News

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

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. …

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

Mentor award winners guide undergraduate learning

Alyse Maksimoski, Research Associate in Professor Lauren Riters lab, received a 2024 mentor award from UW-Madison.

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, …

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 …

Associate Professor Grace Wilkinson received a 2024-25 Vilas Associates Award

Congratulations to Grace Wilkinson for receiving a 2024-25 Vilas Associates Award!

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.

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. …

Graduate student teachers recognized for excellence with 2023-24 Teaching Assistant Awards

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 …

2024 Distinguished Teaching Award recipients announced

Congratulations to Hilary Dugan for receiving a Distinguished Teaching Award!

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.

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 …

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

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 …

“200-year-old DNA maps tiny fly’s genetic course with Integrative Biology Affiliate Faculty John Pool”

“Integrative Biology Affiliate Faculty member Karen Strier celebrates 40-year study of Northern muriqui”

The 2023 winners: Cool Science Image Contest

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 …

Hanna Noughani Awarded National Fellowship for Graduate Studies

Laura Monahan receives UW System’s Academic Staff Excellence Award

Stephanie Mcfarlane recieves 2023 Undergraduate Mentoring Award

Congrats to Stephanie Mcfarlane a post doc in the Damschen lab who recieved an undergraduate mentoring award.

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.  

Academic Advisor India Viola recipient of the 2023 Community Leadership Award

Monica Turner elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

New integrative biology researcher studies the links between the cognitive functions of birds and humans

Two UW–Madison students awarded prestigious 2023 Goldwater Scholarships

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.

Sharma Lab Discovers Seven New Species of Blind Cave Spiders in Israel!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Using 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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

iBio 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 …

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 …

Sterling (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 …

Congrats 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.

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.

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

Holly Embke, Former Limnology Grad Student, Gives Her Take on the Future of Fishing in the Midwest Lakes

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.

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. …

iBio’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!

iBio 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 …

Explore 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!

OnWisconsin 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.

iBio’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!

iBio 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 …

Were 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.

Lake 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 …

iBio Grad Students, Ben Iuliano and Jacob Kraus, earn Dorothy Powelson Teaching Assistant Award!

Act 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.

How 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.

iBio 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 …

Remembering Dr. Karen Steudel Numbers

Sr 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.

Algae blooms a problem but not a trend, study finds

New article on the genome of daddy long legs

Congrats to iBio’s Guilherme Gainnet for his new published paper! In a collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution in DC, Guilherme published the first harvestman (daddy long legs) genome and used gene silencing experiments to discover …

Climate Change Impacts on our Earth

UW’s climate scientists including iBio professor Monica Turner study and discuss the effects of climate change in this article.