Skip to main content

Category: Experts Guide

The forgiving brain

CNN, "Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta"

During the holiday season, we’re often encouraged to make amends and forgive people, but what does it take to really forgive someone? And what happens to your brain and body when you do… or don’t? In this episode, Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks with forgiveness science pioneer, Robert Enright. He’s been studying and writing about forgiveness for decades at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and he says forgiveness is a choice, and that your ability to do it can be strengthened like a muscle. Enright walks us through a range of scenarios, from forgiving small things like being late for a meeting to larg

Studying Wisconsin’s class of 1957

Wisconsin Public Radio

How does late adolescence impact you in your 80s? A decades-long study aims to answer that question after following thousands of students who graduated from Wisconsin high schools in 1957. We hear from Michal Engleman, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and current director of the study, on takeaways from one of the longest longitudinal studies in the country.

Not getting a COVID-19 vaccine could lead to preterm birth in pregnant women, new study shows

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“All evidence indicates that the vaccine is very safe and effective,” said Jenna Nobles, a demographer and professor of sociology at University of Wisconsin-Madison and study co-author. “In addition, it shows that avoiding the vaccine is what is potentially harmful for the pregnancy. This is an important piece of information for patients to have.”

Home buyers end the mortgage rate wait, will swallow higher prices to make a deal now

Forbes

People are generally staying in their homes longer, says Mark Eppli, director of the Graaskamp Center for Real Estate at the University of Wisconsin. In 1988, for example, “your average time in a house was 10 or 11 years.” Today, he says, it’s 20 years.

“That’s really long; inventory’s going to stay low,” Eppli says. “With high interest rates making housing all the less affordable…it’s going to keep people in their houses even more.”

Quantum computer sets record on path towards error-free calculations

New Scientist

“It’s a big deal to have that many logical qubits. A very remarkable result for any quantum computing platform,” says Mark Saffman at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He says the new quantum computer greatly benefits from being made of atoms that are controlled by light because this kind of control is very efficient.

New York, Wisconsin brace for critical redistricting battles

The Hill

Barry Burden, professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said that “just about any process is going to result in more competitive maps,” but he suggested that Democrats still face challenges in their effort to gain more control of the state Legislature.

“Although it’s a 50-50 state and Democrats do win lots of statewide races, especially in the last few years, because of the way Democratic voters are concentrated in more urban communities around the state, it’s difficult, I think, even for a neutral process, to produce a map that’s going to result in a 50-50 Legislature,” he said.

‘Plant hardiness’ can help map Wisconsin’s changing climate. Here’s how.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The map is meant for horticulture, not agriculture, said Chris Kucharik, a plant and agrosystem sciences professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, because farmers in the Midwest have largely been planting the same crops for decades.

Since the last map was released in 2012, all of Wisconsin’s hardiness zones have shifted about half a zone warmer, said Laura Jull, associate professor in the plant and agrosystem sciences department at UW-Madison.

Tasting cheese for dairy research

Wisconsin Public Radio

When the University of Wisconsin-Madison posted five part-time cheese tasting positions for its Center for Dairy Research, more than two hundred people applied for the jobs. Brandon Prochaska, the center’s sensory coordinator, tells us what it takes to taste cheese for scientific research.

Reading expert Emily Hanford says simply buying new curriculum won’t fix what’s wrong with reading instruction

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

One of the people who have had the most influence on her, Hanford said, is University of Wisconsin-Madison psychology professor Mark Seidenberg, author of the book “Language at the Speed of Sight: How We Read, Why So Many Can’t, and What Can Be Done About It.”

Like Hanford, Seidenberg cautioned at a reading conference at Monona Terrace in Madison in February that a full range of needs must be addressed if more children are to become successful readers. He included good early childhood experiences as one of the things that matter.

As utilities close coal-burning plants, debate shifts to role of natural gas in energy future

Wisconsin Public Radio

Scientists have said the world needs to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Energy expert Greg Nemet, a public policy professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, said any new natural gas plants would guarantee fossil fuel emissions beyond that date, or they would need to be shut down early.

