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SEVERE FIRE THREATENS AN ICONIC MATURE FOREST SPECIES, THE SPOTTED OWL, MORE THAN FUELS MANAGEMENT OR DROUGHT-RELATED TREE MORTALITY
No full textSeasonally dry forests are being transformed globally by intensifying fire regimes and drought-related tree mortality (DRTM), with profound implications for biodiversity. Reducing fuel densities is the primary tool available to forest managers striving to improve forest resilience, but implementation is constrained by concern over the effects on biodiversity – particularly older forest associated species, such as spotted owls. While the negative effects of severe fire on spotted owls are well documented, the influence of DRTM and fuels management on populations is uncertain, impeding fuels management. Here, we integrated a novel dataset of California disturbance history (Kramer et al. this issue.) with bioregional-scale passive acoustic monitoring to compare the relative effects of severe fire, severe DRTM, and fuels management on Sierra Nevada spotted owl occupancy. Spotted owls were less likely to occupy 400ha survey sites with a greater proportion of forest that burned at high severity over the past 13 years and sites with a greater proportion of “heavier” fuels management (>25% canopy reduction) but were insensitive to the proportion of “lighter” fuels management (<25% canopy reduction) at survey sites. However, the negative effect of severe fire on site occupancy was three times greater than that of heavier management, and severe fire resulted in the estimated loss of 509 occupied sites compared to only 65 lost from heavier fuels management. In contrast, spotted owls were more likely to occur at sites containing a greater proportion of severe DRTM, presumably because of foraging opportunities created by more open and heterogenous forest conditions. Our study represents the first to empirically assess the effects of the primary forest disturbance agents and fuels management on spotted owls. We found that severe fire is a greater threat to spotted owls than fuels management, adding to the growing body of literature underscoring the need to increase the pace and scale of fuels management to both promote forest resiliency and conserve older forest species.This work was funded by the USDA Forest Service Region 5 and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Oral History Interview, Emily Hall (2504)
No full textIn her May 28, 2025 interview with Troy Reeves, Academic Staff Award winner Emily Hall discusses her career instructing students in writing theory and advocating for writing in the campus curriculum. To learn more about this oral history, download & review the index first (or transcript if available). It will help determine which audio file(s) to download & listen to.In her May 28, 2025 interview with Troy Reeves, Academic Staff Award winner Emily Hall discusses her career instructing students in writing theory and advocating for writing in the campus curriculum. Emily shares how she first came to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, her research focus as an English literature Ph.D. candidate at UW-Madison, and her work at the Writing Center as a graduate student. She talks extensively about her responsibilities as the director of both the Writing Across the Curriculum Program and the undergraduate Writing Fellows Program, including about how generative AI, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the evolution of technology have impacted her work. Other topics include her teaching methodology, her attitude toward change, her involvement in committees, her view on the treatment of academic staff, her reactions to winning an Academic Staff Award, and her memories of 9/11. This interview was conducted for inclusion into the Academic Staff Award Winners project of the UW-Madison Archives & Records Management oral history collection
Comparing effects of stilbenoid compounds on growth, morphology, and gene dysregulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
