The interactions among networks of microbes shape the overall community function and metabolism, sometimes in unexpected ways. Ophelia Venturelli describes a generalizable, model-driven framework to predict microbiome growth and metabolic capabilities.

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Vanderbilt University will use a $2.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to chart the evolution of over one-thousand budding yeast species across the span of four hundred million years.

Media coverage this month focused on plastic pollution, green infrastructure and acetaminophen made from plants.

Prof. Tom Jahns has announced that he will retire from his active faculty position at UW-Madison on June 30, 2021.

On June 8, the Senate passed the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, a sweeping bill that would make significant investments in critical technology areas and increase the number of Americans who can participate in the benefits of scientific innovation.

Undergraduates, researchers, and wind energy experts from across the country gathered together—albeit virtually—between June 2 and June 11 to watch thirteen undergraduate teams test their wind turbine prototypes and wind farm project plans in the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2021 Collegiate Wind Competition. Among the elite collegiate teams selected to compete was the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s WiscWind team, making its sixth consecutive appearance in the national competition.

The pandemic hasn’t slowed down Kevin Myers, a scientist in Tim Donohue’s lab in the Department of Bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Myers has been virtually visiting with students all over the country through the Skype a Scientist program, which gives classes and other groups the opportunity to talk with scientists. We sat down with him to hear his reflections on the experience.