UW–Madison's Day at the Capitol included a Graduate Research Showcase organized in partnership with UW State Relations and Catalysts for Science Policy (CaSP) on April 26, 2023. The outreach event also included Faculty Flash Talks by leading UW–Madison faculty researchers held in the Capitol’s 411 South. (Photo by Althea Dotzour / UW–Madison)

UW-Madison Day at the Capitol

The annual UW–Madison Day at the Capitol highlights the amazing faculty, students, alumni and athletics at UW–Madison. UW–Madison is a national leader in research, which contributes to the state’s priorities including retention, graduation rates, workforce, and economic development. In addition to Wisconsin Alumni Association-hosted activities, several events sponsored by the UW–Madison Office of State Relations are held on this day, including the Graduate Research Showcase and Faculty Flash Talks.

This year’s UW–Madison Day at the Capitol will be held at the Wisconsin State Capitol on April 30, 2025.

Graduate Research Showcase

The UW-Madison Office of State Relations is proud to partner with CaSP to present the Graduate Research Showcase as part of the annual UW-Madison Day at the Capitol on April 30, 2025. More than 50 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers will share their research with state policymakers, making presentations from 2-4 p.m. in the Capitol rotunda. Join us to find out more about a varied cross-section of innovative UW–Madison research and why it is important to Wisconsinites.

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2025 Presenters

Sam Beffa, Ethan Burton
Design and Testing of Forced-Hot Air Furnaces to Thermally Inactivate the HPAI Virus in Packaged and Unpacked Shell Eggs at Large-Scale Poultry Facilities
Graduate Students, Mechanical Engineering

Monica Bertrand
Protecting Your Instrument: Essential Vocal Care for Music Educators
Graduate Student, DMA in Choral Conducting

Ania Bialic
Engineering a Better Future: Using a 3D Tissue Model to Unravel the Mysteries of Neglected Tropical Disease
Graduate Student, Medical Microbiology & Immunology

Emily Blick
The Neuroinflammatory Response Following Cellular Traumatic Brain Injury
Graduate Student, Biomedical Engineering

Robin Chisholm
The Complicated Beauty of Galaxies—How They Grow and Evolve
Graduate Student, Physics / Astronomy

Soyeon Choi
Balancing Connection and Caution: How Infectious Diseases Shape Our Social Lives
Postdoctoral Researcher, Psychology

AP Clay, Isabel Cannell
Strategies for Targeting Bacterial Pathogenicity
Postdoctoral Researcher, Graduate Student, chemistry

Julia Colwell
Using Rhesus Macaque Stem Cell-Derived Neurons to Study Frontotemporal Dementia
Graduate Research Assistant, Cellular & Molecular Pathology

Tarah Connolly
Wisconsin Children’s Museum Klatch: Connecting a Uniquely Wisconsin Asset
PhD Student, Curriculum & Instruction

Caroline Corona, David Heinritz, Luis Navarette, Ayah Kenj Halabi, Anthony Carreno
Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention: A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Lowering the Elevated Blood Lead Level Threshold for Public Health Intervention in Wisconsin
Graduate Students, La Follette School of Public Affairs

Hande Burcu Deniz
How Do Physical Qualities of Activity-Based Workplaces Impact Stress Levels of Employees?
Graduate Student, Design Studies/School of Human Ecology

Nina Denne
Your Immune Cells Get Tired, Too! Reducing T Cell Exhaustion to Improve Immunotherapy for Solid Tumors
Graduate Student, Program: Cell & Molecular Biology, Department: Biomedical Engineering

Kayla Dillon, Te-Lien Ku
Advancing Access to Health Services Through the Dementia Care Partner Hospital Assessment Tool for Care Partners of Hospitalized Individuals Living With Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias
Graduate Students, Kinesiology

Maximino D. Emerson
Leveraging the Photosynthetic Light Reactions for Engineering Photocatalysis
Graduate Student, Biochemistry

Lea Gardiner
Community-Based Dementia Crisis Mobile Response Teams: A Feasibility Study
Graduate Student, School of Nursing – Psychiatric Mental Health cohort

Srihari Gopalan
Novel Instrument for a Safer Surgical Approach
Graduate Student, Biomedical Engineering (Accelerated M.S. Program)