UW-Madison professor discusses upcoming United Nations climate change conference

WORT FM

Professor Sumudu Atapattu is the director of the Global Legal Studies Center at UW-Madison Law School. She’ll be attending the conference and spoke to WORT News Producer Faye Parks earlier this afternoon. Professor Atapattu says that human rights and climate change are inextricably tied – and the nations of the world need to prepare.

State universities to start proactively admitting students next year

Wisconsin Public Radio

As students face college application deadlines, we explore a new approach to admissions being adopted by the Universities of Wisconsin. Next year, most campuses plan to start proactively informing Wisconsin high schoolers who are eligible to enroll based on their academic performance. Interview with Taylor Odle, an assistant professor of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Wisconsinites observe negotiations at United National Climate Change Conference

Wisconsin Public Radio

Several representatives from the University of Wisconsin-Madison are observing the negotiations in Dubai. Sumudu Atapattu, director of the Global Legal Studies Center at the University of Wisconsin Law School; Jonathan Patz, director of the Global Health Institute at UW-Madison; and Nova Tebbe, a PhD student focusing on the health benefits of climate mitigation policy, will share what they learn with a virtual audience on Dec. 4.

Tom Still: Expert on AI jitters — Calm down, learn to use it, keep people at its center

Wisconsin State Journal

Enter the steadying voice of Charles Isbell Jr., a nationally recognized expert in computing and AI who started work this summer at the UW-Madison as its latest provost.

If the UW-Madison were a private company, the role of provost might best be described as “chief academic officer.” It is historically the No. 2 position on campus behind the chancellor. Isbell is settling into that role across UW-Madison’s many colleges and schools, but he also brings a wealth of experience in what is one of the defining technological moments in a generation.

Bipartisan bill would make it easier to treat veterans’ PTSD with magic mushrooms

Wisconsin Public Radio

To give Wisconsin veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder more options, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is working to make it easier for researchers to treat those with acute PTSD with the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms.

The bill would create a state trust fund called the “medicinal psilocybin treatment program” that would be administered by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Fact check: Claim that Tammy Baldwin voted to send millions to Iran that bankrolled Hamas, Hezbollah is Mostly False

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Foreign policy analysts previously told PolitiFact National fungibility is a legitimate concern in this case.

However, Andrew Kydd, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor, added a caveat to fungibility.“This still frees up their budget constraint to spend other money on other things,” Kydd wrote in an email to us. “But by this logic anyone who buys something at Walmart is supporting the Chinese nuclear arsenal.”

Raft of state constitutional amendments could be coming in Wisconsin, beginning with 2 in 2024

Wisconsin State Journal

“Republicans’ only real backstop to prevent undoing of their conservative legislative and judicial accomplishments over the past 15 years is their majorities in the state Legislature,” said Barry Burden, UW-Madison politics professor and director of the Elections Research Center. “Enshrining some conservative ideas in the state Constitution is a way to protect them even if Republicans lack full control over state government.”

Madison School District’s lunches are improving, but minds and habits are harder to change

Wisconsin State Journal

Jennifer Gaddis, a school nutrition expert at UW-Madison who works with the Madison School District, said these participation rates raise some red flags.

As the second-largest school district in the state, in a city that prides itself on local food options, Gaddis said she thinks it’s a “failure” that administration and the community are not “demanding more.”

Wisconsin’s ‘Happy Days cohort’ is helping researchers understand aging

Wisconsin State Journal

“We’re trying to understand how this rich data that we collected when they were younger and in middle age is influencing their memory and cognitive function now,” said Michal Engelman, a UW-Madison sociology professor who directs the study.

“There’s biological and physiological processes, but there’s also the social and economic environment,” Engelman said. “All of these things work together to shape people’s well-being through their life course.”

Reducing intake of one amino acid improves longevity & health in mice

New Atlas

Studies into the benefits of protein-restricted diets have shown that lower protein consumption is associated with a decreased risk of age-related diseases and mortality and improved metabolic health. Now, exploring alternatives to calorie-restricting diets, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found that reducing the intake of a single amino acid in mice extended their lifespan, making them leaner, less frail, and less susceptible to cancer.

“We like to say a calorie is not just a calorie,” said Dudley Lamming, corresponding author of the study. “Different components of your diet have value and impact beyond their function as a calorie, and we’ve been digging in on one component that many people may be eating too much of.”

Could vertical farms help fill unwanted office space?

