In Their Element
When Emily Stanley says she’s knee-deep in her research, she means it literally. The professor of aquatic biology and ecology spends many of her days taking samples in Wisconsin’s rivers, streams and lakes around Madison and at the Center …
June 19, 2025
Ice-Cold Research
The wind howls loudly, and strong gusts rattle the Korean War–era Jamesway hut from side to side as cold air seeps in. Researchers dress in big red parkas and white bunny boots before bracing the piercing …
June 18, 2025
Assistant Professor David Ehrlich was a receipient of the 2025 Thesis Advising Award recognizing faculty excellence
On April 11, 2025, the Honors Program hosted the 2025 Senior Honors Thesis Symposium—a hallmark event recognizing the culmination of years of research by undergraduate Honors scholars at UW–Madison. Held at Union South, the day-long …
May 7, 2025
Meet the winners of the 2025 Hilldale Awards
Congrats to Emily Stanley, a faculty member in our department, for being one of this year’s Hilldale Award winners. Read the full article here.
April 14, 2025
In Pursuit of Mudpuppies
Undergrad Mason Polencheck searches lakes and streams for these reclusive, little-known salamanders, also called waterdogs. What he’s finding could reveal microbial secrets and new ways to protect struggling amphibians across the globe. Read the full …
March 29, 2025
Associate Professor Katie Drerup received a Vilas Associates Award in 2024-25
The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research has announced 20 faculty winners of the Vilas Associates Competition. The competition recognizes “new and ongoing research of the highest quality and significance.” Tenure-track assistant professors and …
March 12, 2025
2024 Yentsch-Schindler Award Recipient
The Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) presents the Yentsch-Schindler Early Career Award each year to an early career scientist who has made outstanding and balanced contributions to research, education, and society. …
November 16, 2024
Mapping Lyme Disease in Space and Time
Professor John Orrock led a research project to determine how space and time increase hotspots and coldspots for tick-borne disease. View full article here.
September 21, 2024
Integrative Biology alumni publish a story map
Kirstin Braziunas MS’18, PhD’22, and Nathan Kiel PhD’24, both from the Turner lab created a story map about forest change in a future with more (short-interval) fire, focusing on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in the …
September 12, 2024
Zoology Student Studies in Tanzania Over the Summer
Zoology student Daniela Hernandez is a recipient of the UW Global Gateway fellowship. Read more about her study abroad experience this summer in Tanzania. View full article here.
September 5, 2024
Students use scholarships for valuable internships
This summer, UW–Madison launched the Summer Internship Scholarship, designed to support students seeking to advance their professional experience and learning with awards of up to $1,500 to supplement unpaid or underpaid internships. View full article here.
August 16, 2024
UW–Madison celebrates selection of 11 Fulbright U.S. Scholars for 2024–2025
The U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board have selected 11 scholars from the University of Wisconsin–Madison as Fulbright U.S. Scholars for the 2024–2025 academic year. View full article here.
August 16, 2024
What’s wrong with ‘The Most Studied Lake in the World’?
The algae bloom-covered shorelines of Lake Mendota indicate serious lake health issues. How do we right the ship? It starts with science. View full article here.
August 16, 2024
Creating Glass Models of Deep Sea Creatures
Aquatic invertebrates are often difficult to study when they are living, and some can’t even survive outside their deep-ocean habitats. That’s why, 127 years ago, University of Wisconsin biology professor Edward Birge purchased glass models …
July 18, 2024
Stability relies on dispersal in parasitic relationship between aphids and wasps.
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison combined experiments with mathematical modeling to learn that dispersal of organisms involved in parasitic relationships through space can play an important role in balancing the effects of both ecology …
May 30, 2024
Mentor award winners guide undergraduate learning
Alyse Maksimoski, Research Associate in Professor Lauren Riters lab, received a 2024 mentor award from UW-Madison.