Edith-Marie Green
Predictors of and Changes in Advance Care Planning During Societal Shifts: A Study of the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW)’s Community Impact Survey
Graduate Student, Population Health Sciences

Yangchen He
2D Materials for Future Electronics: Towards Energy-Efficient Technology and Quantum Computation
Research Assistant, Materials Science & Engineering

Alissa Hofmann
Exposure to “Forever Chemicals” During Pregnancy May Trigger Diabetes—but Hope Exists
Graduate Student, Endocrinology Reproductive Physiology

Jennifer Jones
Empowering Tribal Energy Initiatives: Assessing Engagement and Impact of Tribal Energy Advisory Councils in State Regulatory Processes
Graduate Student, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies

Natalie Jones-Kerwin
Voting Behavior and Access Among Native Americans in Century General Elections
Graduate Student, Political Science

Sohee Kim
Trends and Predictions of Fall and Injury Incidents in Wisconsin’s Assisted Living Communities
Graduate Student, Health Service Research in Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy

Jennifer Koehler, Olivia Hoffman
Teaching Old Drugs New Tricks: A New Treatment for People With Epilepsy
Graduate Student, Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology; Postdoctoral Researcher, Neuroscience

Alivia Lindorfer
Driving Change: A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Expanding Mobile Dentistry in Wisconsin
Graduate Student, La Follette School of Public Affairs

Lauren Lucas
Bile Acids: Microbial Metabolites That Shape Your Body’s Function
Postdoctoral Researcher, Bacteriology

Alicia Mand
Neutrino Astronomy With IceCube and Its Upgrades
Graduate Student, Physics

Marilyn McCluskey
Improving Confidence on Identification of Human Trafficking in the Healthcare Setting
Graduate Student, Doctorate of Nursing

Justice Merrifield
Advancing Cancer Therapeutics by Stimulating the Immune System
Graduate Student, DVM/PhD program

Corinne Moss
Combining Daily Health Tracking and Urine Sampling to Advance Precision Medicine
Graduate Student, Integrated Program in Biochemistry (Biomolecular Chemistry dept)

Jordan Nickell
Natural Disasters on Election Day: Preserving the Right to Vote in Cases of Emergency
Graduate Student, Law School

Kelly O’Connor, BSN, RN, CPN
Early Childhood Health Consultation: Expert Advice, Confident Caregivers, Healthy Children
Post-degree Researcher, School of Human Ecology

Abby Youran Qin
Why Local News Matters for Elections in Wisconsin
Graduate Student, School of Journalism & Mass Communication

Unmesh Raskar
From Barn to Data: High-Tech Solutions for Wisconsin’s Dairy Farms
Graduate Student, Electrical & Computer Engineering

Monica Ridlon
It’s Regulated. Why Care About Polychlorinated Biphenyl Pollution?
Graduate Student, Molecular & Environmental Toxicology

Tayana Roark
Producing Protein Films With Biobased Plasticizers as a Sustainable Plastic Packaging Alternative
Graduate Student, Food Science

Fletcher A. E. Robbins
Developing Updatable Pest Forecasts for Wisconsin Soybean Farms
Graduate Student, Entomology and Agronomy

Sammy Rothman
A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Private Well Water Treatment in Wisconsin
Graduate Student, La Follette School of Public Affairs

Jack Shireman
Impact of Pregnancy on the Treatment and Outcomes of Glioma – a Cohort Study
Graduate Student, Neuroscience Training Program/Neurosurgery

Anshit Singh
Altered Coordination of Cellular Metabolism: Caloric Restriction and Aging
Graduate Student, Nutrition and Metabolism Graduate Program

Ann Shun Swanson
Receipt and Timeliness of Mental Health Assessment, Treatment, and Acute Services Following Foster Care Entry
Graduate Student, PhD in Social Welfare / School of Social Work

Zaim Ugljic
What Is the Potential Herbicide Savings With Targeted Application Technologies?
Graduate Student, Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences

Madrigal von Muchow
Developing a Screening Tool to Identify Birth Trauma in Prenatal Care
Graduate Student, Master of Public Health

Jack Williams
Developing Methods to Identify Changes in Liver Function in Early Liver Disease
Graduate Student, Biochemistry

Katie Wilson
Wildfire Aerosol Concentrations and Their Impact on Severe Weather in North America
Graduate Student, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences

