Seminars & Events
Current Seminars & Events
Master's Seminars Spring 2009
| Wednesday, July 8, 2009 | |
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Veterinarians and Organic Dairies: Are They Compatible?
Presenter: Martha Rideout, DVM, MS Candidate2:30 p.m. @ 270 Soils Bldg.Transitioning to organic dairy production has, by definition, altered the way veterinarians interact with dairy farmers and their herds. Effective relationships will require that veterinarians understand the basics of organic production systems, and are able to identify how they can influence animal health in this system. Results from a survey of Wisconsin veterinarians will be presented, including their perceptions of organic livestock agriculture, educational needs and potential means of information delivery. |
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| Tuesday, June 9, 2009 | |
Homegrown Industry or Unwanted Neighbor? Social Implications of Corn Ethanol Production in Wisconsin
Presenter: Matt Robinson, MS Candidate1:00 p.m. @ 351 Moore Hall"Wisconsin communities have reacted in varied manners to ethanol production facilities. The factors that lead to these diverse community responses include characteristics of both the facilities themselves and the communities in which they are constructed. Our research identifies some of these factors and examines some of the social implications for communities that experience conflicts surrounding local facilities." |
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| Wednesday, May 20, 2009 | |
Mechanical and Thermal Suppression of Kura Clover for Living Mulch in Corn Production
Presenter: Nathan Bard, MS Candidate1:00 p.m. @ 351 Moore Hall"Kura clover, a long-lived perennial, can be a living mulch and the sole nitrogen source for corn production. It reduces soil erosion and nitrate leaching and, when adequately suppressed, doesn’t reduce corn grain or silage yield. Kura clover as living mulch has been shown to be effectively suppressed with herbicide suppression. This study evaluates thermal and mechanical means to replace herbicides, for potential use in organic or reduced herbicide cropping systems." |
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| Friday, May 8, 2009 | |
What you didn't know about the seedcorn maggot:
enhancing dialogue between Wisconsin organic growers and university researchers
Presenter: Katelin Holm, MS Candidate4:00 p.m. @ 270 Soils Bldg."The seedcorn maggot (Delia platura) is a pest of a wide variety of crops and poses significant problems for organic growers. A mail survey was used to evaluate current cropping system practices used by Wisconsin organic growers, clarify grower knowledge of seedcorn maggot, determine the feasibility of grower implementation of three seedcorn maggot monitoring techniques, and establish preferred methods of transferring information concerning pest management to Wisconsin organic growers. Results of this survey identify gaps in the transfer of information between Wisconsin organic farmers and University researchers and offer a means to enhance the ongoing dialogue between these two groups." |
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| Thursday, April 30, 2009 | |
Conservation of non-crop habitats and ecosystem services in Wisconsin potatoes
Presenter: Hannah Gaines, MS Candidate1:45 p.m. @ 354 Agricultural Hall"The expansion of modern, intensive agriculture is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity worldwide. The loss of insect diversity is especially pertinent in agroecosystems as insects provide a variety of ecosystem services vital to farming. Our study investigated the role of non-crop habitats on central Wisconsin potato farms in supporting insect diversity and ecosystem services." |
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Annual Agroecology Lecture
Download the event flyer (PDF)
Topic: Ecoagriculture: The Science and Practice of Farming with Nature
Presenter: Dr. Sara Scherr, President and CEO Ecoagricultural Partners, Washington D.C.
Dr. Scherr will discuss the state of knowledge about developing and sustaining 'ecoagriculture' landscapes, and highlight major research and policy gaps which need to be addressed in order to scale up ecoagriculture landscape approaches.
When: Wednesday, May 6 at 4:00 p.m. (Note: Reception will immediately follow)
Where: 270 Soils Bldg.
Past Seminars & Events
Agroecology Fall 2008 Seminar & Speaker Series
Download flyer for the series (PDF)
Topic : Feast and Famine: The Agroecology of Hunger
Time : 4:00pm (unless otherwise indicated)
Place : 270 Soils Bldg
Rising food prices. Rising hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. Rising social unrest. How do we reverse these alarming trends while sustaining the land and the economy, and improving social justice? (For 1 credit related to this series, enroll in Agroecology 710.)
