellowstone as an undergraduate. Now a double alumna of the Universities of Wisconsin, Jeninga was hired as the first-ever emerging contaminant outreach specialist at the University of Wisconsin – Extension’s Natural Resources Institute. She works […]