May 14, 2024
Carl Shirley Receives the Goldwater Scholarship and the Premier Undergraduate Award
Carl Shirley is one of three notable UW Graduates who received Goldwater Scholarship, the premier undergraduate award in mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering in the United States. Shirley won the scholarship last year as a junior. Shirley, …
May 14, 2024
Joel Lord Receives the L&S University Staff Excellence Award
Congratulations to Joel Lord, who was the recipient of the L&S University Staff Excellence Award, yesterday. Joel has an amazing impact on both iBio and Biocore instructional operations, research and daily lives of everyone in …
April 18, 2024Associate Professor Grace Wilkinson received a 2024-25 Vilas Associates Award
Congratulations to Grace Wilkinson for receiving a 2024-25 Vilas Associates Award!
April 1, 2024
Meet the 2024 Distinguished Teaching Award winners
Thirteen faculty members have been chosen to receive this year’s Distinguished Teaching Awards, an honor given out since 1953 to recognize some of the university’s finest educators.
March 20, 2024
ESA 2024 Graduate Student Policy Award Cohort Named
Garret Knowlton, M.S. student in iBio, received the Ecological Society of America’s Katherine S. McCarter Graduate Student Policy Award (GSPA). Students in the 2024 cohort are engaged in advocacy with an interest in science policy. …
March 11, 2024
The Eyes Are a Gateway to Evolution… of Daddy Longlegs at Least.
Congratulations to Dr. Guilherme Gainett, former iBio graduate student, and Professor Prashant Sharma in their paper published last week in the Journal Current Biology. They report that a living species of daddy longlegs has two …
March 1, 20242024 Distinguished Teaching Award recipients announced
Congratulations to Hilary Dugan for receiving a Distinguished Teaching Award!
January 17, 2024
When Wildfire Makes the Forest Understory the Star
PhD candidate Nathan Kiel and Dr. Monica Turner explore what happens to Yellowstone’s understory plant communities when forests don’t come back after wildfire.
January 2, 2024
UW Field Study in Iceland
Dr. Sharon Thoma, Teaching Professor in iBio, is offering a Field Study course in Iceland. In this exciting course, students will spend the majority of the program outdoors in the elements, on varied terrain, exploring …
December 7, 2023
Tomorrow’s Yellowstone: How a warming world is changing the places we love
Story by Elise Mahon | Photos by Althea Dotzour | Video by Elise Mahon and Jason Weiss
November 10, 2023
Re-creation of the glass invertebrate models for teaching at UW–Madison
UW–Madison’s Zoological Museum was established at the very first UW Board of Regents meeting in 1848. After the first Science Hall burned, Edward A. Birge — professor of zoology, later UW–Madison president — started purchasing …
October 25, 2023
The 2023 winners: Cool Science Image Contest
October 3, 2023
UW-Madison’s Zoological Museum boasts amazing teaching tools
UW’s Zoological Museum gives students, faculty and visitors a chance to interact with biological specimens from around the world and across time. A lion, some mammoths and a battalion of flesh-eating beetles are just a …
September 22, 2023
Hanna Noughani Awarded National Fellowship for Graduate Studies
September 13, 2023
Stephanie Mcfarlane recieves 2023 Undergraduate Mentoring Award
Congrats to Stephanie Mcfarlane a post doc in the Damschen lab who recieved an undergraduate mentoring award.
June 15, 2023
3 iBio Faculty win 3 Research Forward Awards
Hilary Dugan, Grace Wilkinson, and Jake Vander Zanden were Co- P.I.s for 3 projects that were awarded Research Forward Awards.
June 6, 2023
Tiny Trout? Study Finds Several Freshwater Species Bucking One Climate Change Trend
A new report out of Olaf Jensen’s lab was published today in Global Change Biology! Read more about it here.
March 1, 2023
Social Fish-Tancing? Study Finds Big Bump in Fishing License Sales During First Year of COVID
Ashley Trudeau, member of Olaf Jensen’s Lab, writes on the increase in fishing license sales in Wisconsin just after the COVID pandemic began.