Kyle Wolf
Medical Countermeasures for Hematopoietic Acute Radiation Syndrome
Postdoctoral Researcher, Forward Bio Institute

2024 Presenters

Lucille Abrams
Community Pharmacists and Improving Contraception Access
Graduate Student, Health Services Research

Lauri Asbury, Zachary Bauer & Madison Mehlberg
A Cost-Benefit Analysis of a City-Owned Childcare Center in Madison, Wisconsin
Graduate Student, La Follette School of Public Affairs

Reji Babygirija
Restriction of Dietary Protein Slows the Development and Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease in Mice
Graduate Student, Cellular and Molecular Biology

Vedant Basu
IceCube: A Window to the Universe
Graduate Student, Physics

Mary Baumgartner & Johanna Schmidt
Driving in Debt Drives Debt: A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Eliminating Wisconsin’s Driver’s License Suspension Policy for Failure to Pay Forfeitures
Graduate Students, La Follette School of Public Affairs

Nathan Brittin
Discovering New Antibiotics Using Machine Learning
Graduate Student, Pharmaceutical Sciences

McKenzie Burns
Mitigating Water Quality Impacts of Dairy Manure with Bioelectrochemical Systems for Resource Recovery
Graduate Student, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Catalysts for Science Policy
Wisconsin Science and Technology Advisors (WiSTA) Program
Graduate students and Postdoctoral Fellows,

Jiang Chen
Remote Monitoring Alfalfa Yield and Quality Traits Using Multisource Optical and SAR Satellite Data
Postdoctoral Fellow, Biological Systems Engineering

Catherine Freed
Circularizing the Global Phosphorus Economy
Postdoctoral Fellow, Biochemistry

Juan Garcia
Welcoming Workspaces in Wausau, WI
Graduate Student, Public Health

Taqdeer Gill
Predictive Models for Vegetable Crops Under Varied N Rates Using Hyperspectral Imagery
Graduate Student, Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences

Natalie M. González Velázquez
Differentiating the Role of 6-Hydroxynorketamine in Ketamine’s Rewarding and Fast-Acting Antidepressant Effects
Graduate Student, Pharmaceutical Sciences

Yuchen Gu
Diagnosing and Treating Skin Cancer at Fingertips Using Electromagnetic Waves and AI
Graduate Student, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Naman Gupta
Barriers Faced by Survivors of Technology-Facilitated Intimate Partner Violence in Seeking Social Support
Graduate Student, Computer Sciences

Austin Hall
Characterization of Secondary Metabolites Produced by a Community-Regulated Gene Cluster
Graduate Student, Plant Pathology

Carmen Haseltine
Risk Assessment of Voting by Mail: A Case Study of Milwaukee County
Graduate Student, Electrical and Computer Engineering /Industrial and Systems Engineering

Olee Hoi Ying Lam
Imaging Spectroscopy as a Tool for Understanding Early Blight Progression in Potato
Graduate Student, Forest and Wildlife Ecology

Elizabeth Hrycyna
Controlling a Cranberry Pest with Nematodes
Graduate Student, Department of Entomology

Beverly A. Hutcherson
Pcos Research Models Inform Biological Understanding of Developmental Origins Contributing to Maternal Morbidities
Graduate Student/Staff, Endocrinology Reproductive Physiology

Rachel Hutchins
Growing Up Polarized: The Development of Affective Polarization in Children
Graduate Student, Communication Arts

Rodrigo Ibarra
Viruses and Barcodes: How Molecular Tools Shed Light Into Flu’s Evolution
Graduate Student, Cellular and Molecular Biology

Anupreksha Jain
Automating Bumblebee Tracking to Study Sublethal Impacts of Pesticides on Behavior
Graduate Student, Entomology

Sohee Kim
The Prevalence of Long-Term Opioid Treatment among Older Adults with Chronic Non-Cancer Pain
Graduate Student, Health Service Research

Faith Koester
Microbial Communities for Lactic Acid Production from Dairy Industry Coproducts.
Graduate Student, Bacteriology

Lauri Luosta
The Cross-Border Spillover Effects of Recreational Marijuana Dispensaries on Child Protective Services Reporting
Graduate Student, Consumer Behavior and Family Economics

Angela Maloney
Addressing Systemic Barriers for Working-Class Candidates Running for US Federal and Wisconsin Elected Offices
Graduate Student, La Follette School of Public Affairs

