Skip to main content

Category: UW Experts in the News

A game-changing moment for Wisconsin Democrats. New maps put legislative majorities within reach

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Michigan and Minnesota — two Midwestern states where Democrats took control in 2022 for the first time in many years — could serve as examples of what Wisconsin Democrats would do with a legislative majority, said Barry Burden, a political science professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the university’s Elections Research Center.

Democrats in those states have “eagerly legislated in new directions on issues such as criminal justice and environmental protection,” Burden said. Given the chance, Wisconsin Democrats would likely pursue a variety of policy changes unavailable to them under GOP control, he said.

Wisconsin weighs anti-obesity drug coverage for state workers

Wisconsin State Journal

Dr. Samantha Pabich, a UW Health endocrinologist who treats many patients with obesity, said the newer drugs can help obese people lose a higher percentage of their body weight than older drugs. That can help control diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, pain and other conditions, and prevent the need for treatments such as home oxygen therapy and liver transplants, she said.

Wisconsin’s nursing home industry could struggle with new federal staffing requirements

Wisconsin Public Radio

Barbara Bowers, a professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Nursing who has studied the long-term care industry, also said innovation is needed. Bowers said her research has found that the majority of resident concerns center around the lack of staff at facilities. On top of being short-staffed, she said the typical nursing home model is “stuck in the past,” with nurses and aides working separately instead of utilizing a team approach to patient care.

“If we had more staffing just by itself and didn’t do anything else, I don’t think we’d see the improvements we’re looking for,” she said.

Wisconsin parents of young kids more likely to struggle with bills

The Capital Times

Conducted by the UW Survey Center and analyzed by UW-Madison’s La Follette School of Public Affairs, the survey went to around 3,500 people across the state. Researchers compared the responses of participants who have children under age 6 with those who don’t.

None of those findings are really “huge surprises,” said La Follette School professor Sarah Halpern-Meekin, who analyzed the results.

What’s going on at the US-Mexico border, and what are asylum and parole? Here are answers to key questions

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“If you say, ‘I have a fear of return,’ it triggers a protection under our laws that ensures that a government official will review your case to see if you are likely to be successful with qualifying for asylum in the U.S.,” said Erin Barbato, director of the Immigrant Justice Clinic at the University of Wisconsin.

How rising import prices could affect inflation

Marketplace

Not every type of import is raising a red flag right now. For instance, imports of industrial supplies, materials and other intermediate goods got more expensive. But those are just a small part of what goes into a finished product that a consumer buys, says Menzie Chinn, an economics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Wisconsin on track to have warmest winter ever recorded

Wisconsin Public Radio

Steve Vavrus, a senior scientist at UW-Madison and the state’s climatologist, said the weather is already causing economic impact, especially on the tourism industry in northern Wisconsin.

“They depend on snow and ice for skiing and skating and ice fishing and so forth,” Vavrus said.  “There’s been closed snowmobile trails. There’s been winter festivals that have been canceled, unsafe ice conditions for fishing and so on.”

Wisconsin lost 10% of farms, 30% of dairies in 5 years, U.S. agriculture census shows

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Slightly more Wisconsin farmers reported taking steps to protect soil and water quality in 2022. They planted nearly 754,000 acres of cover crops — plants that protect the soil and keep it in place during the offseason — about a 23% increase from 2017. The number of acres that were not tilled also increased, from about 2.2 million in 2017 to about 2.4 million in 2022. No-till practices reduce soil disturbance.

Those acres are still just a small portion of Wisconsin’s total farmed acres. “I would have hoped to see that pick up a bit faster,” said Erin Silva, a professor of organic and sustainable agriculture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The Six Most Amazing Discoveries We’ve Made by Exploring Venus

Smithsonian Magazine

Sulfuric acid clouds circle the entire planet at a height of 25 to 37 miles above the surface. They contain tiny acidic aerosols that are about a hundred times thinner than human hair. Together the droplets resemble the air pollution in highly populated cities on Earth. “It’s like a haze that you find when you fly into, say, New Delhi or Beijing,” says Sanjay Limaye, a planetary scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Valentines for your dog? It’s one way we treat pets like family

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Valentine’s Day reminds us to show our love to the important people in our lives. We usually declare our romantic love, but sometimes all the hearts and flowers remind us to express our love to others who are important in our lives as well. For a lot of us, this could mean our dogs. About half of U.S. households keep dogs as pets. Not only in word, but also in deed, many people express their love for their dogs not merely as pets, but as family.

Written by David L. Weimer is the Edwin E. Witte Professor of Political Economy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is coauthor with Aidan R. Vining of “Dog Economics: Perspectives on Our Canine Relationships” (Cambridge University Press 2024).

The US military is embedded in the gaming world. Its target: teen recruits

The Guardian

Scientific research has consistently shown that video games do not make people more violent. Playing games can, however, improve perceptual and cognitive functions, says Dr C Shawn Green, professor of cognitive neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Office of Naval Research funded Green to research how certain games (mainly shooters) improve warrior performance. “These games have lots of speed in them,” he says. “There’s lots of what we call ‘transient events’ – things pop up on the screen and disappear.” He says this can improve basic visual perception as well as heighten levels of cognition (such as working memory).

