Category: Research

research related stories

Biology graduate students receive 2026 Arboretum Research Fellowships

Department of Biology graduate students Hannah Ashe, Jillian Neece and Shaneya Miriyagalla have received Arboretum Research Fellowships. These graduate fellowships support early career scientists doing work that aligns with the Arboretum’s mission and advances a long tradition of research in restoration ecology and conservation. Read more.

How did these mushrooms escape?

Botany graduate student Aishwarya Veerabahu, discusses her research and outreach efforts around the golden oyster mushroom that's pushing out native fungal biodiversity in this article for the Spring 2026 College of Letters and Science Magazine.

A hub for botanical research: Q&A with the Center for Botany Faculty Director

The new Center for Botany is a research hub for botanical sciences at UW–Madison housed in the Department of Biology. Members of the center will discover, archive and communicate knowledge of basic plant, fungal and algal biology across scales, from genes to ecosystems using both established and new approaches. We asked Center for Botany Faculty …

Professor Damschen talks biodiversity on WPR

Professor Ellen Damschen joins WPR’s The Larry Meiller Show to discuss why biodiversity matters in Wisconsin, and what scientists are doing to conserve plant and animal life. Listen to the episode.

Hands-on in Hawai’i

Botany students journey to Hawaii to learn about plant diversity in the global biodiversity hotspot.

DNA analysis of Mongol Empire’s ruling elites

Integrative Biology graduate student Ayken Askapuli’s research reveals implications for the genetic ancestry of the broader Mongolian Empire.

Tiny copepod for a big discovery

UW researchers turn to the tiny copepod for a big discovery, showing that gene location influences natural selection.

Meet the ‘weird’ sea spider that’s mapping the evolution of eight-legged creatures

It’s not easy to look at a sea spider and see an animal so representative of its kind that it may help scientists sort out the evolution of almost everything with eight legs. But that’s the potential a new study finds in these spindly, strikingly strange bottom-dwellers. Read more here: https://news.wisc.edu/meet-the-weird-sea-spider-thats-mapping-the-evolution-of-eight-legged-creatures/

In Their Element

Biology Department Faculty members Emily Stanley and Monica Turner are both featured in this College of Letters and Science Magazine article for their work with water and fire. Read on to learn more.

Ice-Cold Research

Two graduate students just returned from an epic — albeit frigid — ecological study in Antarctica. Here’s what they learned from their time on the ice. Read more: https://lsmagazine.wisc.edu/issues/spring-2025/explorediscover/ice-cold-research/