Blaise Manga Enuh
Phosphate Accumulating Microbes in Wastewater
Postdoctoral Fellow, Wisconsin Energy Institute

Yizhou Mao
Optimizing Cranberry Micropropagation and Transformation to Analyze Sugar Metabolism Genes and Enhance Nutritional Quality
Graduate Student, Plant Breeding and Plant Genetics

Benazir Meera
Scaling Riding in the MomentTM in Wisconsin: An Adaptive Horseback Riding Program for Adults Living with Dementia and their Families
Postdoctoral Fellow, Kinesiology

Jarret Miles-Kroening
System Evaluation of Film-Based Mulches in an Annual, Organic Day-Neutral Strawberry Production System in the Upper Midwest
Graduate Student, Plant and Agroecosytem Sciences

Sharar Muhtasim
Simple Sensors, Big Impact: Monitoring Nitrate in Soil
Graduate Student, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Emilie Parkanzky
Impact of Attract-and-Kill Expansion on Popillia Japonica (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Management in Wisconsin Vineyards
Graduate Student, Entomology

Eric Pauley
Adaptive Defenses for Internet Services
Graduate Student, Computer Sciences

Vii Pszczolkowski
From Forage to Fork: Feeding Cows for Better Dairy
Postdoctoral Fellow, US Dairy Forage Research Center

Harrison Rosenberg
Limitations of Face Image Generation
Postdoctoral Fellow, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Katie Ryan
Microbes vs Worms: Searching Nature for New Antiparasitic Compounds
Graduate Student, Cellular and Molecular Pathology (CMP)

Sophie Stephenson
Sharenting on TikTok
Graduate Student, Computer Sciences

Monnette F Summers-Villarreal
Modifying Viruses to Treat Genetic Diseases
Graduate Student, Cellular and Molecular Biology

Kate Thompson
Hyperspectral Bioindicators for Early Detection of Environmental Contamination
Graduate Student, Forest and Wildlife Ecology

Mae Tidd
Evaluating the State of Wisconsin’s HIV Prevention Program, PrEP Navigation
Graduate Student, Health Services Research

Ashleigh Tindle
Leveraging Pet Dogs to Model Non-Occupational Chemical Risk for Human Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
Graduate Student, Molecular and Environmental toxicology

Anna Walther
How Early Care and Education (ECE) Spending Impacts Childcare
Graduate Student, Social Work

Amelia Weidemann
Food for Thought: The Open Seat Food Pantry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Graduate Student, La Follette School of Public Affairs

Kasia Wiech
Seeing Immune Cell Metabolism: Autofluorescence Lifetime Imaging and Lupus
Graduate Student, Biomedical Engineering

Yijia Xu
Unsupervised Domain Adaptation for Crop Mapping in the Absence of Mapping Year Ground-truth
Graduate Student, Biological Systems Engineering

Ibrahim Zuniga-Chaves
Socioeconomic Disparities Shape Gut Microbiome Health and Resilience: Insights from a Temporal Population-Wide Study in Wisconsin, USA.
Graduate Student, Microbiology

2023 Presenters

Barbara Alvarez
Abortion Access for Minors: A Mapping Project
Graduate Student, Information School

Angel Banuelos
How Are Early Blood Vessels in the Eye Stabilized?
Graduate Student, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Genetics

Joshua Brown, Ph.D.
College Students’ Social Identification: Issues and Suggestions from New Findings
Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Human Ecology

Tracy Campbell
Accounting for Nitrate in Irrigation Water Can Reduce Fertilizer Application Rate Substantially in the Wisconsin Central Sands
Graduate Student, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Agronomy

Ambar Carvallo
Tomato vs Septoria: Evaluation of Novel Genetic Markers for Disease Resistance
Graduate Student, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Plant Breeding and Genetics

Ashley Cate
The Status of Digital Divides in Wisconsin: An Analysis of What Is Being Done to Bridge the Divides and How Effective Those Efforts Are
Graduate Student, Program of Mass Communications

Joe Catudal
Toward Internet Photonic Sensing
Graduate Student, School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences, Computer Sciences

Nick Ceccio
The Spy Devices and Device Detectors used in Intimate Partner Violence
Graduate Student, School of Computer, Data, & Information Sciences, Computer Security

