Madison Reads Leopold, 2014

Visit the UW Arboretum for a special (9th annual) reading from Aldo Leopold’s seminal treatise on life in the natural world and conservation ethos, A Sand County Almanac, among other essays and inspired performances, Saturday, March 1 (beginning at 9:30 AM).

Consult the site for a complete schedule of essay selections and featured speakers from campus and community.   The "Madison Reads Leopold" events are free and open to the public.  The Arboretum Visitor Center is located at 1207 Seminole Highway.

For general information about this and other events, phone the UW-Arboretum Visitor Information Desk (608-263-7888) or visit its Website.

For related interest and inspiration, do review photos and text from the digitized Aldo Leopold Archives (UW Digital Collections)!

Tales from Planet Earth (Nov 1-3)

Tales from Planet Earth is a film festival featuring environmental films from around the world. From the fanciful to the profound, the films selected should engage audiences in thoughtful discussion of environmental issues and the use of film media to capture and to examine those issues.  Attending the festival will be many of the film-makers themselves with whom to discuss their work.

The festival is a public outreach event from the Center for Culture, History, and Environment (CHE) and the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.

All festival events are free and open to the public as space/seating accommodates.  The opening roundtable, moderated by Professor Gregg Mitman, will feature Ruth Ozeki, Alex Rivera, Marie-Hélène Cousineau, and Zach Kunuk in a conversation examining questions of time and culture in the age of the Anthropocene (marking the unprecedented scale of human impact upon the planet).

View film schedule, thematic list; speaker schedule, and ways to connect (Facebook, Twitter).

Barn Dance (Oct 19)

Celebrate the fall with live music, cider, a pie-raffle and more when the Cates Family Farm hosts its Barn Dance, Saturday, October 19.  The Barn Dance will, of course, feature dancing in tune with music from the Kettle Creek String Band with proceeds from the occasion benefiting student research in the Agroecology program. 

The event runs from 7:00-10:00 PM with doors opening at 6:00 PM.  Tickets ($10 for students and $15 for general public) can be purchased from Brown Paper Tickets.

There will be free camping on-site for those who wish to "make a night of it".  Find the Cates Family Farm at 5992 County Road T, Spring Green.

Join the event on Facebook.

Madison Reads Leopold (March 2)

Visit the UW Arboretum for a special public reading from Aldo Leopold’s seminal treatise on life in the natural world and conservation ethos, A Sand County Almanac, among other essays, Saturday, March 2 (beginning at 9:30 AM).

Scheduled readers include Madelyn Leopold, Scott Craven, Ron Seeley, Marie McCabe, and Stuart Levitan, among other students, naturalists and leaders from community organizations.

The "Madison Reads Leopold" events are free and open to the public.  Beginning at 1:00 PM, singer-songwriter, Tim Southwick Johnson will perform a special musical interlude of compositions inspired by Leopold.

The Arboretum Visitor Center is located at 1207 Seminole Highway.

For more information about these events, phone the UW-Arboretum Visitor Information Desk (608-263-7888) or visit the Website.

View the campus press release.

For related interest and inspiration, do review photos and text from the digitized Aldo Leopold Archives!

Peace Corps Info Table (Feb 13)

Are you looking for an opportunity to put your agriculture, environment or development skills to good use abroad?  If so, consider joining the Peace Corps!  UW-Madison is one of the top campuses supplying the world with volunteers--to the sum of 103 volunteers, currently, in 47 countries.

Stop by Steenbock Library on Wednesday, February 13 (noon-2:00 PM) to pick up some information and to chat with Peace Corps volunteers who have returned from the field.  Get your questions answered!

Look for the information table across from the library’s entrance, second floor. (You can also plan to visit the campus office).

Life is calling. How far will you go?

Facebook

First Robin of Spring?

In the depths of winter, many of us will eagerly seek any indication that spring will arrive, to note the promise of seasonal change.  Others will record that change systematically to inform our understanding of this planet and its climate.  And, while my grandmother once maintained an annual desk diary of her observations, and would solicit my own, our online networks facilitate greater collaboration, locally and nationally. 

Discover your inner phenologist with the following sites.  Find inspiration from the Arboretum’s Naturalist’s Notes and the Cooperative Extension’s Wildlife Phenology Calendar (available from the Learning Store).

And, do consult with your Steenbock librarians for assistance using the library catalog to find books and more from our collections. 

Project Budburst

USA National Phenology Network

Wisconsin Phenological Society

Green Fire and Panel Discussion (Dec 5)

Save the date to attend a special screening of Green Fire, a feature-length documentary film about the life and legacy of Aldo Leopold. The film is narrated by Curt Meine, Nelson Institute alumnus and Leopold Scholar.  Following the screening, there will be a panel discussion moderated by Dick Cates, CIAS. Scheduled panelists include:

• Paul Johnson, past chief of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
• Curt Meine, Aldo Leopold Biographer and Scholar
• Stanley Temple, Emeritus Leopold Chair in Wildlife Ecology
• Joy Zedler, Professor of Botany and Aldo Leopold Chair in Restoration Ecology
• Michael Bell, CIAS Director 

What:  Green Fire, Agriculture and the Land Ethic: Leopold’s Legacy, Screening and Panel Discussion 

When:  Wednesday, December 5, 2012 (7:00 PM) 

Where:  Biochemistry, Room 1125 (420 Henry Mall)

This event, a CIAS Culture of Agriculture event, is free and open to the public. 

"We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes – something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters’ paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view."

--Aldo Leopold, "Thinking Like a Mountain," Sand County Almanac with Essays on Conservation from Round River

Of related interest do consult the Aldo Leopold Archives, UW Digital Collections.

Print an event poster. (PDF)

The Loving of the Land (April 13)

Save the date for a benefit concert! UW-Madison’s Agroecology Master’s Program will present a "rousing night of class-grass music". What is "class-grass" you might ask? This concert fusion of bluegrass and classical music traditions will feature Graminy and The Blue Dog Consort (aka: faculty, staff and students in performance with band-mates). Proceeds from the concert will benefit graduate student research in sustainable agriculture and food systems.

Concert-goers will be welcomed to the event by Stephanie Elkins, Host of Simply Folk on Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR).

Date: Friday, April 13
Time: Doors open at 7:00 PM; Show begins at 8:00 PM
Place: Mills Hall, (445 N. Park Street)

Ticket prices: $9.00 ($6.00 students) in advance; $12.00 ($9.00 student) at the door

For more information, visit the Agroecology Department Website.

Print a flyer.

Tales from Planet Earth, March 28-31

Tales from Planet Earth is a week-long film festival featuring environmental films from around the world. From the fanciful to the profound, the films selected should engage audiences in thoughtful discussion of environmental issues and film media to capture and to examine those issues.

The festival is a public outreach event from the Center for Culture, History, and Environment (CHE) and the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.

All festival events are free and open to the public as space/seating accommodates.

View film schedule; speaker schedule, Facebook page.

This year's film festival runs in conjunction with the meeting of the American Society for Environmental History (ASEH), March 28-31, 2012. Visit the Registration and revised session schedule for more information.