Growing up as a golfer and someone passionate about sustainability, Michael Bekken wanted a career that would allow him to combine the two.
Coming to UW–Madison for graduate school not only allowed him to do that but also expanded his idea of what was possible for him – and has sent him in a new direction for his next journey in life.
When she was young, Elise Marifian was already curious about poverty and the major discrepancies between what people have or don’t have. Over time, other experiences underscored that curiosity and homed in on what would eventually become the topic of her PhD dissertation: the effect of TV advertising on college enrollment decisions.
Chagai Weiss builds on existing theories in political science and psychology to study how people think about members of an ethnic group that is different than them.
Julia Martien found it overwhelming when she began to receive awards recognizing the contributions she’s made to UW–Madison. She recently received the Jennifer L. Reed Bioenergy Science Award, which recognizes an early-career woman who has made significant contributions to the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center’s research portfolio.
And this month, she’ll be the flag bearer for the Graduate School at the Winter 2021 Commencement ceremony, where she will graduate with her PhD in microbiology.
PhD student Alex Wang was named an outstanding graduate student in the Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Student Research Program. Through the program he will have a chance to aid in the search for evidence of an extremely rare case where two Higgs boson particles appear at the same time, called di-Higgs production.
Two student-advisor pairs at UW–Madison have received Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). HHMI Gilliam Fellowships have a twofold mission: to support underrepresented PhD students to pursue scientific research and to foster more inclusive academic environments at institutions that are committed to advancing diversity and inclusion in the sciences.
All gardeners know what it’s like to try and weed a garden. Even when you keep up with it, sometimes you miss a root or a seed, and the weeds grow back.
As it turns out, this experience applies not only to human gardeners but also to a type of ant that farms its own garden of fungus.
PhD candidate Kirsten Gotting studies evolutionary biology and fungus-growing ants as a member of the Currie Lab in the Department of Bacteriology and the Genetics Training Program. The Currie Lab’s collection of leaf-cutter ants, one of many types of fungus-growing ant, offers a window into the relationships between the ants, the fungus, and other pathogens and bacteria.
PhD candidate Isabel Anadon has received a prestigious fellowship from the American Bar Foundation to support her research on immigration policy and criminal law. Anadon is a graduate student in the Department of Sociology and a fellow with the UW Justice Lab.
PhD candidate, Art History
If you’ve ever driven by a roadside concrete art park – think sculptures, grottos, or even houses – and been intrigued, art history PhD candidate Cortney Anderson Kramer is the person to ask. Kramer studies and writes about this unique art style in the Midwest.
Lena Vincent started her career as a graduate student with big questions: How did life begin? Does life exist elsewhere in the universe?
“Realizing that you can turn these existential questions that everyone asks themselves into a scientific career was really exciting,” said Vincent, a PhD student in David Baum’s lab at UW–Madison.