Kuan-Yu Chen
Precision Farming: Printed Nitrate Sensing System for Nitrate Leaching Quantification
Graduate Student, College of Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Evelyn Coker
Investing in Black Girls: The Key to Reducing System Involvement and Promoting Positive Outcomes
Graduate Student, Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work, Social Welfare

Ray Czerwinski
Fluorescence Microscopy to Study Single Molecules
Graduate Student, College of Letters & Science, Chemistry

Tia Dorshorst, Stuart Berry, Michael Elbing
Rio EMS Department Recruitment and Retention
Graduate Student, School of Medicine and Pubic Health, Public Health

Benjamin Douglas
Bipartisan Approaches to Discussing Climate Policy
Graduate Student, College of Letters & Science, Psychology

Jacob Fiedler
Improved Dimension Bounds on Planar Distance Sets
Graduate Student, College of Letters & Science, Mathematics

Taqdeer Gill
Eye in the Sky: Predicting Crop Nutrient Status and Crop Yield
Graduate Student, College of Agricultural & Life Sciences, Horticulture

Luis Gonzalez-Quizhpe
“Saraguro Runakunaka Wiñaypak Runakunami Kashunchik (We Will Always Be Saraguro)”: Reclaiming the Kichwa Language and Saraguro Identity in the Diaspora
Graduate Student, College of Letters & Science, Latin American, Caribbean, and Iberian Studies M.A. Program

Olivia Harwood
Toward a Functional Cure for HIV
Graduate Student, School of Medicine and Public Health, Cellular and Molecular Pathology Program

Austin Hall, Emma Eisenbraun, Natalia Rosario Meléndez, Madeleine Roberts, Chris Dade
Wisconsin’s Culture: Exploring the Historical and Economic Significance of Lactococcus lactis in the State
Graduate Students, Catalysts for Science Policy

Scott Hershberger
Growing Wisconsin’s Maple Syrup Industry by Understanding Hobbyist and Commercial Producers’ Outreach Needs
Graduate Student, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Life Sciences Communication M.S.

Rodrigo Ibarra
Barcoding Viruses to Study their Evolution: Quantifying Influenza Infection Dynamics
Graduate Student, School of Medicine and Public Health, Cellular and Molecular Biology Graduate Program

Bryce Johnson
Developing new Medicines and Breaking Down Plastics with Artificial Intelligence
Graduate Student, School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences and Morgridge Institute for Research, Computer Science

DaWon Kim
Nanotechnology to Improve the Efficacy of Peptide-based Nanoparticles for Cancer Immunotherapy
Graduate Student, School of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences Ph.D. Program

Jake Kruse
Spatial Interactions as the Basis of Communities of Interest in Redistricting
Graduate Student, College of Letters & Science, Geography

Paul Kuehnert
The Role of Microbes in GI Health
Graduate Student, School of Medicine and Public Health, Cellular and Molecular Pathology Program

Nicole Lane Starr, Ph.D.
Skin Microbes and Eczema
Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Medicine & Public Health, Pediatrics and Medical Microbiology & Immunology

Keke Long
Public Attitudes from Riders, Drivers, and Pedestrians Toward Autonomous Shuttles
Graduate Student, College of Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Ke Ma
Automated Vehicle Standard Evaluation System
Graduate Student, College of Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Maitreyee Marathe
Electric Little Free Library
Graduate Student, College of Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Jarret Miles-Kroening
Transitioning to Organic Day-neutral Strawberry Production in the Upper Midwest
Graduate Student, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Horticulture

Jordan Murray
Cyanobacteria Harmful Algal Blooms: A Public Health Issue in Wisconsin’s Waters
Post Masters Fellow, UW Aquatic Sciences Center

Amy Neusaenger
Amorphous Drug-Polymer Salts: Maximizing Proton Transfer to Enhance Stability and Release of Global Health Medicines
Graduate Student, School of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences Ph.D. Program

Connor Protter
Nanomaterials for Agriculture and Plant Health
Graduate Student, College of Letters & Science, Chemistry

Jonathan Rebelsky
Searching for the Origins of Life in the Coldest Regions of Space
Graduate Student College of Letters & Science, Chemistry

Pedro Rojas-Barros
A Current Cranberry Industry Challenge: What Makes a Cranberry Fruit Good for Sweetened and Dried Cranberry (SDC) Production?
Graduate Student, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Horticulture

