Michael August 9th, 2007
From the University of Wisconsin:
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Arlington Agricultural Research Station will hold its first field day devoted to organic agricultural production on Aug. 30 from 3 - 7 p.m.
Field crops, processing vegetables and market vegetables will all get some attention at the event, which will include information on organic weed management, cover and companion crops, soil quality, variety selection, vegetable crop trials, and no-till organic production.
Continue Reading »
Michael March 24th, 2007
The Wisconsin Film Festival, the state’s oldest and largest film festival will once again be held in several venues in Madison on April 12-15, 2007. According to the festival’s web site: The ninth annual Wisconsin Film Festival will present the best new independent film (feature, documentary, experimental), world cinema, and new media; cultivates discovery through talks, panels, performances, and coffeehouse discussions with filmmakers; and showcases the work of Wisconsin filmmakers through juried competitions. During the four day festival, over 182 films will be screened on campus and around downtown Madison.
Tickets for the festival went on sale March 17th at the Memorial Union Box Office, 800 Langdon St in Madison. You can also order tickets online at the Film Festival site.
The Wisconsin Film Festival is notable in that it draws from the vast resources of the University Of Wisconsin. Many departments on campus share in the programming and selection of material for the festival. Some of the new partners this year include the African Studies Department and the Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education. The festival itself is sponsored by the UW-Madison Arts Institute.
You can read more about the University’s partnership with the festival here.
Michael March 22nd, 2007
Are you looking for a fun afternoon of science and discovery. You may want to head down to the University of Wisconsin Campus for the their 5th annual Science Expeditions. This hands-on science event is touted as a family friendly for all ages and offers free admission and free parking in lots 17 & 20. Science Expeditions runs from 10:00am to 4:00 pm on Saturday March 24, 2007 and is scattered among several science and engineering buildings on campus. For a full schedule of events and building and parking maps, please see the Science Expeditions web site. Science Expeditions is sponsored by the Science Alliance.
Michael March 15th, 2007
If you are a regular reader of this site, you might recognize an Aldo Leopold theme here. Leopold was the one of the first of the modern conservationists. He was an ecology professor at the University of Wisconsin in the 1930’s and 40’s and lived simply with nature in his cabin in the woods located near Wisconsin Dells. The cabin still exists and the Leopold Foundation offers tours. But I think that Leopold’s greatest legacy besides his book the Sand County Almanac, is the Leopold bench as seen on the left side of our masthead picture.
Another legacy of Leopold is his collection of documents that are held by the University of Wisconsin Archives. But now these documents will be digitized to the benefit of researchers everywhere. More details from this University of Wisconsin Press Release.
The entire Aldo Leopold Collection held by the University Archives of the University of Wisconsin-Madison will be digitized in a partnership project with the Aldo Leopold Foundation. More than $100,000 has been awarded to the Foundation, in Baraboo, Wis., to support the project.
Aldo Leopold walking outside his shack near Baraboo, Wis.
Photo: courtesy University Archives
Aldo Leopold, an influential 20th century conservationist and thinker, is most widely known as the author of “A Sand County Almanac,” one of the most respected books about the environment. Leopold was a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1933 until his death in 1948.
Christine March 14th, 2007
Now this is a BIG field trip! These home-schooled youth were given a great opportunity to explore the arts and humanities through a sponsorship from the Wisconsin Arts Board.
Home School Students Have a Field Day at Museum
Reporter: Kevin Wondrash
Email Address: kevin.wondrash@weau.com
Area home school students got to take a field trip today as one big class.
Nearly 106 home-schoolers of all ages, some even as young as four years old, took part in the first Field Day at the Chippewa Valley Museum.
The students and their families took guided tours of the museum, along with seeing a theater production on farming
Complete article available here…
We visited the Chippewa Valley Museum this past summer and the whole family had a great time. It is located in Carson Park (Eau Claire) which also is home to the Paul Bunyan Logging Camp and a great 1/4 scale railroad, The Chippewa Valley Rail. Don’t miss the Anderson Home located between these two museums. Families could pack a lunch and spend a full day exploring this awesome park.
But while you are in the Chippewa Valley you should take some time to also visit the Chippewa Falls Museum of Science and Technology. It is filled with Cray Computers and a fun kids area focusing on the environment. Of course a stop at Leinenkugel’s Brewery is always a good thing. The tours are free and the soft pretzels are a must while waiting for your tour to begin.
Christine March 12th, 2007
Some folks will tell you that schools are going to the dogs. Well, in Fall River WI I guess they are- and it’s having good results.
