Welcome back, students! Thank you to all of our students, staff, and faculty who attended our back-to-school event on Tuesday. Students shared their research during a poster session while department attendees enjoyed food and good conversation.

We are welcoming applicants for our summer 2027 Qachuu Aloom Agroecology & Community Well-Being Internship in Guatemala! Applications open January, and are due February, 22nd at my.studyabroad.wisc.edu/iip/. Interested students should contact Intern Abroad Advisor Kimberly Harn (kharn@wisc.edu)

Why are our researchers pairing yellow mustard and corn? It isn't for the flavor. Growing these crops together may help protect groundwater. Our scientists are studying how methods like #intercropping and #CoverCropping can prevent nitrate leaching. Read more: pasdept.wisc.edu/2026/03/27/p...

Congrats to our faculty who were honored with awards supported by the estate of professor and UW Regent William F. Vilas! Amaya Atucha received the Mid-Career Investigator Award. Steven Hall received the Early-Career Investigator Award. Randy Jackson received a Vilas Associates Competition award.

Access and affordability are central to the Wisconsin Idea. At #UWMadison, two-thirds of Badgers graduate without student debt. See how: captimes.com/news/educati...

How two-thirds of Badgers graduate from UW-Madison debt free

Over the past decade, Wisconsin’s flagship public university has increased how many undergraduates earn degrees without student loan debt.

captimes.com

Sarah Lloyd, value chain coordinator in plant and agroecosystem sciences, and Randy Jackson, professor in plant and agroecosystem sciences, recently helped create a roadmap for achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions for Wisconsin agriculture. Learn more: www.cleanwisconsin.org/new-research...

Congrats to Gopika Gopinathan and Francisco (Fran) Campos-Arguedas! This April, Gopinathan received a CALS Graduate Service and Outreach Award, and Campos-Arguedas received a CALS Graduate Mentoring Award. Learn more: pasdept.wisc.edu/2026/04/24/g...

Congrats to Dr. Yi Wang for receiving the Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association's Researcher of the Year Award! Dr. Wang specializes in sustainable vegetable production and precision agriculture to prevent nitrate leaching and conserve water. Learn more: wtaq.com/2026/02/09/w...

Looking for the perfect fall course at UW-Madison? Check out Introduction to Plant Science and Technology! In this course: 🌱 work with plants in lab 🌺 tour gardens and greenhouses 🧬 study plant genetics and biology 🤖 investigate new tech in agriculture 🌞 and more!

Next week is the first Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week (GPSAW) at UW-Madison! This celebration, hosted by the Graduate School, features a series of events involving coffee, donuts, research support, and more. Learn more at: grad.wisc.edu/current-stud...

Want to learn more about plants through hands-on activities? Check out our course Plant Science 227, Propagation of Horticultural Plants this fall!

Do you love weird science and pizza? Visit our table next week at Steenbock Library's Weird Science Fair! Our table will have a hands-on activity for visitors on analyzing differences in DNA sequences between autoimmune and healthy plants. Learn more: go.wisc.edu/weirdsciencefair.

We are so excited to share our new course offering, Plants & Religion! This fall, join Dr. Reba Luiken, director of Allen Centennial Garden, to learn about the ways plants are used and understood in religions around the world, and how this influences art, literature, gardens, and more!

Congrats to Irwin Goldman and the Goldman Lab! This July, Irwin Goldman began his role as the first Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Grower KWS Chair. This program was created by the Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association (WPVGA). Learn more: pasdept.wisc.edu/2025/12/17/i...

Join UW-Madison and organizations across campus to celebrate Black History Month! The 2026 Black History Month Planning Committee has organized a series of events from pilates classes to guest speakers to video game nights. Learn more at: go.wisc.edu/bhm

This summer, Rajdeep Khangura joined our department as an assistant professor specializing in cereal crop genetics. Learn more about Khangura's education, research, and experiences in this recent Q&A: ecals.cals.wisc.edu/2025/11/19/n...