No full textAntifungal resistance is an emerging threat, exasperated by a lack of knowledge and novel treatments, and misuse of antifungal drugs. The stilbene SK-03-92 shows promise as an antifungal drug due to its effectiveness on fungi while remaining safe in a mouse model. Like other stilbenes, SK-03-92’s exact mechanism of action is not well understood. This work was designed to extend what is known about the effects of stilbenes on Saccharomyces cerevisiae. First, I showed synergistic effects between SK- 03-92 and pterostilbene, and SK-03-92 and curcumin. Second, qPCR showed that four genes are dysregulated in a similar manner in yeast cells treated with all three stilbenes (SK-03-92, pterostilbene, and curcumin). Third, mitochondrial morphology and survival of SK-03-92 treated yeast cells were previously characterized; these studies were repeated on cells treated with pterostilbene and curcumin and I found similar effects, albeit to a lesser extent. In summary, this work identified similarities in how three different stilbene compounds affected yeast cells. Elucidation of the mechanism of action of stilbenes will help determine the class of fungi these compounds will be effective in treating. In the fight against antifungal resistance, this knowledge could help save the lives of patients
Oral History Interview, Ron Kuka (2518)
No full textIn his three July-August 2025 interviews, Academic Staff Award Winner Ron Kuka describes his time as a faculty member of the Creative Writing Department at UW-Madison. To learn more about this oral history, download & review the index first (or transcript if available). It will help determine which audio file(s) to download & listen to.In his three July-August 2025 interviews, Academic Staff Award Winner Ron Kuka describes his time as a faculty member of the Creative Writing Department at UW-Madison. After graduating from the University of Iowa, he initially taught composition at Edgewood College and worked at the Writer’s Place. In 1990, Kuka joined the Creative Writing Department. He emphasizes the importance of the workshop model in teaching creative writing and the value of line editing, shares his passion for working with students, describes some of his faculty mentors, and details some of the administrative work he was tasked with, including managing enrollment and event planning. In his second interview, Kuka discusses his deep involvement with the Wisconsin Prison Humanities Project (WPHP), which began in 2001 at Oak Hill Correctional Facility. He highlights the program's expansion to include digital literacy classes and other courses. Kuka applauds the dedication of inmates, who often self-educate and attend classes for personal growth instead of credit. He reflects on the impact of COVID-19 on his teaching methods, emphasizing the shift to online classes and the benefits of handwritten and in-person work. In his third interview, Kuka shares the changes he has seen in students’ behavior, noting an increase in anxiety and phone dependency that can hinder writing flows. He shares the increasing requirement of paperwork that makes simple tasks onerous for the department and changes in technology throughout his career. Kuka describes his involvement in academic staff governance, particularly the appeals committee and promotion reviews. Finally, he reflects on his award and expresses satisfaction for his career at UW. This interview was conducted for inclusion into the UW-Madison Archives and Records Management Oral History Program as part of the Academic Staff Award Winners Oral History Project
Rebellious Stripes: The American Flag in Activist Art, 1960-2025
No full textIn the 1760s, as desire for independence fomented, revolutionary groups adopted a proto-flag dubbed the Rebellious Stripes, with vertical white and red stripes symbolizing a desire for freedom. Once the United States flag with stars and stripes was authorized in 1777, it was quickly subsumed into debates around the identity of the burgeoning nation-state and its citizens. Due to the flag’s simple and striking design, it is easily replicated, referenced, and adapted by activists across the political spectrum to suit various messages beyond ‘patriotism’. Each use of this symbol taps into our shared culture of reverence towards the flag and emotional responses towards the Stars and Stripes. Beginning in the 1960s and 70s, left-wing activists utilized the flag as both a symbol of pride and despair, illustrating the gulf between American values and the lived experiences of the American people. Since then, leftist activists have continued to use the flag as they campaign for equality, justice, pacifism, and climate protections. This paper and the related exhibition on display at the UWM Emile H. Mathis Gallery from November 24, 2025-February 20, 2026, explores activist art from the UWM Art Collection, UWM Libraries Special Collections and Archives, and UW-system faculty artists Nicolas Lampert and Tom Jones. The works included in this essay and exhibition span from the 1960s to present, and all rely on the imagery of the United States Flag to communicate sorrow and hope
Memory, Mascots, and Midwestern Identity: On the Necessity of Critical Forgetting
