Tropical trees show coexistence is path to diversity

Tropical forests boast a diversity of tree species — Barro Colorado Island, for example, has roughly as many tree species as all of Europe ­— and as part of his Ph.D. research, Jacob Usinowicz wanted to understand why and how they all manage to coexist.

Read More »

Wisconsin corn maze features 480-foot trilobite

This fall, in a field in rural Wisconsin, you can get lost in a trilobite. Bug-like and armored, with as many as 100 legs, these now-extinct marine creatures once cruised the planet’s seas, including those that covered Wisconsin. With some help from the UW-Madison Geology Museum, it is also the defining feature of this year’s award-winning Treinen Farm Corn Maze in Lodi.

Read More »

Plants under attack can turn hungry caterpillars into cannibals

When does a (typically) vegetarian caterpillar become a cannibalistic caterpillar, even when there is still plenty of plant left to eat? When the tomato plant it’s feeding on makes cannibalism the best option

Read More »

Geologists use radioactive clock to document longest earthquake record

Using radioactive elements trapped in crystallized, cream-colored “veins” in New Mexican rock, geologists have peered back in time more than 400,000 years to illuminate a record of earthquakes along the Loma Blanca fault in the Rio Grande rift. The work was led by postdoctoral researcher Randy Williams and his advisor, Laurel Goodwin, a professor in the geoscience department.

Read More »

Two from UW-Madison among 2017 Carnegie Fellows

Two University of Wisconsin–Madison professors have been named 2017 Andrew Carnegie Fellows by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Greg Nemet and Gregg Mitman are among just 35 distinguished scholars, journalists and authors chosen this year from 200 nominees across the country.

Read More »

Road salt is making North America’s freshwater lakes, well, saltier

Road salt is making North America’s freshwater lakes saltier, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Most of the lakes tested (284) are in the North American Lakes Region. The study represents the first large-scale analysis of chloride trends in freshwater lakes.

Read More »

Four faculty members - three from L&S - receive Hilldale Awards

This year’s recipients of the Hilldale Award, an honor bestowed annually by the Secretary of the Faculty, are Henry Drewal, Kenneth Raffa, John Valley and David Weimer. Winners are recognized for their distinguished contributions to teaching, research and service.

Read More »

Abrupt climate change could follow collapse of Earth’s oceanic conveyor belt

A new study, co-authored by Zhengyu Liu, professor of atmospheric and oceanic science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, shows Earth’s oceanic conveyor belt, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), could collapse as carbon dioxide levels rise and lead to abrupt climate change.

The study, led by Liu’s former graduate student, Wei Liu (no relation), is published Jan. 4, 2017 in Science Advances. The collapse would occur about 300 years after Earth’s carbon dioxide levels double compared to 1990 levels.

Read More »

Report reveals a big dependence on freshwater fish for global food security

Freshwater fish play a surprisingly crucial role in feeding some of the world’s most vulnerable people, according to a study published on October 24, 2016 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Read More »

L&S Communications

South Hall, Bascom Mall
Madison, WI 53706
info@ls.wisc.edu