As wildfires put more and more human lives and property at risk, people are looking to fire managers for protection. Typically, fuel is the sole consideration used to decide the location of site treatments – where trees and shrubs are cleared away or burned in order to minimize the risk of a future fire. However, people also strongly affect wildfires. This influence is not well understood, and is often overlooked when making management decisions.

A University of Wisconsin-Madison program that has helped Wisconsin apple growers reduce pesticide use without sacrificing fruit quality has a new name and a broader mission.

The new discovery of a lethal gene may explain why pregnancy rates in dairy cattle have dropped sharply in recent years, a UW-Madison researcher says. Hasan Khatib, an assistant professor in the dairy science department in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, has found a gene that causes embryonic death in cattle around the fifth day of pregnancy.

Cooperatives are a popular way of doing business in Wisconsin and Minnesota. But whether they’re in the business of agriculture, health care, finance or food – even those involved in co-ops don’t really know how important these unique business operations are to the U.S. economy. The new director of the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives (UWCC) aims to change that.

WSUM, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s student radio station, has a new administrative home. Although it’s still broadcasting the same distinctive array of alternative music, news, talk and call-in shows – heard throughout Madison at 91.7 FM – WSUM now operates under the auspices of the Department of Life Sciences Communication in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

For the past three summers, the Killian family has hosted students from an Mexican agricultural college as part of an exchange program run by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. But this past summer, Ellen Killian and two of her children, Elizabeth and Vincent, decided to reverse the process and visit their former interns in central Mexico.

Wildlife officials and UW-Madison researchers are closely watching for results of new control strategies designed to contain the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease in the southern part of the state. Researchers are also employing landscape genetics technology to better understand how deer move and how various herds are related.

A University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers has developed a useful Web tool to help Wisconsin farmers better manage the weeds in their fields.

Irwin Goldman, professor of horticulture and UW-Madison faculty member since 1992, has been appointed Vice Dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. In his new position, he will oversee faculty hiring and development efforts, manage the college’s research division, and assist the Dean in planning strategies and launching new initiatives.

A University of Wisconsin-Madison professor will oversee a new $10 million federal program that will support a wide range of projects aimed at understanding and curbing poverty in developing nations.