Aindrila Saha
Replicating Daylight Vision on a Dish
Graduate Student, School of Medicine and Public Health, Cellular and Molecular Biology Graduate Program

Sam Schneider, Adam Riley, Stephanie Mertens, Ian O’Connor-Giles, Tyler Williams
Child Savings Accounts in Wisconsin: A Cost-Benefit Analysis
Graduate Students, La Follette School of Public Affairs

Sophie Stephenson
The Madison Tech Clinic: Combating Technology-Enabled Abuse in Our Community
Graduate Student, School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences, Computer Sciences

Dharani Suresh Babu
Empowering Cranberry Growers: With Remote Sensing-Enabled Agricultural Intelligence
Graduate Student, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Horticulture

Junyi Tan
Harnessing Genomic Resources to Accelerate Cucumber Disease Resistance Breeding
Postdoctoral Fellow, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Department of Horticulture

Mallory VanMeeter
Building the Village: Patterns of Informal Shared Housing Among Youth Facing Homelessness and the Factors that Contribute to Stability
Graduate Student, School of Human Ecology, Civil Society and Community Research Program

Aishwarya Veerabahu
The Midas Mushroom: the Invasion of Golden Oyster Mushrooms in the Midwest
Graduate Student, College of Letters & Science, Botany (Fungal Ecology focus)

Teja Venkatesa Perumal
Powering the Future: Carbon Conversion Technologies
Graduate Student, College of Engineering, Chemical Engineering

Jocelyn Woods
Tail Docking: Considering the Long and Short of It for Sheep Welfare
Graduate Student, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Animal and Dairy Sciences

Ziyan Wu
Reliable Detection and Characterization of Small Microplastics in Lake Water Using Raman Spectroscopy Coupled with Fractionated Membrane Filtration
Graduate Student, College of Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Faculty Flash Talks

Faculty Flash Talks are brief (10 min) showcases of the leading research by faculty from across the UW–Madison campus. Topics range from current events to major challenges directly impacting industries across Wisconsin, the U.S., and the world. Faculty Flash Talks are presented in partnership with UW Connects Badger Talks.

Badger Talks logo

2025 Flash Talks (scheduled)

2:00 p.m.: What UW–Madison Does to Protect Wisconsin Agriculture from Avian Flu (H5N1)
Keith Poulsen, DVM, PhD – Director, Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, School of Veterinary Medicine

2:10 p.m.: Wisconsin’s Ag Stations: Being the Wisconsin Idea
Mike Peters – Director, Agricultural Research Stations, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS)

2:20 p.m.: UW MIA Project
Chuck Konsitzke – UW Biotechnology Center Associate Director; Team Lead for the UW Missing in Action Recovery and Identification Project

2:30 p.m.: Teacher Pledge: A big idea to address Wisconsin’s teacher shortage
Marcelle Haddix, PhD – Dean, School of Education & Karen A. Falk Distinguished Chair of Education, School of Education

2:40 p.m.: Structured Materials — From Traumatic Brain Injury Prevention To Enabling Space Exploration
Ramathasan Thevamaran, PhD – Bernard A. and
Frances M. Weideman Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering

2:50 p.m.: Expanding Financial Well-being in Wisconsin
J. Michael Collins, PhD – Fetzer Family Chair in Consumer & Personal Finance, School of Human Ecology; Family Economics Specialist, Division of Extension; Associate Director for Training and Research, Institute for Research on Poverty

3:00 p.m.: Rethinking Political Divides: Innovations in Public Engagement and Problem-Solving
Amber Wichowsky, PhD – Associate Professor of Public Affairs, La Follette School of Public Affairs and Leadership Wisconsin Chair, Division of Extension

3:10 p.m.: Obesity and Breast Cancer: Fuel for the Fire
Lisa M. Arendt, DVM, PhD – Associate Professor of Comparative Biosciences, School of Veterinary Medicine

3:20 p.m.: Rural Livability in Wisconsin
Tessa Conroy, PhD – Associate Professor, Dept of Agricultural and Applied Economics, CALS; Community Economic Development Specialist, Division of Extension

3:30 p.m.: Leveraging Community Pharmacies to Combat Opioid Overdose in Wisconsin
Jay Ford, PhD, FACHE, LFHIMSS and Cody Wenthur, PharmD/PhD – Co-Directors, Wisconsin Opioid Overdose Response Center, School of Pharmacy