February 16, 2023
Seed Strategy Can Help Restore a Biodiversity Hotspot
Professors Ellen Damschen and John Orrock speak about their study on the long-term value of targeted land management in efforts to restore and repair landscapes impacted by humans.
February 10, 2023
Dr. Hilary Dugan Featured in Captimes Article Discussing the “Over-Salting” of Madison Streets
Dr. Hilary Dugan, UW Madison limnologist, speaks on the negative impacts “over-salting” has on the Madison environment.
February 3, 2023
Prashant Sharma recipient of 2023 Distinguished Teaching Award
Twelve faculty members have been chosen to receive this year’s Distinguished Teaching Awards, an honor given out since 1953 to recognize some of the university’s finest educators.
January 26, 2023
UW neurobiology student wins Miss Madison pageant
UW-Madison neurobiology student, Paige Alexis Eide, is Miss Wisconsin-bound after claiming her 2023 Miss Madison title Saturday night.
January 22, 2023Using Transparency of Slim Fish to Observe Neural Activity
For faculty and graduate students in the Department of Integrative Biology who are studying how the brain works, zebrafish make ideal research subjects. These slim fish are almost perfectly transparent, making it easy to observe …
January 22, 2023
PhD Student, Nathan Kiel, Publishes Article on Yellowstone’s Burn Scars
Ph.D. Candidate Nathan Kiel on his studies of Yellowstone National Park’s burn scars and what they could be telling us about its future.
December 14, 2022
FMS Grad Student, Elliot Hendry, Publishes Children’s Science Article in Frontiers for Young Minds Journal
Congrats to Elliot Hendry, a Freshwater and Marine Sciences Grad Student, for publishing his first article in the Frontier for Young Minds journal. His article explains how mussels and sea stars strengthen the rocky intertidal …
November 20, 2022
The Department of Integrative Biology hosted iBio at Work: Biotechnology in collaboration with SuccessWork
On October 12th, the Integrative Biology Department hosted iBio at Work: Biotechnology in collaboration with SuccessWorks, the College of Letters & Science center for personal and professional development. At this event, UW-Madison Integrative Biology alumni …
November 3, 2022iBio at Work Biotechnology Panel on 10/12/22
Interested in learning more about careers in the Biotechnology industry? Hear from UW alumni about their own experiences at the iBio at Work: Biotechnology panel this Wednesday, 10/12/22! This event will be held on Zoom …
October 10, 2022
Julie Lindsey, iBio’s Department Administrator, Wins Early Career Career Academic Staff Award!
Congrats to Julie Lindsey, the Department’s Administrator, for receiving the Early Career Academic Staff Award! Julie was recognized by the College of Letters & Science Dean for her support of outstanding teaching, research, and service …
September 2, 2022Sterling (Blake) Martin, recent iBio Graduate, Founded Project ENABLE to Help Translate Biology Terms from English to Diné Bizaad
Sterling Martin, who goes by the first name Blake, is a recent UW–Madison biophysics Ph.D. graduate with Jeff Hardin’s lab. Blake was frustrated that there were no Navajo words to accurately describe the science he …
August 7, 2022Congrats to Ani Michaud for Photo Featured on Cover of Journal of Cell Biology
Ani Michaud, who graduated in 2022 with a degree in Cell Biology, took a photo featured on the cover of the Journal of Cell Biology. See the photo and article here: https://rupress.org/jcb/article/221/8/e202203017/213290/A-versatile-cortical-pattern-forming-circuit-based.
August 7, 2022
Associate Scientist Changjiu Zhao Receives 2022 Mid Career Award
Congrats to iBio Associate Scientist Changjiu Zhao for receiving a 2022 mid-career award from the Department of Letters and Sciences. Read more about the award winners here: https://ls.wisc.edu/faculty-staff/staff-awards.
August 7, 2022
Recent Paper by iBio’s Lee Lab Published in Nature Communications!
Great work by former postdoc David Stern and graduate students Juanita Diaz and Nathan Anderson for their recent publication in nature communications! Read more about their findings here
July 20, 2022
Join the Center for Limnology for a Summer Open House!
