These experts from the UW–Madison faculty and staff have agreed to comment on breaking news, ongoing developments and trends in their areas of expertise. If you need help arranging interviews, email University Communications.
H5N1 spreads to cattle
The avian flu H5N1 has made the jump from birds to mammals, including cattle, and inactive remnants of the virus have been found in grocery store milk. Experts from UW–Madison are available to discuss H5N1 and its potential risk to human health, pets and more.
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Keith Poulsen on: Avian flu in dairy cows and milk
The USDA has been tracking a highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza in dairy herds across the country. Keith Poulsen, an expert in zoonotic disease and director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, can discuss the disease, how it is spreading and what Wisconsinites should watch for in their herds.
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Thomas Friedrich on: Zoonotic disease and human health
Professor of pathobiological sciences, Thomas Friedrich, studies how viruses from animals could cross over to humans. Friedrich is available for interviews about the potential human risk from H5N1.
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David O'Connor on: Tracking H5N1
David O'Connor is an expert on novel viral pathogen emergence in human populations and a professor of pathology and medicine. He can discuss what we know about the bird flu's current risk to human health and which factors scientists are tracking as they monitor current risk.
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Erin Lashnits on: H5N1 and pet risk
As H5N1 jumps from birds to mammals, zoonotic disease expert and clinical assistant professor in the School of Veterinary Medicine, Erin Lashnits, is available to discuss the risk to pets and address pet owners' concerns.
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Peter Halfmann on: H5N1 and human risk
Peter Halfmann, expert in emerging and zoonotic viral diseases and research associate professor, is available for interviews about his study of bird flu and its potential to become a human health concern.
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Andrew W. Stevens on: Economic impact on food prices
Andrew Stevens is an expert in agricultural production, consumer food demand and food security. Stevens is available to discuss the potential impact of H5N1 on the supply of products like eggs and milk.
Experts on today’s news
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Lee Wilke on: New mammogram recommendations
According to new guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Taskforce, women should begin mammograms to screen for breast cancer at the age of 40. Lee Wilke, associate professor of surgery and expert in benign and malignant diseases of the breast, is available for interviews about the change.
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Shilagh Mirgain on: When Mother's Day is difficult
Mother’s Day is quickly approaching, and many people are considering how best to show their appreciation for everything their mothers have done for them. Unfortunately, there are many people who suffer rather than celebrate on this day.
If you had a mother who did not know how to give unconditional love and empathic nurturing, if your mother is no longer in your life, or if you lost a child or are childless, then Mother’s Day can be a trigger for emotional distress and painful memories. Reframing the focus of this holiday can be an effective way to celebrate all the positive attributes of motherhood you may not have experienced yourself as a child or missed out on as an adult.
Shilagh Mirgain, a distinguished health psychologist at UW Health, can discuss coping strategies if Mother’s Day brings you disappointment, pain, a sense of loss, or sad memories. Regardless of your past experiences, Mirgain says, Mother’s Day is a good opportunity to celebrate all the women who bring beauty into your world and who provide unconditional love, support, and understanding.
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Jessica Calarco on: Institutions and inequality
Jessica Calarco, an associate professor of sociology, is an expert on inequalities in family life, education, and health decision-making, with a focus on how institutions and policies amplify inequalities in these domains. “Holding It Together: How Women Became America's Safety Net,” her forthcoming book out June 4, draws on five years of research in which Calarco surveyed more than 4,000 parents and conducted more than 400 hours of interviews with. Tracing present-day policies back to their roots, Calarco reveals a systematic agreement to dismantle our country’s social safety net and persuade citizens to accept precarity while women bear the brunt. She leads us to see women’s labor as the reason we’ve gone so long without the support systems that our peer nations take for granted, and how women’s work maintains the illusion that we don’t need a net.
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Allison Daminger on: Thank a hard-working mom this Mother's Day
Flowers for Mother’s Day make a nice gift, but lending a hand with housework might be even better. Despite improvements, decades of sociological research shows that women in different-gender couples perform most housework and childcare, even when both partners are employed.
But what counts as housework? Allison Daminger, an assistant professor in sociology, has researched this drawing upon 170 interviews with members of different- and same-gender couples to identify and define “cognitive labor” as the work of anticipating household needs, identifying options for meeting those needs, deciding among the options, and monitoring the results. Such work is highly gendered, with women in different-gender couples doing more cognitive work overall — and more of the most invisible and least powerful forms of such work in particular.
Daminger uses the case of cognitive labor to explore the question of why and how gender inequality persists, even as support for egalitarianism continues to grow.
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Kenneth Mayer on: Trump hush-money trial
Kenneth Mayer, an expert on the American presidency and a professor of political science, is available for interviews about former President Trump's hush-money trial underway in New York and what's at stake in the coming presidential election.
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Kathleen Bartzen Culver on: 2024 Pulitzer Prizes announced
Kathleen Bartzen Culver, an expert on journalism and media ethics, can comment on the announcement of the 2024 Pulitzer Prizes. Founded in 1917, the Pulitzers are the nation’s oldest and most prestigious journalism awards.
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Tony Goldberg on: Fishing season and viruses in sport fish
As fishing season begins, professor of pathobiological sciences, Tony Goldberg is available for interviews about a suite of viruses his research deteched in sportfish like bluegills, brown trout, lake sturgeon, northern pike and walleye.
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Kris Saha on: AI-generated CRISPR arrives
A new paper recently announced the arrival of AI-generated CRISPR from a startup company called ProFluent. Kris Saha, biomedical engineering professor and expert in biotechnology and ethics, is available for interviews about the news and what it means for the gene-editing tool.
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Connie Flanagan on: Student protests
Student protests about Gaza are intensifying across the country. Constance Flanagan, an expert on youth political engagement and civic participation, is available for interviews about the developing story.
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Patrick (PJ) Liesch on: Cicada emergence
PJ Liesch is director of the UW–Madison Insect Diagnostic Lab. Liesch can discuss the emergence of periodical cicadas, cicada biology, the timing and distribution of periodical cicadas in Wisconsin and the ecological impacts of these insects. Liesch is tracking the impact of early spring weather on cicada emergence. Liesch says, “A key factor for emergence of periodical cicadas is the temperature of the soil at a depth of 8 inches. The soil temperature must reach and exceed 64.5 F, so depending on weather, we could see emergence shifted a bit earlier.”
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Daniel Young on: Cicada biology
Daniel Young is a professor of entomology and director of the UW–Madison Insect Research Collection. Young is an expert on insect classification and natural history and teaches a course called Introductory Entomology that covers brood XIII cicada emergence.
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William Brockliss on: Cicadas in the art of the ancient world
William Brockliss is a classics professor in the College of Letters and Science. Brockless says the music of cicadas is embedded within the poetry of ancient Greece. In The Illiad, says Brockliss, Homer “likens the chatter of old men to the sound of cicadas.” Another early poet, Hersiod, compares a single cicada to a singer, and possibly the poet himself.