Some Americans say Valentine’s Day gifts are worth going into debt

Scripps

“Everyone appreciates and remembers experiences more than ’stuff,’” said J. Michael Collins, professor of public affairs and human ecology at the University of Wisconsin. “There are lots of fun and memorable experiences that are not expensive, from moonlight walks to scavenger hunts to simple at-home dinners. Being creative can be better than bling.”

Parts of Wisconsin will be a lot louder this summer. The culprit? Cicadas

Wisconsin Public Radio

The sounds of summer could be a lot louder this year depending on where you live in Wisconsin.

That’s because for the first time since Thomas Jefferson was president, two rare broods of cicadas will emerge at the same time. PJ Liesch, an extension entomologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said this event only occurs once every 221 years. “It’s something that is really unique and special for us,” Liesch said.

UW professor is on a mission to grow a better-tasting beet

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Whether you love beets or hate them, you probably haven’t given them as much thought as Irwin Goldman.

A professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Goldman is also former chair of the department of horticulture. The Goldman Lab there is even named after him. He and colleague Nick Breitbach spent decades trying to breed a better beet. Now the Badger Flame Beet is getting attention nationwide from growers and chefs as it becomes increasingly available.

Is AI influencing college admissions?

WKOW – Channel 27

“This tool is likely to be very useful for young people and their families as they’re trying to present themselves in the most appealing way to college admissions,” said Mitchell Nathan, Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor at UW-Madison and author of “Foundations of Embodied Learning.”

Inequity in higher education funding, A Republican conflict on border measures and Ukraine funding, The significance of Pitchfork

Wisconsin Public Radio

Earlier this month, UW-Madison’s Student Success Through Applied Research (SSTAR) Lab released a new report revealing how, in higher education, students and schools with the least financial need often receive the most government funding. We talk to Nick Hillman, a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis and director of SSTAR, about the causes of funding disparities and how “equity-based” funding models could address them.

Democratic proposal would prohibit firearms on Wisconsin college campuses

Wisconsin Public Radio

State Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, and state Rep. Deb Andraca, D-Whitefish Bay, were approached by a group of University of Wisconsin-Madison professors and asked to strengthen campus firearm laws.

Jack O’Meara represents the Public Representation Organization of the Faculty Senate, or PROFS,  a nonprofit advocacy organization of UW-Madison faculty. He said there was increased concern after the Feb. 13, 2023, mass shooting at Michigan State University. In that incident, three students were killed and five others were injured when a gunman entered a building on the East Lansing campus.

Wildlife Update: All about groundhogs in Wisconsin

Wisconsin Public Radio

Groundhogs, also known as woodchucks, are one of the few true hibernators that reside in Wisconsin. Their heart beats five times per minute while they sleep through the winter months, and their body temperature drops to 37 degrees Fahrenheit. We learn more about the fabled animal, plus cover wildlife news from around the state. Interview with David Drake, extension wildlife specialist and professor in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, and Jamie Nack, extension senior wildlife outreach specialist, both from UW-Madison.

Confused by Wisconsin redistricting terms? Here’s what they mean.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel talked to Marquette University research fellow John Johnson and University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Barry Burden about what common redistricting concepts mean and how they apply to the case.

“Wards are usually viewed as the building blocks of districts, so that gets done first,” Burden said. Because there are only 72 counties, “some of them are going to have to be sliced in order to make districts. Especially the more populous ones, like Dane, Milwaukee and Brown are going to have multiple districts in them.”

Cheapest car insurance in Wisconsin

WalletHub

“I do not think this is about fairness – premiums are set based on accident rates and risks associated with different demographic groups and would be higher if the groups are involved in higher rates of accidents or other damages,” said Nancy Wong, Kohl’s Chair in Retail Innovation, Professor of Consumer Science, Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs, School of Human Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Sad tomatoes in space: Wisconsin scientists develop TASTIE experiment to grow plants without gravity

Wisconsin Public Radio

From the care of Wisconsin researchers to the International Space Station, a group of tomato plants rode on a rocket last week with the goal of brightening astronauts’ days — and their diets. But first the tomatoes are trying to find their own joy.

Growing without gravity is stressful to tomatoes, said Simon Gilroy, a University of Wisconsin-Madison botanist who runs a lab that studies plant development.

Milwaukee officials urge ambulance policy changes following woman’s death

Wisconsin Public Radio

Laura Albert, an industrial and systems engineering professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said although the initial response time of four minutes was quick, she questioned why it was labeled a low priority call. “Maybe some information wasn’t really conveyed clearly along the way,” Albert said.

Albert also said it’s common for people not to be found when they call 911, mainly because they leave before an ambulance gets to them. Baker also said false alarms are common, especially at bus stops. He said callers sometimes call for an ambulance at a bus stop and get on a bus if it arrives before the ambulance does.

