University of Wisconsin–Madison

Kelly April Tyrrell

Children and instructors interact in the School of Human Ecology Preschool Lab, which is housed in the newly renovated Nancy Nicholas Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison — Today, here in Wisconsin, Wisconsin Public Television aired the first episode of the 47th season of Sesame Street (other affiliates across the world are also airing the season). And it drew inspiration from a UW–Madison connection: Researchers at the Center For Healthy Minds (CHM) consulted with Sesame Street to produce episodes this season focused […]

Sesame Street and Wisconsin Public Television help share the Kindness

September 18, 2017 by Kelly April Tyrrell

A tree shines yellow near the UW–Madison Arboretum — Each year, as August fades into September here in southern Wisconsin, it always seems to take me by surprise to see the bright greens of spring and summer subtly transition to the goldens and burgundys of autumn. The trees and prairies slowly changing their attire. “But isn’t it too soon?” […]

Why do leaves change color in the fall?

September 12, 2017 by Kelly April Tyrrell

Legos - building blocks — The following is from Kaine Korzekwa, science writer and marketing specialist in the Department of Biochemistry: Think of the cellular machine known as the spliceosome as being like a car. For a car to function properly, its parts have to be assembled in a particular order. Additionally, many of the car’s […]

Cellular machine assembly process yields new insight into disease, evolution

September 11, 2017 by Kelly April Tyrrell

The Milky Way over the Southern African Large Telescope in the Southern Hemisphere, as seen on July 18, 2017. Photo by Jeff Miller, UW-Madison — Today (yesterday, as you read this) we departed Johannesburg, headed toward Madison by way of Atlanta. As I type this sentence, we are 7,371 miles away, six miles above the Earth, soon to be over ocean. Our South African journey culminated as it began, in the Cradle of Humankind, in pursuit of […]

Gifts and serendipity

July 25, 2017 by Kelly April Tyrrell

The dome of the Southern African Large Telescope against a blue sky — Hello from Day 8! After several days of immersing ourselves in anthropology with UW Professor Travis Pickering, his undergraduate field school students and his South African collaborators, on Sunday, July 16, Justin, Jeff and I gathered our belongings, ate a quick breakfast at our hotel in Johannesburg, and headed to […]

From anthropology to astronomy, stories from the road in South ...

July 19, 2017 by Kelly April Tyrrell

The Cradle of Humankind, in Guateng Province, South Africa. Photo by Kelly Yyrrell — A team of three from University Communications at UW–Madison – videographer Justin Bomberg, photographer Jeff Miller, and me, science writer Kelly April Tyrrell – have traveled 8,779 miles from Madison, Wisconsin to Johannesburg, South Africa in order help tell important UW-focused stories about origins: from the origins of life on Earth, […]

Adventures in South Africa to follow ‘origins’ stories

July 12, 2017 by Kelly April Tyrrell

Duckweed and algae float near the waters surface where Dorn Creek Marsh flows into the northern edge of Lake Mendota during summer on July 29, 2015. The aquatic plants and the lake's ecosystem health are frequently studied as part of ongoing research conducted by the Center for Limnology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. (Photo by Jeff Miller/UW-Madison) — Clean water consistently ranks high as a public priority. Yet people often fail to see eye to eye about how government should improve and protect water quality. Some may assume these disagreements are driven by a desire to defend one’s own interests, but a new survey of more than 1,100 […]

In Dane County, views about water policies reflect beliefs about ...

July 5, 2017 by Kelly April Tyrrell

Perhaps you’ve noticed: It’s spring and the Plants Are Blooming. Maybe it’s the smell of the lilacs, or the buzzing of bees. Or perhaps it’s the lush greens and bursts of color blurring your field of vision. But have you ever wondered how the landscape transitions from the brown drab of […]

Why flowers need winter

May 17, 2017 by Kelly April Tyrrell

One of the oldest known fossils, the Trendall Locality stromatiolite, on display at the UW Geology Museum in Madison, WI. — Yesterday, a study in the journal Nature described fossils found in the Nuvvuagittuq belt in northeastern Canada that may just be the oldest known fossils in the world, formed between 3.77 and 4.28 billion years ago. However, as a story in the Washington Post on March 1, 2017 put it: ‘Findings like these […]

Oldest fossils? Maybe, or maybe not, but the oldest known ...

March 2, 2017 by Kelly April Tyrrell