Fall Symposium 2026
October 21–22, 3–6 p.m. each day
Varsity Hall, Union South
1308 W. Dayton Street, Madison
The Center for Ecology and the Environment invites you to the 2026 Fall Symposium. The event will explore new research and offer opportunities to network with faculty, staff, and students.
Highlighting the variety of ecology research across campus, the Fall Symposium will feature talks by UW faculty as well as two keynote addresses. This year, we will be joined by Dr. May Berenbaum, a leading ecologist from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Keynote Speakers
Dr. Tony Ives
Professor, Department of Biology, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Dr. Ives’s research spans ecology, evolution, and population biology, with a particular focus on integrating theoretical, statistical, and experimental approaches to understand complex ecological systems.
He is internationally recognized for his contributions to community ecology, species interactions, and ecological-evolutionary dynamics, including work on predator-prey systems, host-parasite interactions, and ecosystem processes.
Dr. Karen Alofs
Associate professor, School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan
Dr. Alofs’s research explores how environmental change, including climate change, invasive species, and habitat degradation, affects freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity across space and time.
By combining large-scale ecological data, field studies, and innovative analytical approaches, Dr. Alofs works to understand and conserve freshwater communities, with a particular focus on fish populations and Great Lakes ecosystems.
Symposium Schedule
Wednesday, October 21
- 3 p.m.: Welcome remarks
- 3:15 p.m.: Beth Tellman, assistant professor, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, “Flood Risk in an Urbanizing World: Using Satellites to Address Adaptation and Injustice”
- 3:35 p.m.: Zach Feiner, assistant professor, Department of Biology and Center for Limnology, “Phenological Whiplash in Aquatic Ecosystems”
- 4 p.m.: Keynote by Dr. Tony Ives, University of Wisconsin–Madison, “The Ecological-Evolutionary Dynamics of a Host-Parasitoid System”
- 5 p.m.: Reception
Thursday, October 22
- 3 p.m.: Welcome remarks
- 3:15 p.m.: John Orrock, professor, Department of Biology, “New Species Changing Old Interactions: Invasive Shrubs, Animal Behavior, Granivory, Predation, and Disease”
- 3:35 p.m.: Michael Belitz, assistant professor, Department of Entomology, “How Warming and Extreme Weather Disrupt the Timing of Plants, Insects, and Birds”
- 4 p.m.: Keynote by Dr. Karen Alofs, University of Michigan, “Learning from the Past to Manage Inland Lake Fishes for the Future” (sponsored by the William V. Kaiser Visiting Scholar Fund of the Center for Limnology)
- 5 p.m.: Reception
