The University of Wisconsin–Madison’s first broad sustainability assessment has earned the campus a silver rating for its efforts in resource stewardship, education and research.

We rely on a stable national electric grid to keep power flowing reliably in homes, businesses and factories across the country. But a sudden change in supply or demand—such as from a lightning strike, malfunctioning power plant or heat wave—can disrupt normal patterns of power flow.

Researchers in the University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Biochemistry and Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) will utilize a $2.1 million grant from the United States Department of Energy to elucidate the properties of a potentially useful and understudied class of genes and enzymes in important bioenergy crops, such as poplar, sorghum, and switchgrass. The project is led by professors Brian Fox and John Ralph.

Media coverage of WEI this month focused on energy efficient electronics, current water management practices in Dane County, and the history of solar power and its corresponding future in our energy portfolio. 

Every summer, more than a thousand UW–Madison alumni return to campus accompanied by their grandchildren to take part in Grandparents University, an intergenerational learning experience organized by the Wisconsin Alumni Association.

During summer 2019, blackouts struck both Madison, Wisconsin, and Midtown Manhattan in New York, leaving thousands of people in each city without power for hours on end.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison effort to launch a shared cryo-electron microscopy facility for the bioscience community is gathering momentum, with two new faculty hires and key technology investments this summer.