Dog brought in to help children learn to read
Associated Press
Mar. 12, 2007 09:41 AM
FALL RIVER, Wis. - Third-grade teacher Tom Pawlisch is trying to encourage reading by having his students read to his pet Kayla, the school’s official literacy dog.
The Chesapeake Bay retriever listens to the students, which encourages them to read expressively, said Irene Pawlisch, Kayla’s co-owner and .
“The dog doesn’t judge if the kids make a mistake, so the kids relax,” Irene said. “They sit down and read and get to play with her afterward. They relax a little bit. … It’s about getting kids excited about reading.”
Continued here at www.azcentral.com….
Christine March 11th, 2007
Yet another exciting science advance form UW- Madison…
A project by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers has come one step closer to making fusion energy possible.The research team, headed by electrical and computer engineering Professor David Anderson and research assistant John Canik, recently proved that the Helically Symmetric eXperiment (HSX), an odd-looking magnetic plasma chamber called a stellarator, can overcome a major barrier in plasma research, in which stellarators lose too much energy to reach the high temperatures needed for fusion.
Published in a recent issue of Physical Review Letters, the new results show that the unique design of the HSX in fact loses less energy, meaning that fusion in this type of stellarator could be possible.
More at ZPEnergy.com…
Christine March 9th, 2007
Happy bluebird,
originally uploaded by Henry McLin.
It’s time to get ready for the arrival of bluebirds! Make sure your bluebirds are bluebirds of happiness. You can even catch a class to help you learn more about these birds.
Prepare nest boxes for bluebirds’ visit
By Kevin Naze
Press-Gazette correspondent
With a weekend warmup predicted and an extended thaw in the forecast, resident birds are singing and birders across the state are awaiting waves of migrants.
Pat Ready of Stoughton, editor of “Wisconsin Bluebird,” a quarterly publication, said now’s the time to make sure nest boxes are clean and properly set up.
Ready will be in Green Bay on Thursday, March 15, to speak on the status of Eastern bluebirds in Wisconsin. His 80-image PowerPoint presentation — set to begin at 7 p.m. at the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary’s Nature Center — will cover the bluebird’s nest cycle and detail fledge reports for 2006.
Read the entire article at the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Christine March 8th, 2007
I attended the College of Ag and Life Sciences (CALS) and always thought this was a cool structure. The Stock Pavilion near by is special to all UW-Madison students who hearded there to begin registration in the days prior to being able to register by phone.
Wisconsin Ag News Headlines
College’s Dairy Barn to Become National Landmark
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 03/08/2007
A 109-year-old dairy barn owned by the University of Wisconsin-Madison will become a National Historic Landmark this month. The public is invited to a program on March 28 at 7:15 p.m. to celebrate the designation of the building–which is the only barn among the nearly 2,500 sites designated as National Historic Landmarks by the National Park Service.
The barn is recognized as one of the cradles of discovery of vitamins due to a series of nutritional studies begun in the building 100 years ago this spring. It was also the site of groundbreaking research that enabled the practical use of artificial insemination in dairy cows.
In addition to the unveiling of the National Historic Landmark plaque, the program will include a review of the barn’s architectural history by landscape architecture professor Arnold Alanen and a summary of its role in the sciences by biochemistry professor David Nelson. There will also be tours highlighting the building’s significant features.
Parking is available Lot 62, between the Natatorium and the School of Veterinary Medicine. Refreshments will be served in the nearby Dairy Forage Research Center.
Christine March 7th, 2007
Want to get a closer look at some top notch farms in Wisconsin? Here’s your chance…
Wisconsin Ag News Headlines
Mid-State Tech to Hold Central Wisconsin Farm Tours
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 03/07/2007
The Mid-State Technical College Farm Program is hosting a farm tour day in central Wisconsin that will highlight the innovations of three area producers. The tour is being held later in March, where attendees will have the chance to visit Seidl Farms, owned by Randy & Sue Seidl; Wild Creek Dairy Farm, owned by Alan & Emily Kraus; and Bangart Farms, LLC, owned by Charles, Judy, Rick & Peggy Bangart.
Each of the farms have newer freestall facilities and modern philosophies for achieving higher profits in today’s ever-changing dairy industry.
The cost to attend the tour is $3.00, but interested participants need to register by March 10. For more information or to register, call 715-389-7032
If you can’t make it to the central WI Farm Tours, you can see one of Wisconsin’s largest dairies anytime of the year.The Van Der Geest Dairy (located between Merrill and Wausau) is open for self-guided tours. They built a tour friendly facility so that everyone could see the dairy industry in action. There is a catwalk that takes you through the milking parlor and into the barns.
