Learning about the state we serve
We are super excited to be looking forward to the Wisconsin Idea Seminar’s BAY TOUR (May 16-20, 2022). The pandemic brought our bus journeys to a screeching halt, a hiatus that lasted two years. It was the first time since its inception in 1985 that the Wisconsin Idea Seminar bus did not make its annual …
Dispatches from Our Own Wisconsin: Tricia Garrison of NEW Water Tricia Garrison is the public affairs and education manager for NEW Water, the brand of the Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District, that serves Northeast Wisconsin and cleans 38 million gallons of water per day. Tricia has a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and …
Andy Diercks, a fourth-generation farmer and part-owner of Coloma Farms, helps grow 800 acres of potatoes in Central Wisconsin, among other vegetables. In 2018, the Wisconsin Idea Seminar visited Coloma Farms and learned about the 2,700-acre potato and grain operation from Andy’s father Steve Diercks, third-generation farmer, as part of the Big Lake Tour. In a …
Dispatches from Our Own Wisconsin: Rick Erickson of Bayfield High School Rick Erickson is an award-winning high school teacher at the Bayfield School District where he teaches high school chemistry, physics, and alternative education. Among his laurels are a 2014 Wisconsin High School Teacher of the Year and the 2019 Presidential Award of Excellence in Math …
Dispatches from Our Own Wisconsin: Dylan Jennings of Bad River Band Dylan Bizhikiins Jennings, an enrolled member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe, graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2013. He is now the Director of Public Information for the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission and also serves as an …
Rosy-Lane Holsteins, a 900-cow dairy farm in Watertown, is owned by UW alumni Lloyd and Daphne Holterman and their partners Tim Strobel and Jordan Matthews. They have hosted the Wisconsin Idea Seminar twice since 1993, most recently in 2019. On April 22, the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, established under the leadership of dairy farmers, announced …
Marianne Fairbanks, textile artist and assistant professor of Design Studies at UW–Madison’s School of Human Ecology, has been sharing her book weaving tutorial videos with not only her students but with the general public. What started as a training video for the two courses she is teaching this spring is now available to everyone. Fairbanks …
Beginning on February 1 and extending until May 10, the Faculty Exhibition 2020 will be on display in the Pleasant T. Rowland Galleries and throughout the Chazen Art Museum. Wisconsin Idea Seminar participant Tomiko Jones (WIS ’19) is showing three tricolor gum prints over cyanotype, inspired by a collection of Japanese ukiyo-e prints in the Van …
Sarah Bartlett, Water Resources Specialist at NEW Water — a water resource utility serving Northeast Wisconsin that cleans 38 million gallons of clean water per day — is collaborating with the Wisconsin Idea Seminar to bring the 2020 Bay Tour to Green Bay. Bartlett received her B.S. from UW–Madison, her M.S. from UW-Milwaukee, and her …
Titus Seilheimer, Fisheries Specialist at the Wisconsin Sea Grant, is collaborating with the Wisconsin Idea Seminar to bring the 2020 Bay Tour to Two Rivers, Wisconsin, where participants will learn about commercial fishing operations. Seilheimer received his B.A. from Lawrence University and his Ph.D. from McMaster University. In this interview, Seilheimer discusses non-native species in …