MarketPlace

One challenge to vertical farms moving into office and residential buildings comes from local zoning bylaws.

That’s why, across the country, some cities, including Boston and Cleveland are amending their zoning bylaws to support urban farming. Still, these changes depend on the type of agriculture and the resources available, said Alfonso Morales, a professor at the University of Wisconsin’s Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture.

“They’re [cities] going to vary in the process by which people can start a farm, and the complexities, the number of permits, or licenses to pull,” Morales said.

Wausau City Council dismisses effort to change water tax collection system

Wausau Pilot & Review

Manuel Teodoro, a UW-Madison associate professor who published a book on the connection between drinking water failures and public distrust, says the system used by cities like Wausau is a broken one. In his peer-reviewed paper, Teodoro said the ability of low-income families to pay for basic water and sewer services is a subject of increasing concern. He also wrote about this issue in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel opinion piece.

“When people pay taxes through their water bills, the government response to nonpayment is denial of a life-sustaining service,” Teodoro said. “Nobody should have their water shut off because the city wants money for a jail or to pay a city employee’s pension.”

There’s a new mysterious respiratory illness infecting dogs, and it’s probably come to Wisconsin

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

National media outlets, including the New York Times and AP, have reported on cases of the illness in numerous states, notably Colorado, Massachusetts, Oregon, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. However, veterinarian Dr. Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, said every state, including Wisconsin, has probably seen cases of the new dog respiratory illness.

“What we’re seeing is multiple different states seeing different types of respiratory disease, and there are some outbreaks that we’re not getting an answer to with our in-depth diagnostic tests,” Poulsen said.

Madison will reduce winter road salt by 6% to cut pollution

The Capital Times

That’s because salt, rainwater and snowmelt drain into the storm sewer system, which then discharges into Lakes Mendota and Monona, UW-Madison limnologist Hilary Dugan told the Cap Times last year.

“The city has been very forward-thinking in reducing (its) salt use,” Dugan said. “It’s frustrating when you cross over from city-maintained paths to campus-maintained paths because the sudden change in practice is just so noticeable.”

New analysis looks at relationship between gender, wages and trust in tap water

Wisconsin Public Radio

A recent analysis from a UW-Madison professor finds that bottled water consumption is most prevalent among low-income women, signaling a distrust in household tap water. We speak with Manny Teodoro, an associate Professor in the LaFollette School of Public Affairs/Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at UW-Madison.

What’s the most Wisconsin Thanksgiving dinner you could eat? Here’s what the data shows

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Wisconsin produces almost two-thirds of the world’s cranberries. They have been harvested in Wisconsin for as long as people have lived here, said Allison Jonjak, cranberry outreach specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Extension, who grew up on a cranberry marsh herself.

“This really represents America, and it happens to be harvested right before Thanksgiving,” Jonjak said. “Cranberries are ready right now, they’re emblematic of North America, and they go really well with most meats.”

Is eating cheese on your resume? In Wisconsin, it could be

WUWM

When the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Dairy Research publicized it was looking for a new crew of cheese tasters, the response was exuberant, as you might expect in a state known as the country’s cheese capital.

250 people applied for five part-time jobs available. The Center rigorously trains them to analyze cheese made and provided by graduate student researchers, pizza makers and the state’s esteemed cheese industry.

What the new state geologist wants Wisconsinites to know about shared natural resources

Wisconsin Public Radio

The state Geological and Natural History Survey researches and provides environmental data that helps inform institutional decisions that can affect our environment. We’ll talk with Sue Swanson, Wisconsin’s new state geologist who is also director of the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey through University of Wisconsin-Madison, about who they work with and how their data is used.

An Ohio man was laid off shortly after moving to Wisconsin. How to protect yourself in an at-will state

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Associated Bank confirmed Ernst was laid off due to restructuring but declined to comment further.

While his layoff may have felt egregious, employment law expert Alexia Kulwiec said that both in Wisconsin and across the country, with exception of Montana, employees are hired “at-will.”