3:40 p.m.: AI-enabled cancer care: Ushering in a new era of precision medicine
Pallavi Tiwari, PhD – Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor, Department of Radiology, Biomedical Engineering, Medical Physics, School of Medicine and Public Health

3:50 p.m.: K-12 Visual Arts Education: A Foundation for Creativity, Connection and Careers
Mary Hoefferle, PhD – Art Education Teaching Faculty, Art Department, School of Education & Division of the Arts

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Flash talks from 2024

Police in Schools: What Does the Research Say?
Ben Fisher, MA, PhD – Associate Professor of Civil Society & Community Studies, School of Human Ecology

The Area Deprivation Index: Advancing Health Equity through Health Policy
Ann M. Sheehy, MD, MS – Professor of Medicine & Deputy Director of Health Policy Research, Center for Health Disparities Research, UW School of Medicine and Public Health

Using Brain Imaging and Movement to Better Understand Autism
Brittany Travers, PhD – Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy, Department of Kinesiology, School of Education

The Wisconsin Rural Livability Project
Steven Deller, MS, PhD – Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor, Agricultural and Applied Economics, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences & Community Development Extension Specialist, Division of Extension

AI Safety in Human Sensitive Contexts in the Age of Generative AI
Yonatan Mintz, PhD – Assistant Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering, College of Engineering

Mental Flex: Meditation Training for Performance and Well-Being
Chad McGehee, MA, MEd – Director of Meditation Training, UW Athletics

Sustainability – Wisconsin’s Leadership and Legacy
Missy Nergard, PhD – Chief Sustainability Officer, UW–Madison Office of Sustainability

Centering Excellence in Mosquito and Tick Expertise at UW-Madison
Lyric Bartholomay, PhD – Professor, Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine

Preliminary Findings from Wisconsin’s Domestic Violence Housing First Pilot Program
Mariel Barnes, MA, PhD – Assistant Professor of Public Affairs, La Follette School of Public Affairs

Cover Crops & Manure: Partners in Conservation
Matt Ruark, MS, PhD – Associate Professor of Soil Science, Department of Soil Science, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences & Extension Soil Scientists, Division of Extension

Responding to Needs of Local Governments: UniverCity Alliance & the Wisconsin Idea
Gavin Luter, PhD – Managing Director, UniverCity Alliance

Flash Talks from 2023

Tonya Roberts, PhD, RN – Associate Professor and Karen Frick Pridham Professor in Family-Centered Care
Improving Nursing Home Quality: Optimizing Person-Centered Care                        

Cody J. Wenthur, PharmD, PhD – Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice & Translational Research, School of Pharmacy
Development of Antibodies Against Synthetic Psychoactive Drugs

Yiwei Zhang, PhD – Assistant Professor of Consumer Science, School of Human Ecology
Payday Lenders as Utility Payment Centers: Can Paying Down Bills Lead to Debt?

Whitney Loo, PhD – Assistant Professor of Chemical & Biological Engineering, College of Engineering                 
Polymers for a Sustainable Future

Diana Hammer – Community Resource Development Educator, Division of Extension & Johnnie Phiffer – Founder, I Am Balanced Wellness
Entrepreneur in Training Partnership

Andy Garbacz, PhD – Associate Professor of School Psychology, School of Education
Promoting Youth Mental Health through Integrated Family-School-Community Partnerships

Wisconsin Brass Quintet – Tom Curry; Mark Hetzler; Daniel Grabois; Jean Laurenz; & Oliver C. Smith                 
Suite from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein (arr. by Jack Gale); Tonight – Maria – Americ

Kassem Fawaz, PhD – Assistant Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering, College of Engineering
Privacy in Today’s Online World: Is It Possible?

Katie Eklund, PhD – Associate Professor of School Psychology, School of Education
Addressing Children’s Mental Health Needs in Wisconsin Schools

Charles Konsitzke – Team Lead, UW MIA Recovery and Identification Project
UW MIA Recovery and Identification Project

Chuck Nicholson, PhD – Associate Professor of Agriculture & Applied Economics, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
 Assessing and Addressing Barriers to Dairy Product Exports by Small- and Medium-Sized Wisconsin Manufacturers