University of Wisconsin–Madison
At 8 pm, the Lakeshore Nature Preserve is already pitch-black. Makeela Magomolla greets me near the entrance, armed with a headlamp and backpack, and we make our way down the path. By now, I’ve already missed sunset, the ideal time to see bats exiting the bat roost— which is hardly a 2-minute walk from the …
Dr. Zuzana Burivalova’s Sound Forest laboratory collects soundscapes, images, and videos from forests across the world to comprehensively identify the animal species that are present over time and location. As forest biodiversity is increasingly threatened by habitat loss and human encroachment, understanding the baseline levels of diversity in each environment is crucial for assessing forest declines over time and the impacts of new conservation efforts. Research in the Sound Forest lab helps scientists, government agencies, and local communities make more informed decisions about the study, protection, and restoration of their local forests.
When Paul Robbins, dean of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, arrived at UW–Madison 12 years ago, “the idea that we would’ve had a sustainability symposium, net-zero goals, a zero-waste commitment, graduates working at major sustainability firms around the United States,” was “hard to imagine.” “I was bombarded my first day on the job, …
In surveying Madison’s native bee populations, Vera Pfeiffer hopes to provide a better, more informed context for policies that can make the habitats we share with pollinators more biodiverse. Read the full article on the UW–Madison Graduate School news page here.