Summer is well underway and gardening season is upon us! Learn about the invasive plants that may be in your yard, and how you can take action to replace them with native ones, from Outreach Specialist Jeanne Scherer.

Have you ever wondered what lives in the lakes and rivers near you? Or whether your nearby body of water has invasive species living in it? Learn how you can participate in Snapshot Day, a state-wide community science event on August 10 where volunteers work together to monitor aquatic invasive species in their communities. 

Want to understand how red foxes and coyotes are living in Madison, and how we can coexist with these wild neighbors? Check out the Urban Canid Project’s new story map, a multimedia visualization of movement data overlaid with landcover maps revealing patterns in where these animals spend their time and how they move through the landscape.

NRI is partnering with the East River Collaborative through a Wisconsin Coastal Management grant. The funding will support a residential needs assessment to better understand the community’s flood preparedness and resiliency priorities.

We recently welcomed 18 student interns for the 2024 Wisconsin Natural Resource Internship program. These students work with the US Forest Service in focused areas around forestry, invasive plant species, or wildlife biology in northern Wisconsin.

This 12-week internship program provides a career-oriented introduction to the background, philosophy, concepts, and scope of natural resources management, and a practical understanding of Forest Service policies and Extension’s mission and role in statewide outreach and education. Interns also receive on-the-job training and exposure to a variety of natural resource disciplines and careers with the Forest Service and Extension.

From April 14–16, more than 140 researchers, Extension professionals, project managers, USDA staff, and evaluators working on the USDA Sustainable Agricultural Systems (SAS) program gathered at the Memorial Union in Madison. Greta Landis, with support from Amber Mase and the NRI Evaluation Unit, organized the meeting to bring together leaders and collaborators from over 40 projects in the SAS program, funded between 2019 and 2024 (current list of projects). 

SAS projects range geographically from the East Coast to the Midwest and even Hawaii, while topics vary broadly from improving shellfish harvesting, to incorporating solar power into agriculture, to promoting perennial grasslands as an alternative to row crops–but all are striving to transform US agriculture to be more sustainable in terms of energy, water, and other resources used while maintaining or improving the economics of farming. The goals of the SAS program meeting were to build connections, exchange lessons learned from transdisciplinary agroecosystems research, education, and extension projects, and inform evaluation of the SAS program.  

The group was welcomed by Extension Dean Karl Martin, and enjoyed remarks from Dr. Annie Jones about the history of Madison and the Medicine Wheel approach to theory of change and evaluation work. Presentations focused on data management strategies, and USDA agency updates, as well as a panel discussion with fifth-year project directors. The NRI Evaluation Unit was excited to reunite in person with those who work remotely and with some “alumni,” including Vikram Koundinya and Courtney Bolinson.  

According to the post-event evaluation survey, breakout discussions by project role (director, project manager, evaluator etc.) were valuable for participants, and attendees expressed gratitude for the event’s organization and atmosphere, commending the hosts for fostering networking and collaboration. Many thanks and congratulations to Greta, who led the meeting planning and coordination!

Meet Jackson Parr, a climate hazards planning educator working with the Rural Partnerships Institute project on preparing for amplified weather extremes in a role that spans Extension and Sea Grant. He has master’s degrees from UW–Madison in public affairs and water resources management, and a background in journalism.

What are you most looking forward to in this position?

Since working in the Coon Creek watershed on flood resilience through my graduate studies, I became acutely aware of how rural communities struggle to compete for funding and resources against big cities and wealthy communities that can afford to staff grant writers, engineers, and planners. I think statewide entities such as Extension have both the ability and the responsibility to provide rural communities with the technical and organizational capacity to prepare for extreme weather events. I’m excited to be a catalyst for that support.

Which is your favorite of Madison’s lakes?

Between being the host of my Ironman swim and the view of the city as you drive in along John Nolen Drive, I would have to say Monona.

July 31–August 1: North Central Agriculture and Climate Conference

July 31–August 19: River Rovers

August 1, 8, 15: Good Idea Shop Talks

August 10: AIS Snapshot Day

August 14: Everyone Can Bird!

August–October: Learn About Your Land

See more events >

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