Come Explore the Unknown!
By Zoom: at go.wisc.edu/240r59.
In Person: Room 1111 Genetics Biotech Center, 425 Henry Mall, Madison.
7pm Central
For January 26, 2022
Hi WN@TL Fans,
The “Historic Madison” Facebook page published a photo the other day of East Wash at the Capitol Square from about 1905 showing rows of horse-drawn wagons lined up for a farmers market; notably, there was not a motorized car in sight.
I was born 52 years after that photo was snapped. For context, 1970 is 52 years ago.
In the span of a single generation, and roughly from the introduction of the Model T in 1908 til its replacement by the Model A in 1927, gas-powered cars & trucks first supplemented and then supplanted horse-drawn vehicles. It would be modest to state that cars transformed the look and feel of our neighborhoods and cities, of our towns and countryside. They vroomed the pace of our lives.
But the powertrains they are a-changin’. The current era of electric cars has been contained in my children’s lifetimes. Tesla was founded in 2006. The Nissan Leaf hit the US market in 2010. The Chevy Bolt arrived in 2016. While the body styling of EVs has changed little, the features of the batteries, the motors, the supporting computer systems, and the infrastructure for charging have synergized in the past decade to change the math on their range, their reliability, and their cost to operate.
When I was a kid, I asked my Grandpa Zinnen, who worked for the Burlington Route, to describe what it was like when steam engines dominated the rails. Now I warn my children that some day, if all goes well, their grandchildren will beg them to tell stories of the old days when cars powered by gas dominated the roads.
On January 26 Bruce Johnson, Solar Farmer, returns to WN@TL to give us an update on the fast-moving field of electric cars.
Description: Ten-year-Electric Vehicle owner Bruce A. Johnson and several fellow EV owners will take you on a deep dive into the realities of electric cars in 2022 and beyond. And we will answer the question recently ripped from the headlines: Do You Want To Be Stuck In A Blizzard In An EV?
The answer will surprise you.
Tune in at go.wisc.edu/240r59 or come see it live in Room 1111 Genetics Biotech!
Bio: Bruce A. Johnson has spent over 38 years as a television production professional, first in the commercial and public TV sectors and now with a non-profit. He is also a fierce advocate for alternative energy, having installed his first set of solar panels 15 years ago, and having owned four electric cars in the last 10 years. This will be his seventh presentation to Wednesday Nite @ The Lab since 2008.
Bio: Bruce A. Johnson has spent over 38 years as a television production professional, first in the commercial and public TV sectors and now with a non-profit. He is also a fierce advocate for alternative energy, having installed his first set of solar panels 15 years ago, and having owned four electric cars in the last 10 years. This will be his seventh presentation to Wednesday Nite @ The Lab since 2008.
Explore More:
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On February 2 Rebecca Larson of Biological Systems Engineering will speak on “Climate Change and Agriculture: Mitigation Strategies for Dairy.”
Description: Dairy systems produce greenhouse gases that are lost to the atmosphere and contribute to global climate change. While many energy sources are larger overall contributors, livestock systems are major contributors of methane particularly from enteric methane and manure management systems. In addition to methane, nitrous oxide from crop fields is also a significant source of emissions.
Mitigation strategies have largely focused on manure management as there are many potential paths for intervention. This talk will cover the larger dairy system and the potential practices that can be implemented on dairy systems to reduce overall emissions. Manure systems are comprised on multiple components, including manure collection, processing, storage, and land application. There are many management interventions that can be integrated into each of these systems to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Manure processing systems generally hold the largest potential to reduce methane losses from manure. Anaerobic digestion systems and solid liquid separation systems are both commonly integrated on dairy systems and both provide significant benefits.
This talk will cover the basics of intervention strategies, their overall impact, how we evaluate the impact, and the potential and limitations for further intervention. Finally, it is important to discuss how we measure and track emissions from these systems as the accounting techniques are important for all evaluations of environmental impact assessments. In addition, reducing greenhouse gas emissions has potential to increase other environmental impact categories. This talk will also focus on the tradeoffs facing the livestock industry with specific mitigation strategies.
