News
February 09, 2015
Generating enthusiasm for a new kind of technology is key to its long-term success. Rebecca Larson’s research team has already accomplished that goal in Uganda, where students at Lweeza’s Primary School have been known to yell “Biogas! Biogas!” after learning about anaerobic digester (AD) systems.
An assistant professor of biological systems engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Larson hopes that her next project in Bolivia will be met with similar gusto.
May 02, 2014
The energy crisis is not only an American problem but also a global problem. What will happen when fossil fuels run out? Can our planet and its inhabitants even survive the constant burning of these fossil fuels? The University of Wisconsin-Madison doesn’t want to wait around to find out. Their skilled energy researchers and scientists are scattered around multiple colleges and in more than twenty campus buildings to find an answer to these questions.
April 29, 2014
Eleanor Bloom used the method of any good engineer to find her niche in college: trial and error. But it didn’t take long for her to discover the common thread that would guide her efforts throughout college – environmentalism.
Bloom, now a University of Wisconsin–Madison junior, explains that her father works for the Environmental Protection Agency and that she grew up in a family that highly valued environmental consciousness. Today, those values greatly influence Bloom’s current pursuits.
April 29, 2014
Three University of Wisconsin-Madison professors have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors conferred on American scientists and engineers, the organization announced Tuesday.
James Dumesic, professor of chemical engineering, Samuel Gellman, professor of chemistry, and Margaret McFall-Ngai, professor of medical microbiology and immunology, are among 84 new members elected to the 151-year-old academy. Fellows are elected in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
April 17, 2014
Driving the 2002 Ford-150 truck that UW-Madison graduate student Phil Kollmeyer converted from a conventional gasoline vehicle to an electric vehicle may be the quickest way to grasp the incredible amount of work that went into this ambitious research project.
April 16, 2014
When an earthquake and tsunami struck the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant complex in 2011, neither the quake nor the inundation caused the ensuing contamination. Rather, it was the aftereffects — specifically, the lack of cooling for the reactor cores, due to a shutdown of all power at the station — that caused most of the harm.
April 09, 2014
More than ten years ago, Tracey Holloway and her colleagues started what has become the 1,700-member Earth Science Women's Network. Now an air-quality and energy researcher at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Holloway is helping to turn the network into a non-profit organization.
Did you have early intentions to pursue a science career?
April 08, 2014
As UW-Milwaukee Chancellor Mike Lovell prepares to move to Marquette University, he's not ruling out recreating a research partnership similar to a successful one between UWM and Johnson Controls.
On Monday, Lovell and Johnson Controls' MaryAnn Wright told attendees at the Wisconsin Tech Summit about the existing partnership, which has generated seven patents, drawn more than $35 million in federal grant money and has created a path for promising UWM students to become Johnson Controls scientists.
April 04, 2014
University of Wisconsin students will have the chance to compete for climate change in the university’s Climate Change Solutions Initiative, which begins Friday.
Over the course of the competition, teams of students will attempt to find new tools to mitigate climate change or find new ways to adapt to it, according to a university statement. The UW Office of Sustainability, in partnership with the Global Health Institute, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and the Wisconsin Energy Institute will lead the competition.
March 28, 2014
Renewable energy advocates say changes in state energy policy would bring more energy jobs to the state, and more reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
Wisconsin now trails all other Midwest states in megawatts generated by wind turbines. Jeff Anthony of the American Wind Energy Association says other states continue to ramp up their wind energy sector, while growth has slowed here.
March 28, 2014
One of the biggest trends in sustainable power nationally is solar and finance companies — rather than homeowners or businesses — paying the upfront cost for solar panels.
A bill just introduced in Madison aims to get Wisconsin on that bandwagon. The bill isn't going to pass but was introduced to get the conversation started on an issue that is strongly opposed by state utilities.