Waves of grain: How Wisconsin’s sustainable grain movement is growing

The Capital Times

What happened? Lauren Asprooth is a research scientist with the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems at UW-Madison. As corn and soybeans shot up, she said, “every other row crop has gone down or stayed stagnant.”

“We have decoupled livestock production and crop production, so there’s not as much of a need for small grains in terms of forage,” Asprooth said. “We put a lot of funding into the markets for byproducts and R&D for corn, and therefore made other crops relatively less easy to grow.

Hurricanes becoming so strong that new category needed, study says

The Guardian

Michael Wehner, a scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the US, said that “192mph is probably faster than most Ferraris, it’s hard to even imagine”. He has proposed the new category 6 alongside another researcher, James Kossin of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Being caught in that sort of hurricane would be bad. Very bad.”

After a rough chapter in 2023, the dairy industry storyline is looking better in 2024

Wisconsin State Farmer

Dairy’s storyline for 2023 in Wisconsin and across the United States “was not the best storyline we could imagine,” said Chuck Nicholson, associate professor of economics, however he is seeing signs that point to milk price improvement in the coming year.

Nicholson, an associate professor of dairy economics at the UW-Madison spoke about dairy’s economics at the Renk Agribusiness Agricultural Outlook Forum in late January on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Space tomatoes, Hanging out, RSV explained, Struggling US parents

Wisconsin Public Radio

We learn about a UW connection to experimenting with growing tomatoes beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Next we talk about the art of doing nothing in particular. Then we hear what to know about the rise of the respiratory virus RSV. And we explore the problems American parents face compared with those in other countries. Interviews with Simon Gilroy and Dr. James Conway.

Keeping a journal, 15-minute meals, Sky-high rent

Wisconsin Public Radio
In 2022, half of all U.S. renters paid more than 30% of their income on housing—a new all-time record, according to a new report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. We talk to Kurt Paulsen, an expert from UW-Madison, on the housing market about why rent is now considered “unaffordable” for a significant portion of Americans.

With the Super Bowl coming up, will the sports gambling wave crash into Wisconsin?

Wisconsin Public Radio

Jason Lopez’s studies of sports betting throughout history show this: The act of traveling to gamble is about as old as gambling itself.

Lopez, a University of Wisconsin-Madison assistant professor of media and cultural studies, wonders if the recent steps to expand sports betting in Wisconsin’s neighbors could pressure the Badger State to change its laws.

UW-Madison researchers uncover hint for cause of cleft lips and palates in developing babies

Wisconsin Public Radio

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are one step closer to understanding how and when cleft lip and palates form during pregnancy.

The discovery, recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could mitigate the risk of the birth defect that affects about 1 in every 1,700 babies born in the United States.

What is Wisconsin’s minimum wage, and why hasn’t it changed when other states’ minimum wages have?

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Low-wage workers have found it especially hard to afford higher housing costs, even before a spike in prices in 2022, explained Laura Dresser, associate director of the High Road Strategy Center (formerly COWS, a left-leaning think tank) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dresser’s research has found that increasing the minimum wage to $15 over the next five years would increase wages for one in seven workers in Wisconsin. That includes one of every four Black and Hispanic workers.

Air sampling in Dane County schools tracks flu, COVID-19

Wisconsin State Journal

“It can tell us about the virus without us needing to stick anything up anyone’s noses or even know who was in a space,” said Dave O’Connor, a UW-Madison researcher involved in the surveillance. “Air sampling should be something that lots of schools bring on board to understand what the respiratory virus transmission risk is.”

Monitors have been at seven schools in the Oregon School District for two years, where air sampling last school year tracked flu and COVID-19 activity as reliably as student absences, rapid tests at school and regular tests from samples collected at home, UW-Madison researchers recently reported. That research was part of a UW study, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that has analyzed respiratory illness at Oregon schools since 2015.

Putin’s Top Generals Have Gone Missing

Newsweek

Mikhail Troitskiy, professor of practice at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Newsweek via email on Friday that Russia’s relative silence is unsurprising considering the ongoing conflict and a lack of incentives to publicly disclose the whereabouts and/or deaths of top military commanders.

Morning Rush – Scripps News – Morning Rush

Scripps: Morning Rush

Joining us now is Julie Stam, assistant clinical professor at the University of Wisconsin. Madison and author of “The Brain on Youth Sports, the science them its and the future.” Julie, good morning. So Roger Goodell says the risk of concussion is the same as walking down the street as a medical professional. What’s your take on that?

Humans and Neanderthals Lived Side by Side in Northern Europe 45,000 Years Ago, Study Finds | Smart News| Smithsonian Magazine

Smithsonian

“These groups are exploring,” says John Hawks, a University of Wisconsin–Madison anthropologist who was not involved in the study, to NBC News. “They’re going to new places. They live there for a while. They have lifestyles that are different. They’re comfortable moving into areas where there were Neanderthals.”