Bio: Dr. Larson is an Associate Professor and Extension Specialist in the Biological Systems Engineering Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She completed her B.S, M.S., and Ph.D. in Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering at Michigan State University. The main component of her work focuses on increasing sustainability of food waste and livestock manure systems to reduce environmental impact while maintaining profitability.
Explore More:
https://www.virtualfarm.psu.edu/ Explore a virtual dairy and related climate change information on a website designed by Dr. Larson and other researchers at University of Wisconsin-Madison and Penn State.
https://learningstore.extension.wisc.edu/collections/manure A fact sheet series on climate change and dairy systems in the Great Lakes region (12 fact sheets of various topics) was developed and can be found on the learning store. Downloads are free, just click on the fact sheet of interest!
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Bio: Dr. Larson is an Associate Professor and Extension Specialist in the Biological Systems Engineering Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She completed her B.S, M.S., and Ph.D. in Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering at Michigan State University. The main component of her work focuses on increasing sustainability of food waste and livestock manure systems to reduce environmental impact while maintaining profitability.
Explore More:
https://www.virtualfarm.psu.edu/ Explore a virtual dairy and related climate change information on a website designed by Dr. Larson and other researchers at University of Wisconsin-Madison and Penn State.
https://learningstore.extension.wisc.edu/collections/manure A fact sheet series on climate change and dairy systems in the Great Lakes region (12 fact sheets of various topics) was developed and can be found on the learning store. Downloads are free, just click on the fact sheet of interest!
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On February 9 we celebrate UW Darwin Days with the JF Crow Institute for the Study of Evolution. Our invited speaker will be Isabel Distefano with the Pritzker Laboratory for Molecular Systematics and Evolution at the Field Museum, Chicago, IL. She will speak by zoom to us on:
“Discovering the DNA Discovery Center: Collections-Based Research in Evolutionary Biology, Museum Science Communication, and Outreach”
Description: Isabel Distefano is a technician in the Pritzker Laboratory for Molecular Systematics and Evolution within the Field Museum. This is the museum’s only DNA lab space and she is one of three permanent staff members who helps manage the lab, its projects, and its users. The laboratory was also built out to display a permanent interactive exhibit space within the museum’s public area, called the DNA Discovery Center. Join Isabel for Darwin Day as she presents on the capabilities of the lab and exhibit space, her work as a bench scientist and museum science communicator, and ongoing projects and some collaborations within the lab.
Explore More:
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Remember, we’ve now shifted to Hybrid so we can both Zoom and gather in one Room—Room 1111 Genetics Biotech Center, 425 Henry Mall, Madison WI.
Hope to see you soon at Wednesday Nite @ The Lab!
Tom Zinnen
Biotechnology Center & Division of Extension, Wisconsin 4-H
Biotechnology Center & Division of Extension, Wisconsin 4-H
UW-Madison
Please share this missive with your friends & neighbors.
If you’ll be watching for the first time, please register for the WN@TL Zoom at go.wisc.edu/240r59
If you’ve already registered for a previous WN@TL zoom this year, you’re good—you don’t have to register again.
Continue to use the link found in the confirmation message Zoom sent you when you first registered.
WN@TL begins at 7:00pm Central
You can also watch the web stream at biotech.wisc.edu/webcams for one last time on October 20. The web stream thereafter will redirect viewers to the WN@TL YouTube livestream.
UW-Madison: 5.9 million owners, one pretty good public land-grant teaching, research and extension university.
Visit UW-Madison’s science outreach portal at science.wisc.edu for information on the people, places & programs on campus that welcome you to come experience science as exploring the unknown, all year round.
Here are the components of the WN@TL User’s Guide:
1. The live WN@TL seminar, every Wednesday night, 50 times a year, at 7pm CT in Room 1111 Genetics Biotech Center and on Zoom at go.wisc.edu/240r59
2. The WN@TL YouTube channel
3. WN@TL on the University Place broadcast channel of PBS Wisconsin
4. WN@TL on the University Place website
Park for a small fee in Lot 20, 1390 University Avenue, Madison, WI
In partnership with
Wisconsin Alumni Association | UW-Madison Biotechnology Center
Division of Extension | PBS Wisconsin | UW Science Alliance
#WisconsinIdea