No full textThrough qualitative interviews and archival research, this project explores the intersections between memory, mascots, and Midwestern identity. I examine two Midwestern towns: my hometown of Pekin, IL, whose former mascot was the “Pekin chinks,” and Mukwonago, WI, whose current mascot is the “Mukwonago Indians.” I argue that the Midwest’s unique cultural positioning has led to these two communities allowing these offensive mascots to ingrain themselves into the towns’ histories and reputations in negative ways. This is because of the distinction between “curated” and “colloquial” public memory. Whereas curated public memory, such as memorials, museums, and historical sites are heavily present in public memory scholarship, colloquial public memory—the stories, symbols, and ideas that circulate more casually and communally—is under-explored. This project argues examines the use of examining colloquial public memory, explores the harm that can stem from it, and proposes a method for reducing that harm: critical forgetting
THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF WORKING MOTHERS IN TUNISIA
No full textArab working mothers are an understudied population with complex experiences. Tunisian working mothers navigate a complex intersection of cultural expectations, institutional shortcomings, and professional aspirations. This qualitative study examines how Tunisian mothers construct and negotiate their dual identities as caregivers and professionals within a socio-cultural context shaped by intensive mothering ideologies and limited structural support for working parents. Drawing on 14 in-depth, semi-structured interviews, the analysis explores how participants discursively manage contradictions between ideal mother and ideal worker norms and how they make sense of these tensions through applying four response strategies illustrated in relational dialectics theory. While participants internalized dominant discourses of maternal devotion, they also rearticulated work as a form of care and agency. The study illustrates how cultural values are negotiated and transformed through everyday communication practices that both reinforce and resist dominant ideologies
Off the Shelf: Official Newsletter of UWEC Libraries, Spring 2025
No full textIn This Issue: From the Director's Desk -- Exhibiting Talent: Archives Student Worker Sylvie Leach Wins Library's Ninth Student Employee Scholarship -- Going Public: Works from 1929 Get New Life as Copyright Coverage Runs Out -- Recent Acquisitions -- The Eau Claire Repair Fair is Set for April 26 -- Earth Week in the Makerspace -- Lost in the Stacks: Staff Tracks Down Misshelved Books -- Expand Your Thinking With Lateral Reading -- UWEC Barron County Library: From the Archives: A Tradition of Theater on Campus -- Surrounded By Art: Library Manages University's Permanent Collection of Nearly 800 Pieces, Also Displays Many of Them -- A Roy-al Welcome in 1980 -- Create, Curate, Share: All UWEC Students, Staff, Faculty Can Now Use Omeka for Class Projects, Scholarship, and More -- Blugold Bookshelf: A Digital Project -- Library Staff and Student News: December 2024-March 2025 -- Thank YouThe Spring 2025 issue of Off the Shelf, Issue 101
Bigmouth and Smallmouth Buffalo in Wisconsin: Population Characteristics and Contributions to Bowfishing Harvest
No full textBigmouth buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus) and smallmouth buffalo (Ictiobus bubalus) are native to the midwestern USA and receive little management attention due to their status as non-game fishes. As a result, little is known about their population dynamics and characteristics across the landscape. Interest in buffalo and other native non-game fishes has increased as recently reported maximum ages of many non-game species are greater than previously thought. Recent interest in the conservation of these species has coincided with the increased popularity of bowfishing over the last decade. Bow fishers harvest invasive cyprinids and native non-game species, but the contribution of buffalo to bowfishing harvest is largely unknown. Consequently, my research objectives were to 1) describe age composition, reproductive traits (fecundity and maturation schedules), and population dynamics (growth, mortality, and recruitment variability) for bigmouth and smallmouth buffalo populations in Wisconsin; 2) determine the minimum number of fish needed to accurately represent age composition and variation in population metrics; 3) assess the relative resiliency of Wisconsin buffalo populations to harvest using population metrics and spawning potential ratio (SPR), and 4) determine the contribution of buffalo to bowfishing harvest in tournament and non-tournament settings.