If you are interested in learning about the world-class research that takes place in the UW Center for Limnology, consider attending our summer open house! These events are free and open to the public.
June 26, 2022
iBio Emeritus Faculty Steve Carpenter Wins “Blue Water Prize”
The “Blue Water Prize” is awarded to individuals who continuously work to make the Earth more sustainable. The department’s Steve Carpenter has received this award after more than 40 years of research on lake ecosystems. …
June 26, 2022iBio’s Valerie Buroker Chosen for Dean’s Prize
Valerie Buroker, Neurobiology and Psychology major, was selected by Eric M. Wilcots as one of the three winners of the 2022 Dean’s Prize! Congrats, Valerie!
June 14, 2022iBio Students Accepted into Diversity in Conservation Internship Program!
Several iBio students have been accepted into the 2022 Diversity in Conservation Internship Program! This program will provide the students with meaningful experience and insight into the field of conservation, as well as enlighten them …
June 14, 2022Explore Our Communities Smaller Water Bodies at “Pond Exploration Days” Hosted by iBio’s Wilkinson Lab!
The Wilkinson Lab will be at different ponds throughout Madison this summer to help community members learn more about the waters of their neighborhood and to launch a new community-based science initiative!
June 5, 2022OnWisconsin Highlights the UW Zoological Museum’s Beetle Colony in Recent Article Titled “UW Mysteries, Secrets, and Hidden Places”
The beetle colony, lying six feet underneath Bascom Hill, was highlighted by OnWisconsin in their recent article featuring several secluded spots on UW campus that few students have ever seen.
June 5, 2022iBio’s Jonathon Bryan Earns a 2022-2023 Wisconsin Idea Fellowship!
Congrats to Jonathon Bryan, a triple major in Molecular & Cell Biology, Neurobiology, and Psychology, for earning a 2022-2023 Wisconsin Idea Fellowship!
May 6, 2022iBio Research Scientist, Changjiu Zhou, Wins Academic Staff Excellence Award!
Changjiu Zhou, iBio Research Scientist in the Riters Lab, wins the prestigious academic staff excellence award. Award winners are recognized for bringing the university’s mission to life and ensuring that the Wisconsin Idea extends far …
April 14, 2022Were U Wondering about how lake ice melts? We explain!
How does lake ice melt? Is it similar to an ice cube? Does it just slowly disappear? UW-Madison Limnology Professor Hilary Dugan explains the fun science behind this common phenomenon.
April 9, 2022Lake Mendota Said to Be Most Studied Lake in the World
It’s said that Lake Mendota is the most-studied lake in the world, and among the things, it’s telling us now is that winter is the season most affected by climate change in Wisconsin. In case …
March 22, 2022Act of ‘Heresy’ Adds Horseshoe Crabs to Arachnid Family Tree
iBio’s Sharma Lab (in collaboration with six other labs) challenges a well-established scenario of how arachnids colonized land, suggesting instead that the group underwent multiple land colonizations.
February 23, 2022How Does a Spider Weave Its Web?
Ever wondered how exactly a spider spins its web? So has Emily Setton of iBio’s Sharma Lab. She seeks this answer by collecting eggs from female Texas brown tarantulas, looking deep into there genes.
February 23, 2022iBio Faculty Member Monica Turner Cited as one of the most Published Individuals at UW-Madison
Monica Turner, an iBio faculty member whose focus lies in the subjects of Conservation Biology and Ecology, has recently been recognized on the 2021 Highly Cited Researchers list! This list honors influential researchers who have …
February 7, 2022Remembering Dr. Karen Steudel Numbers
November 1, 2021Sr Academic Curator in the UW Zoological Museum, John Lyons, interviewed for National Geographic Article
Sr Academic Curator in the UW Zoological Museum, John Lyons, was interviewed in a National Geographic article regarding climate change.
October 13, 2021Algae blooms a problem but not a trend, study finds
October 13, 2021
