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. UW-Milwaukee undergrad researcher ‘stepping back in time’ on Lake Michigan shoreline

    Photo of UWM student Mikayla Walker showing a fragment of peat with well-preserved plant and insect material unearthed at Sheridan Park in Cudahy. The fossil was found at the bottom of a bluff containing sedimentary strata deposited under a nearly mile-thick glacial at the end of the last ice age. Behind Walker are student Rene Chavez and geosciences lecturer Scott Schaefer. (UWM Photo/Troye Fox)

    April 27, 2021

    Between 35,000 and 40,000 years ago, Lake Michigan’s geography looked drastically different. Much of its present-day shoreline was made up of marshes and bogs. Student researchers are studying fossils deposited […]

  2. UW-Stout shredded campus office paper being recycled into tissue paper

    Photo of UW-Stout student Heather Kent, a senior business administration major from Altoona, shredding office paper in the Human Resources office./UW-Stout photo

    April 23, 2021

    Earth Week activities April 16-22 include campus clean-up, hike and plastics discussion University of Wisconsin-Stout’s shredded office paper is finding new life at Cascades in Eau Claire as tissue paper. […]

  3. UW–Madison alum’s mask makes Time magazine’s list of best inventions of 2020

    Photo of Max Bock-Aronson

    April 22, 2021

    While studying abroad in Singapore as a University of Wisconsin–Madison mechanical engineering undergraduate student in 2013, Max Bock-Aronson experienced heightened levels of air pollution firsthand. He also happened to be taking an […]

  4. UW-Stout professor’s research shows economic losses to rivers, lakes and streams from large-scale animal farms

    Photo of cows eating in a barn. / Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Agriculture

    April 21, 2021

    Manure management must be part of policy discussion, Raff says A University of Wisconsin-Stout economics assistant professor in the social science department is part of a groundbreaking research study on […]

  5. Virtual courses give UW-La Crosse senior a taste of Costa Rica, Italy

    Photo of Emma Jonas, a senior biology major, who is taking courses offered in Costa Rica and Italy through the Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship, a national program supporting study abroad opportunities.

    April 8, 2021

    The Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship is a prestigious award given to only about 20% of applicants. Emma Jonas, a senior from UW-La Crosse, was one of those students this year. […]

  6. UW-Milwaukee undergrad’s research focuses on fish-fry staple yellow perch

    Photo of Emma Kraco, who worked in aquaculture for several years before deciding to go to college. UWM's Freshwater Sciences program attracted her to the university. (UWM Photo/Elora Hennessey)

    April 7, 2021

    Emma Kraco was always interested in biological sciences in elementary and high school. “I loved looking for bugs, looking at tiny things up close. It just made sense to get […]

  7. UW-Green Bay Leading Regional Efforts to Locate National Estuarine Research Reserve on Green Bay

    Photo of UW-Green Bay estuarine researchers on a boat

    April 2, 2021

    Public kick-off event is April 12 (and again April 15) Green Bay, Wis.—The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, in partnership with local and national agencies, is leading efforts to recognize local […]

  8. UW-Platteville undergrads team up to unravel the molecular basis of plant-microbe symbioses

    Photo of UW-Platteville student Kaylee Finseth

    March 20, 2021

    Often reserved for upperclass students at many universities, research has been a part of Kaylee Finseth’s college experience since nearly the time she first stepped foot on campus at the […]

  9. UWM-sponsored Lake Sturgeon Bowl celebrates its 20th year

    Photo of winners of the 2014 Lake Sturgeon Bowl, the Spring Valley High School team from Wisconsin, sitting on a huge piece of driftwood at Rialto Beach on the Pacific Ocean in Washington before competing in the National Ocean Sciences Bowl in Seattle. (Submitted photo)

    March 19, 2021

    Wisconsin is 700 miles from an ocean coastline, but the state is home to numerous high school students with award-winning knowledge of oceanography. That’s in part due to the efforts of the […]

  10. UW-La Crosse, UW campuses aim to be global leaders in freshwater science

    Photo of UW-La Crosse grad student Courtney Baker investigating microplastics in the Mississippi River in this 2019 photo. Through the Freshwater Collaborative, UWL students and faculty will continue to be global leaders in freshwater science and critical aquatic issues.

    March 17, 2021

    The future is water.  As the world turns its attention to climate change, the availability of clean water and other critical aquatic issues, the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin — a partnership of Wisconsin’s 13 […]

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