Starting in October of 2022, a group of students, led by graduating botany major, Amanda Shalit, revitalized the Undergraduate Botany Club. Since October, the Botany Club has hosted a plethora of events. The first meeting was a plant trivia night, followed by …
News
A mysterious kingdom
From mushrooms to mildews, fungi form the webs of life. Botany faculty and students are working to expand our knowledge of their roles and powers.
How Does Life Begin?
Botany PhD student Lena Vincent pursues the biggest question in her research on the chemical origins of life.
Maeda Lab identifies key gene mutation that increases amino acid production and carbon dioxide consumption
If scientists could add a trait like this to crops or drug-producing plants, it could help them produce more chemicals naturally while reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Chair’s message summer 2022
Dear Alumni and Friends, I hope you had a good year and are enjoying the (abrupt) onset of summer. Reflecting on the 2021-2022 academic year, the first emotion that comes to mind is pride in …
Please pardon our mess!
The path you used to take to class in Birge Hall may now be blocked by metal fences, big pits, and the machines digging them. What’s going on? The Newsletter sat down with Kurt Stephenson, Associate …
UW scientists decipher the mysteries of enigmatic fungi
“There are very few places on the globe where you have the collection of expertise with fungi that we have at UW–Madison,” says Anne Pringle. She and Ken Cameron are featured in an exploration of …
Study shows how aspen forests maintain the diversity needed to adapt to changing environments
A new decade-long study by University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers, including Botany’s Ken Keefover-Ring, reveals how aspen stands change their genetic structure over the years as trees balance defending themselves from pests with growth to compete for sunlight. The findings are valuable for conservation biologists who want to preserve diverse forest ecosystems in the face of global warming, invasive species and other environmental changes.
Chair’s message Spring 2021
Dear alumni, It has been an honor for me to serve as the Chair of Botany and Director of Conservation Biology for the past four years. As my term comes to an end I find …
In appreciation of Donna Fernandez
Professor Donna Fernandez writes, “I’ve always felt privileged to be in a department where you can be a plant geek unapologetically, in whatever form that takes.” And the unapologetic plant geeks of the Department of …