| Sep. 24 (Wed.) |
Building a Table with Seats for Everyone: Hunger, Justice and Alternative Agrifood Systems Patricia Allen, Director, Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, UC-Santa Cruz. (Welcome by Dean Molly Jahn, CALS) |
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| Sep. 30 (Tues.) |
Feeding the Kids: Nutrition, Youth, and Poverty in America’s Cities Professor Sam Dennis, UW-Madison, Department of Landscape Architecture |
| Oct. 07 (Tues.) |
Feeding Those Who Feed Us: Farm Workers in a Global Food Economy Professor Jill Harrison, UW-Madison, Department of Rural Sociology |
| *Oct. 13 (Canceled) |
Please note: Professor Jules Pretty canceled his visit to Madison
due to a family illness. |
Oct. 14 (Tues.) |
If They Only Knew: The Unbearable Whiteness of Alternative Food Julie Guthman, Associate Professor in the Department of Community Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Where: 206 Ingraham Hall. Event sponsored by Havens Center |
| Oct. 15 (Wed.) |
Are We All Neo-Liberal Now? Contemporary Food Politics and the Making of Consumer Subjects
Julie Guthman, Associate Professor in the Department of Community Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Where: 8417 Social Science |
| Oct. 16 (Thur.) |
Public Seminar:
Julie Guthman, Associate Professor in the Department of Community Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. When & Where: 12:20p @ 8108 Social Science. Event sponsored by Havens Center |
| Oct. 21 (Tues.) |
All Flesh is Grass: The Place of Meat in Sustainable Food Systems Jim Munsch, organic grass-based beef farmer, Coon Valley, Wisconsin |
| Nov. 04 (Tues.) |
Energy Crops versus Food Crops: Finding the Balance Professor Randy Fortenbery, UW-Madison, Department of Agricultural & Applied Economics |
Master's Seminars Summer 2008
| Wednesday, August 13 1 p.m 270 Soils Building |
Life-cycle Analysis of Corn Ethanol in the Wisconsin Agricultural
Context
Presenter: Julie Sinistore, MSc CandidateDownload this seminar flyer (PDF)"Carbon neutral", "carbon negative", "energy efficient", "net energy gain", "low-carbon fuel"... How well does corn ethanol measure up by these metrics? This research delved into assumptions made in the life-cycle analysis of corn ethanol and tailored the evaluation to fit the key agricultural factors that make Wisconsin unique from other corn-producing states. |
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| Tuesday, August 19 1 p.m 270 Soils Building |
Contextualizing Rural Development: Stories from Honduras through
the Lens of Agroecology
Presenter: Andrew Barrett, MS CandidateDownload this seminar flyer (PDF)Based on ethnographic fieldwork, this paper explores a history of rural development projects and agricultural change in two Honduran villages using the holon approach to agroecology. The stories of these communities highlight the problems of oversimplified approaches to development, which often do not effectively address the contextuality of human decision-making with respect to project participation and technology adoption. |
| Friday, August 22 2 p.m. Buttel Conference Room, 354 Agricultural Hall |
Learning As You Go: Farmers, Scientists, and the Creation of Knowledge
for Management Intensive Grazing
Presenter: Alexandra Lyon, MS CandidateDownload this seminar flyer (PDF)Management intensive grazing has become increasingly popular in the Midwest, but university research about it has lagged until recently. At the same time, communities of farmers have come to articulate and apply their own knowledge about grazing based on personal and shared experience. Noting the growing institutional support for this and other alternative agricultures, my project considers how university research efforts can best engage with the grazing community. Based on experiences from a collaborative research effort with graziers in Southern Wisconsin and an interdisciplinary group of scientists at UW-Madison, I address two questions: first, how to handle the complex dynamics of participatory research; and second, how to relate science’s pursuit of broadly-applicable, general knowledge to the place-specific, experience-based knowledge of graziers. |
Agroecology Spring 2008 Lecture Events
Download the event flyer (PDF)
Topic: Partnership with Nature
Presenter: Dr. Carolyn Merchant, Professor of Environmental Science, Policy,
and Management at University of California, Berkeley.
Carolyn Merchant conducts research on Environmental History, Philosophy, and Ethics and the interrelationships of these three topics. Her lecture will propose a new kind of environmental ethic -- a partnership ethic, based on the idea that people and nature are equally important.
When: Wednesday, April 23 at 4:30 p.m.
Where: Room 132 Noland Zoology Building
Seminar and Event Archives
- Fall 2007 Seminar & Speaker Series
- Seminar in Agroecology (Agroecology 710)
- Spring 2007 Lecture Event