Over a two-year period in 2023 and 2024, I collected buffalo from 14 water bodies across Wisconsin. Buffalo were collected from Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) sampling using electrofishing, fyke nets, seines, and gillnets. Buffalo were also obtained from 10 Wisconsin Bowfishing Association (WBA) tournaments. Buffalo were identified to species, measured to the nearest millimeter (total length; TL), weighed to the nearest 0.01 kilogram, and sex and maturity were determined from visual inspection of the gonads. Otoliths were used for age estimation. A modified age-length approach was used to select buffalo for age estimation, where the target was to collect 10 fish under 254 mm TL, 5 fish each per 50.8 mm TL bin for fish between 254 mm - 660 mm TL, and 10 fish over 660 mm TL. Heads were stored with identification tags in a freezer until otoliths could be removed in the laboratory following the protocol described by Lackmann et al. (2019). Otoliths were thin sectioned using a Buehler IsoMetTM 1000 Precision Cutter, viewed under a Nikon 1500 SMZ stereomicroscope, and images were broadcast to a 65 × 40 cm flat-screen monitor from which two independent readers enumerated annuli. Age length keys were created for each population and were used to assign ages to all fish in a sample.
Age composition of each population was described using Shannon diversity index (H) and number of age classes present. Age (A50) and TL (L50) at which probability of maturity was 50% were determined for each population using logistic regression. Mean fecundity at median TL of all mature females in the sample (663 mm) was predicted using a power function. Growth trajectories were quantified using a von Bertalanffy growth function (VBGF) and buffalo growth was described using predicted TLs-at-age 3 and age 11, and time in years to reach the TL at which buffalo were estimated to become vulnerable to bowfishing harvest (500 mm) and median observed TL observed across all populations (585 mm). Catch curves were used to estimate total mortality (Z) of each population using the Chapman-Robson method. Variation in recruitment was described using recruitment variation index.
To determine the minimum number of fish needed to accurately represent age composition and variation in population metrics, a minimum of 90 fish were collected from Yellowstone Lake and the Lower Wisconsin River. “Oversampled” populations were randomly subsampled in increments of 10 and this subsampling was performed 1,000 times at each increment (i.e., 10 fish were randomly sampled 1,000 times, 20 fish were randomly sampled 1,000 times and so on). The minimum number of fish needed to accurately estimate the number of age classes present, mean A50, and mean L50 was determined for each population as the increment at which the calculated metric was within 10% of the metric calculated for the entire sample.
Relative resiliency to harvest was assessed using two different approaches. First, SPR was used to predict the effects of varying levels of instantaneous fishing mortality (F) on the reproductive potential of each buffalo population. Instantaneous natural mortality rates of female buffalo were determined using six different estimators available in Fishery Analysis and Modeling Simulator (FAMS), and F was simulated from 0 to 1.0 in increments of 0.05. The F value required to reduce SPR below 0.3 (F0.3) was used as a comparison metric among populations. Additionally, population-specific estimates of metrics outlined in the first objective were compared to respective median values of those metrics obtained from all populations. Populations were considered relatively more resilient if they grew quicker, matured earlier, and exhibited a greater F0.3.
Contribution of buffalo to tournament harvest was determined from 10 WBA tournaments held in 2023 and 2024. Harvested fish were enumerated and identified to species or species groups. A random sample of harvested buffalo at each tournament was measured for TL (mm). Contribution of buffalo to non-tournament harvest was determined using a bow fisher diary which disseminated to six WBA volunteers. Diary entries consisted of date, location, number of individuals in the party, target species, number of each species harvested, and trip duration.
Number of age classes present ranged from 12 to 20 (median = 15.5) in bigmouth buffalo populations and from 15 to 30 (median = 20) in smallmouth buffalo populations. Maximum age ranged from 14 to 71 years (median = 32.5 years) in bigmouth buffalo populations and from 37 to 58 years (median = 48 years) in smallmouth buffalo populations. Age at 50% maturity ranged from 2.0 to 5.0 years (median = 2.99 years) in bigmouth buffalo populations and from 3.41 to 8 years (median = 4.39 years) in smallmouth buffalo populations. Time to reach 500 mm TL ranged from 3.4 to 6.1 years (median = 4.7 years) in bigmouth buffalo populations and from 4.5 to 7.0 years (median = 6.0 years). Predicted TLs at age 3 ranged from 295 to 489 mm (median = 435 mm) in bigmouth buffalo populations and from 417 to 475 mm (median = 433 mm) in smallmouth buffalo populations. Recruitment variation indices ranged from -1.79 to -0.34 (median = -0.55) in bigmouth buffalo populations and from -1.51 to 0.02 (median = -0.25) in smallmouth buffalo populations. Total mortality estimates ranged from 0.14 to 0.65 (median = 0.30) in bigmouth buffalo populations and from 0.18 to 0.23 (median = 0.19) in smallmouth buffalo populations.