“This means that an employer can terminate employment for a good reason, bad reason, or no reason at all, unless there are specific legal prohibitions or a contractual agreement,” said Kulwiec, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Wisconsin Supreme Court to hear arguments in case that could overturn Republican-drawn legislative maps

Wisconsin Public Radio

University of Wisconsin-Madison Associate Professor of Law Robert Yablon is the co-director of the State Democracy Research Initiative and filed a brief with other scholars challenging the current maps. He told WPR the contiguity argument presented by Democrats is “rooted in the original meaning and practice of the Constitution.”

“And so I suppose it’s not surprising that, over time, the political sides that have argued it one way or the other have changed depending on what they viewed as their interests at the moment,” Yablon said.

If you think gratitude and thankfulness make you feel better, you’re right. And science backs it up.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

When neuroscientists talk about gratitude, they often cluster it with other social and moral emotions like appreciation and compassion. That’s no coincidence. These emotions activate similar networks in our brains, said Cortland Dahl, a scientist at the Center for Healthy Minds, part of the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

“Gratitude, I would say, is a very specific version of (appreciation), where we’re oriented to something we really appreciate that has benefited us personally — somebody else’s presence in our lives, how they’ve supported us, being the most common expression of that,” Dahl said.

Common Ground with… Karen Oberhauser

Madison Commons

Managing, monitoring and connecting community members to over 1,200 acres of woodlands, savannas, prairies and wetlands could seem unimaginable for some. For Karen Oberhauser, director of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum, upholding the area’s three pillars — conserving and restoring arboretum land, advancing research and fostering the land ethic — is an everyday reality.

Milwaukee city attorney’s apparent intervention in code dispute where his cars are stored raises concerns

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The situation raises a series of questions in addition to ethical concerns and legal concerns about misuse of public office, said John P. Gross, a clinical associate professor of law at the University of Wisconsin Law School.

“It’s particularly suspect when it sounds like this particular private citizen may have engaged in prior business transactions with the city attorney and has ongoing business transactions, essentially, with the city attorney, because they’re storing their cars for them and they’re not paying rent,” he said.

Wisconsin kindergartners are behind the rest of the country in getting vaccines for measles, other preventable diseases

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Wisconsin also had among the lowest vaccination rates for other required vaccines, which protect against such diseases as chickenpox, polio and whooping cough.

“It’s very concerning,” said Dr. James Conway, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and medical director of UW Health’s immunization program. “This is mostly a call to action that we need to do better.”

Brewers stadium deal is a new ballgame for Wisconsin taxpayers

The Capital Times

Ross Milton, an assistant professor of public affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, noted that the state has something that the city or county of Milwaukee currently lacks: a budget surplus. Original funding plans called for local governments to contribute over $300 million to the project, leading to fears that the county and city governments would need to cut services to make the needed payments.

“I think the opportunity cost is different for local governments than it is for the state,” Milton said. “And that does mean that who’s paying for it does somewhat affect how we should think about it.”

Advocates want a stronger role for family caregivers when patients leave the hospital

Wisconsin Examiner

Beth Fields, an occupational therapist and geriatric health and caregiving researcher at the University of Wisconsin, described her own experience with the challenges caregivers face.

After a back injury, her brother spent three weeks in intensive care before being sent home. Her family received “little information on how to support him when he got back home,” she said, and medical complications sent him back to the hospital.

“We must take a critical look at the support we are providing to the caregivers who are the backbone of our long-term care health care system,” Fields said.

The art of making the perfect playlist

Wisconsin Public Radio

From mix tapes and CDs to music apps like Apple and Spotify, people have been making playlists for decades. Jeremy Morris, an assistant professor of media and cultural studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, gives pointers for making a playlist for any occasion, and listeners weigh in with their own philosophies of what makes a great mix.

Bull on the loose in Dodge County found, ‘no longer a threat’, sheriff’s office says

WISN

A University of Wisconsin-Madison veterinarian describes the signs a bull gives when it’s about to charge at someone.

“So they’re going to turn sideways to you if they’re feeling threatened or aggressive, and then they’ll lower their head toward people or other animals, again, as a way of showing aggression, aggressiveness towards those individuals,” Ryan Breuer said.

Milwaukee County stops taking fathers to court to pay back Medicaid for childbirth costs

Wisconsin Examiner

Prof. Tiffany Green, a health care economist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who has researched the impact of birth- cost recovery programs, said a study she conducted pointed to better child support payments when birth-cost recovery (BCR) stopped.