Celebrating our hardworking instrumentation engineers today, who both received professional development grants from @uwmadison.bsky.social. The grants will fund their attendance at the @ametsoc.org annual meeting, where they will present work about Wisconet.

Congrats to Héctor Lopez Moreno, a graduate student in plant breeding and plant genetics, for being inducted into the Bouchet Graduate Honor Society! Read more about Héctor and this prestigious award at: grad.wisc.edu/2025/12/02/f... Photo by Todd Brown/UW-Madison Media Solutions

Wisconet (@wisconet.bsky.social) is a powerful tool used by growers, scientists, and weather reporters across Wisconsin. Its reports are free and open to the public, providing essential data for users across the state. Learn more about this tool and how you can access it below:

UW–Madison@uwmadison.bsky.social · 10mo ago

UW–Madison‘s statewide network of hyper-local weather stations gives Wisconsin growers a powerful tool called Wisconet to reduce costs and improve yields.

Congrats to the UW-Madison Crops Judging team! The team recently traveled to Salt Lake City for the 2025 SASES Crops Judging Competition. They won 2nd place overall, and team member Brandon Boyd placed 5th individual overall. Congrats, team!

Tanikwah Lang is a Citizen of The Klamath Tribes of southern Oregon and an agroecology MS student researching how tribal led forest management techniques influence wild blueberry growth. This fall, Lang attended FAO forums in Rome, Italy. Read Lang's experience: www.fao.org/voluntary-gu...

Lessons from the river: Carrying forward the teachings of my ancestors

Written by Tanikwah Lang My fingers sting from the cold as I hold them over the fire, the warmth rushing back too quickly as the sun begins to wash away...

fao.org

We are excited to announce our new faculty Sarah Kezar! Kezar joins us as an assistant professor specializing in weed ecology and management. Read more about Kezar's research goals, academic journey, hobbies (such as barrel racing 🐎), and more in a recent Q&A: ecals.cals.wisc.edu/2025/10/30/n...

How can short-stature corn hybrids change the game for alfalfa interseeding? Visit this #CANVAS25 poster to see how canopy light capture & competition shape yield and persistence in mixed forage systems. @asa-cssa-sssa.bsky.social @uwmadisonpas.bsky.social #ForageSystems #CropScience #Plantscience

Study environmental health, food sovereignty, global food systems, and more this spring in Global Food Production and Health (Agroecology 377)! Instructor: Claudia Irene Calderón Credits: 3 Breadth: Biological Science

Looking at spring courses? Check out Genetically Modified Crops: Science, Regulation, and Controversy! Students will learn about why GM crops are created, how they are regulated, and arguments for and against their use. *Map from GE Crops: Experiences & Prospects (2016) National Academies Press

Are you headed to the SACNAS NDiSTEM conference? If so, make sure to stop by booth (number 423) where our very own Fernando De La Torre will be sharing information about our graduate programs in plant breeding & plant genetics, plant science & technology, and agroecology!

Students from across the state visited us for the Wisconsin Science Festival's Field Trip Day in the Discovery Building on Oct 22nd. Volunteers and department members shared fun activities like trivia, crop tasting, and even a potato race with kids aged K-12!

Looking for spring courses? Check out Indigenous Foodways: Food and Seed Sovereignty! #Indigenous foods of North America are a vital part of modern agricultural & food systems. Indigenous foods and foodways will be examined from interdisciplinary historical, legal, biological, & social perspectives.

Oh hey - this is great to see! Fox 6 in Milwaukee has integrated our data into their graphics software to give the latest Wisconet data in their weathercasts.

October 4th, Allen Centennial Garden hosted their #HarvestFestival. Attendees got to see performances, food, and art from local and international cultures. The Garden hosted groups such as the Beni Daiko Madison Japanese Taiko Drumming Group and chefs such as Qwantese Winters.