Science

Series: Tick-Borne Diseases In Wisconsin

How Wisconsin Offers Fecund Ground For Anaplasmosis

WisContext

The tiny deer tick is an incredibly effective vector for disease. It's made Wisconsin one of North America's hotspots for Lyme disease, and is spreading several other pathogens dangerous to people.

The Penokees Are A Geologic Gem

Scott Gordon

WisContext

In a state where the landscape tends towards low-lying swamps, flat fields and rolling hills, northern Wisconsin's Penokee Range of mountains are a dramatic outlier.

Formidable Flying Foe

Silke Schmidt

Wisconsin People & Ideas

Although Wisconsin's winters are inhospitable to the species of mosquitoes known to transmit deadly viruses, scientists from across the state are leading the fight against mosquito-borne disease around the world.

Weathering The Emerald Ash Borer Storm In Wisconsin

PJ Liesch

UW-Extension

I've had a morbid fascination with watching the progression of the emerald ash borer in the Midwest for over a decade.

Series: Growing Rural Wisconsin's Economy

The Costs Of Taking Broadband The Extra Mile In Wisconsin

Scott Gordon

WisContext

As Wisconsin struggles to grow private-sector jobs, there is potential to expand telecommuting work outside urbanized areas of the state by improving broadband connections.

Series: Drinking Water Quality

Series: CAFOs, Manure And Water

Fecal Microbes Found In Kewaunee County Wells Raise Concerns About Dairy Manure, Septic Waste

Coburn Dukehart

Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism

Up to 60 percent of sampled wells in a Kewaunee County study contained fecal microbes, many of which are capable of making people and calves sick, two scientists told hundreds of local residents gathered at a public meeting on June 7.

Series: Elizabethkingia In Wisconsin

Exploring How The Common Elizabethkingia Bacteria Can Turn Deadly

Kristian Knutsen

WisContext

An international group of geneticists, epidemiologists and public health researchers based in Australia, France and the U.S. teamed up to study a pathogen after it caused a small but deadly outbreak of illnesses in Wisconsin.

Series: Elizabethkingia In Wisconsin

Genetic Lessons Of Wisconsin's Elizabethkingia Outbreak

Scott Gordon

WisContext

The 2015-16 Elizabethkingia outbreak spanned at least 12 Wisconsin counties, and its hard to find a common thread among all of the victims. But genetic analysis shows that they were all exposed to the same novel strain.

Series: Local Food Science

How Discoveries And Accidents Led To Winemaking In Wisconsin

Samantha Nash

PBS Wisconsin

The wines produced in Wisconsin's unlikely climate are the result of centuries of selection, cultivation and hybridization of many grape varieties.

Series: Tick-Borne Diseases In Wisconsin

Deer Ticks In Wisconsin And The Diseases They Carry

Kristian Knutsen

WisContext

One enduring myth about ticks is that these little bloodsucking creatures hang around on tree branches and leaves, waiting to drop down on an unsuspecting feast. Ticks don't dive-bomb their intended meals, but they do engage in behavior called "questing."