“With the caveat that our results of preliminary, we found that BCR cessation was linked to increased probability of paying support to birthing parents (i.e., mothers and other individuals who gave birth), and that the amount of that support increased,” Green told the Wisconsin Examiner Monday. That pattern appeared “particularly pronounced among the fathers of Black children,” although not among fathers of white children. Future research will explore possible explanations for those differences, she added.

Flood-control dams in Driftless Area failed after catastrophic rain. Some residents say a new approach is needed.

Wisconsin Public Radio

Eric Booth, hydroecologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said he remembers learning about the historic project in college classes.

“It’s the story of how we can change land use and land management for the better, to stem erosion and improve flooding outcomes,” he said. “Certainly in Wisconsin, it’s even more of a story that is told. But nationwide, people in soil conservation and water science know about the Coon Creek watershed.”

An aging, declining population of hunters spells trouble for Wisconsin deer management

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Social scientists, including Thomas Heberlein of the University of Wisconsin (now professor emeritus of community and environmental sociology), have been examining and documenting a decline in hunting in the U.S. for decades.

The rate of decline in gun deer hunting was predicted 16 years ago by a team of University of Wisconsin and Department of Natural Resources researchers.

The researchers, Richelle Winkler and Jennifer Huck of UW’s Applied Population Lab in Madison and Keith Warnke of the DNR, released a draft of their study in 2007 titled “Deer Hunter Demography: Age, Period, and Cohort Analysis of Trends in Hunter Participation in Wisconsin.

UW-Madison team works to identify lost service members from Wisconsin and beyond

Wisconsin Public Radio

Every county in Wisconsin has at least one service member missing in action since Pearl Harbor. A team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is working to identify them and others at sites around the world.

Graduate and undergraduate students, professors and others at the university make up the team working on the Missing in Action Recovering and Identification Project, or UW MIA RIP. They all volunteer their time to travel to sites around the globe to find and repatriate the remains of soldiers lost in war.

Answering common questions about Wisconsin’s eviction process and tenant rights

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

If a tenant were to receive a second five-day eviction notice for nonpayment of rent within the same leasing year, then a landlord can give a no-cure notice, but the resident must be given 14 days to vacate, according to Sophie Crispin, director of the Eviction Defense Clinic at the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Jewish students learn to cope with war at campus safe space

Spectrum News

Joshua Manders is a Jewish student studying at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Manders said since the Israel-Hamas war started on Oct. 7, his life has become very stressful.

“It definitely has been tough, that first week where, the first few days, especially when the war first broke out, it is a lot of emotions to go through,” said Manders.

Manders has direct connections to the war. That’s not unlike many other Jewish students on the UW-Madison campus.

Democratic lawmakers propose funds for universal, free school meals

WORT FM

Earlier this summer, the Healthy School Meals for All coalition and UW-Madison Professor Jennifer Gaddis released the first statewide survey of the Wisconsin school nutrition workforce.

That report found that of the approximately 5,089 K-12 school nutrition workers across the state, 94% were women, and 88% were white.

It also found that four out of five school food workers who were not managers worked part-time, and that a quarter of schools across the state offered poverty-level starting wages for school nutrition workers.

To fill Milwaukee special education teacher jobs, program pays for master’s at UW-Madison

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The UW–Madison Special Education Teacher Residency Program comes with a commitment: three years working in MPS after finishing the master’s. Those teachers continue receiving mentorship and guidance for at least the first two years of teaching after finishing the degree.

Collisions with deer spike every November. One surprising factor? Daylight saving time

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Timothy Van Deelen is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology. He said the breeding season increases the likelihood of human-deer interactions for three or four weeks each fall.

“The male deer is almost a different animal during the breeding season, behaviorally,” Van Deelen said. “Bucks will dramatically extend their home range, and mature bucks are moving through their big home range trying to find does who are receptive to being bred.”

What you need to know about proposed amendments to Wisconsin election policy

Wisconsin Public Radio

This week, the State Legislature debated a series of election-related amendments to the state Constitution. The Republican-led proposals would outlaw private funding for elections, prevent non-U.S. citizens from voting in local elections and have current voter photo ID requirements written into the state constitution.

Interview with Howard Schweber, professor of political science and legal studies at UW-Madison.