From loon-watchers to fighters of invasive species, Wisconsin is home to many groups engaged in citizen science. One example of a citizen science effort of this type in the state is the Wisconsin Bat Monitoring Project.
While local food can be viewed as both an eternal and contemporary concept, a basic way-of-life present throughout humanity's history and a fashionable type of grocery purchase, the science behind what it is and means is still taking shape.
As medications and personal care products pile up in people's medicine cabinets, they are also increasingly making their way into water supplies, accumulating over time in tiny increments.
Bruce Johnson has put a great deal of time and money into changing the way he uses energy — his house on the east side of Madison sports three rooftop solar-panel installations.
With mosquito season nearly upon us and all the headlines about Zika virus in the news, a big question at the moment is: Will Zika be an issue in Wisconsin?
Invasive species are a familiar and persistent challenge across the United States. Kudzu is engulfing the South, gypsy moths have been consuming forests in the East, and the emerald ash borer is wreaking havoc on several species of ash trees here in the Midwest.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has identified thousands of deer infected with chronic wasting disease over the last 17 years. But the total number of animals affected and the geographic breadth of the disease is at the heart of policy differences over how to address the disease.
U.S. Geological Survey chronic wasting disease project leader Bryan Richards said the growth of CWD is unprecedented in north-central Iowa County. Tactics to prevent CWD from spreading more around Wisconsin include educational programs and regulatory measures.
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources conservation biologist J. Paul White said white-nose syndrome, a fungal infection, cause bats to wake from hibernation, forcing them into winter conditions they cannot handle.
Gardeners in central Wisconsin should be on the lookout for the lily leaf beetle and be ready to help prevent it from spreading around the state. Bright red in color, this invasive insect is turning up in Marathon and Portage counties.