A sample of 70 fish with otolith-based age estimates was needed in both oversampled populations to accurately estimate the number of age classes present in the entire sample. Maturation schedules were generally able to be accurately estimated with as few as 10 fish, given that at least 1 immature fish was present in the sample. Samples of 50 and 100 fish were needed to accurately estimate H and RVI, respectively. The rate of F required to reduce SPR to the threshold value ranged from 0.12 to 0.23 (median = 0.15) in bigmouth buffalo populations and from 0.08 to 0.09 (median = 0.09) in smallmouth buffalo populations. Populations considered relatively resilient to harvest included bigmouth buffalo from the Rock and Crawfish rivers, while populations considered less resilient to harvest included smallmouth buffalo from Lake St. Croix and the Lower Wisconsin River.
Total contribution of buffalo to bowfishing tournament harvest was 6.2% in 2023 and 32.3% in 2024, with an overall contribution of 17.4% across both years. In total, 555 buffalo were harvested in 2023 and 2,192 were harvested in 2024, for a total of 2,747 across both years. Most of these fish (2,717) were bigmouth buffalo and only 30 were smallmouth buffalo. Mean TL of harvested buffalo across all tournaments was 653 mm (SD = 124). Non-tournament bowfishing trips mostly occurred in May (36%) and relatively least trips occurred in July (12%). Common carp constituted the greatest proportion of total harvest (31.8%), followed by gar (11.7%) and buffalo (10.6%).
My results suggest that the characteristics of buffalo populations vary substantially across Wisconsin. While previous studies have suggested buffalo may attain ages of 100 years or more, my assessment suggests this does not occur in all populations. Buffalo recruitment appears to occur more frequently in my Wisconsin study populations than in populations previously studied in Minnesota and Saskatchewan. Bigmouth buffalo populations appeared to be more resilient to harvest than smallmouth buffalo populations, and populations inhabiting eutrophic lakes (Yellowstone and Beaver Dam lakes) and small rivers (Crawfish and Rock rivers) tended to be more resilient than those which inhabited large river systems (Mississippi and Lower Wisconsin rivers). The variation in the characteristics of buffalo populations across the landscape suggests that a single approach to buffalo management in Wisconsin may be inadequate. The contribution of buffalo to tournament harvest varied considerably with location and time of year, with the greatest contributions occurring in the spring when buffalo were actively spawning. My results suggest that bowfishing harvest may not be an important driver of population dynamics in many Wisconsin populations where recruitment is observed with some regularity or in populations that support considerable commercial harvest (which is likely far greater in extent than bowfishing harvest). However, harvest may be more likely to affect populations which recruit sporadically, exhibit relatively long average lifespans, and are not commercially harvested
Artificial intelligence beneficial impacts on procurement organizations
No full textThis paper aims to investigate the benefits of artificial intelligence on the procurement function. The research for this paper included peer-reviewed scholarly journals, the Harvard Business Review, The Institute for Supply Chain Management, and current event information with artificial intelligence via large news companies. The research provided indications and recommendations in cases where artificial intelligence is incorporated within the procurement process in data quality improvement, fraud detection and prevention, negotiations, supply chain risk, and ethics. In addition, the research gave insight into how the vendor/supplier relationship could shift through interactions with artificial intelligence. However, like with any new technology, there are concerns about ethics and access to the source code in how artificial intelligence makes choices. Companies should be concerned that artificial intelligence could bypass ethics initiatives due to an incomplete artificial intelligence focused primarily on finding goods and services that reduce cost