Outlook Magazine - Fall 2017

ON CAMPUS

Student power Solar panels to provide energy for first time on campus building

R E S E A R C H B U Z Z

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riven by students’ perseverance to build on campus sustainability, UW- Stout will tap the sun to partially power a campus building. The Stout Student Association approved a project to install 36 solar panels beginning this fall on top of Merle M. Price Commons. The university’s first solar panel investments will use $66,280 of student Green Fee funds, an annual fee students pay for sustainability-related projects. SSA’s Sustainability Council proposed the project after weighing the results of a solar feasibility study by Next Step Energy LLC of Eau Claire. Price Commons was chosen because of expansion potential and visibility to the campus community and visitors. “This is a small step, but the roof is eligible to hold 690 panels,” said sophomore Kennedy Crever, an applied

social science major and Sustainability Council director. “Also, out of all feasible site options for installation, this one gives us the most energy for our money. Most importantly, this project is a historical mark that benefits both campus and community members.” The project aligns with an earlier resolution that SSA passed stating its support for UW-Stout’s Seize the Grid Campaign, led by students who want the campus to use 100 percent renewable energy by 2030. “Seize the Grid is a national movement leveraging institutional power that prioritizes local, equitable energy for the well-being of the planet and society,” said sophomore Lilia Theisen, group co-leader and environmental science major. UW-Stout’s Sustainability Office, Physical Plant and SSA Sustainability Council are UW-Stout was one of 11 state organizations — 32 applied — that received grants totaling $500,000. Matching funds of $60,000 will be provided by UW-Stout, Chancellor Bob Meyer announced. The grant was announced by Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and WEDC Secretary and CEO Mark Hogan during a stop at the Discovery Center Fab Lab in the Applied Arts Building. The 2015 Idea to Prototype pilot served 98 inventors from 19 Wisconsin counties. The program likely wouldn’t have continued in 2017 without WEDC support. In April, WEDC awarded a $63,000 grant to the Discovery Center to develop a web portal — slated to be ready by this fall — to increase

Professor and students identify bacterium that may kill honey bees

working with the Division of Facilities Development in Madison, which oversees building projects on UW campuses. Lien and Peterson Architects of Eau Claire will meet with the SSA Sustainability Council to discuss panel design. “I’m very excited about the campus investing in renewable energy,” said Sarah Rykal, UW-Stout sustainability coordinator. “These students are very committed to mitigating our campus’ greenhouse gas emissions.” Shown in front of Merle M. Price Commons, where the panels will be installed, are: front row, left to right, council adviser Sarah Rykal, council members Laura Donovan and Kennedy Crever; back row, council members Ben Ritter, Jared Allen and Maggie Thesing collaboration and sharing of resources among state school districts with fab labs. The effort coincided with WEDC announcing $500,000 in grants to 21 districts to develop new fabrication labs. “This effort aligns with our historical commitment to support technology education in pre-K-12 schools,” Meyer said. UW-Stout’s Discovery Center, www. uwstout.edu/discoverycenter , in conjunction with businesses, added $28 million to the bottom line of its clients in 2016 through cost savings or added revenue and helped create or retain more than 200 jobs. Since its inception in 2009, the Discovery Center impacts are $200 million and 2,000 jobs, Executive Director Randy Hulke said.

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oney bee hives have been dying out in the winters in recent years in the Upper Midwest, causing widespread concern among beekeepers, biologists and others. A new clue in the mystery has appeared, thanks to UW-Stout. Biology Professor Jim Burritt and his students have published research about a new strain of a bacterium they discovered in their labs, Serratia marcescens strain sicaria, SS1 for short. “Our results indicate that SS1 may contribute to the wintertime failure of honey bee colonies. We believe this is important because most beekeepers in our area lose over half of their hives each winter. In Dunn County, the percentage of winter hive failure rates has been as high as 80 percent recently,” said Burritt, himself a longtime beekeeper. The bacterium came to light under a microscope at UW-Stout. Researchers saw something unexpected. “We began to realize we may be working with a new threat to honey bees,” said Burritt, adding that UW-Madison experts helped confirm the discovery. Testing ensued when beekeepers in west-central Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota provided samples. Nearly half of the bees tested positive for the new bacterium, and 76 percent of the mites in the hives tested positive. Of hives that died out in the winter, 73 percent had SS1. “Though our study does not provide information on how winterkill can be stopped, we believe it will create a clearer picture of the diseases and challenges honey bees face,” Burritt said. “The well-being of honey bees and other pollinators is crucial to our ecosystem, a wholesome environment and our economy.” The research, with student co-authors Anna Winfield and Jake Hildebrand, was published Dec. 21 in PLOS One, an online publication for science and medicine research. Five other UW- Stout students are recognized. The bee research project at UW-Stout is six years old, including another research paper published in 2014.

“ THE WELL - BE I NG OF HONEY BEES . . . I S CRUC I AL TO OUR ECOSYSTEM, A WHOLESOME ENV I RONMENT AND OUR ECONOMY.”

On Wisconsin via UW-Stout

Discovery Center receives two grants from the state

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he spring semester

brought state attention twice to UW-Stout’s Discovery Center with two grants totaling $123,000.

Jim Burritt, professor of biology, leads research students to discovery.

In late January, the Wisconsin Economic Development Council awarded the university $60,000 for the center’s Idea to Prototype program to boost entrepreneurship in the state. Idea to Prototype evaluates the feasibility and market potential of inventions. Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch announces a $60,000 WEDC entrepreneurship grant to UW-Stout’s Center for Innovation and Development.

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