The Center for Ecology and the Environment invites you to the 2026 Spring Symposium. Join us during UW–Madison Earth Fest on April 20 and 21 at Memorial Union to explore new research and network with faculty, staff, and students.
Highlighting the variety of ecology research across campus, the Spring Symposium features talks by UW graduate students as well as two keynote addresses. This year, we’re joined by Dr. Aimée Classen, an expert on global change and ecosystem ecology who leads the University of Michigan Biological Station.
The symposium is free and open to the public. Faculty, students, researchers, and community members are warmly invited to attend.
This event is a proud part of UW–Madison Earth Fest.
Keynote Speaker
Aimée Classen
Dr. Aimée Classen is a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan and is the director of the University of Michigan Biological Station. Research in Dr. Classen’s lab explores how ecosystems function and how interactions, both biotic and abiotic, influence patterns and processes within and among ecosystems. Dr. Classen has published extensively on a broad range of topics, including climate change impacts on soil biota and soil carbon dynamics.
Symposium Schedule
Monday, April 20
- 2–2:15 p.m.: Welcome remarks
- 2:15–2:35 p.m.: Michelle Homann (Department of Integrative Biology) — “Short-Term Responses to Winter Climate Change and Disturbance in Tallgrass Prairies: Insights Into Plant Community Change”
- 2:35–2:55 p.m.: Sam Anderson (Department of Botany) — “Divergent Drivers of Turnover Between Shrub and Sapling Guilds in Temperate Deciduous Understories”
- 2:55–3:15 p.m.: 2025 Aldo Leopold Award Recipient — Gabriela Fleury (Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology) — “Carnivore-Livestock Conflict Mitigation in the Ghanzi District of Botswana”
- 3:15–4 p.m.: Research poster session
- 4–5 p.m.: Keynote, Dr. Aimée Classen (University of Michigan) — “Twenty-Two Years of Exploring What Drives Patterns and Processes in Ecosystems Around the World”
- 5–6 p.m.: Reception
Tuesday, April 21
- 2–2:15 p.m.: Welcome remarks
- 2:15–2:35 p.m.: Mengmeng Luo (Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences) — “Vertical Distribution Dynamics of Grassland Pyrogenic Carbon One Year Post-Fire”
- 2:35–2:55 p.m.: Pairsa Belamaric (Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology) — “Trade-Offs Within a Constrained Exposure Space: Varying Temperature and Predator Activity Structure the Diel Activity of a Winter-Adapted Bird”
- 2:55–3:15 p.m.: 2025 Aldo Leopold Award Recipient — Tara Mittelberg (Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics) — “Socioenvironmental Drivers and Impacts of Cattle Sector Intensification in Brazil”
- 3:15-3:45 p.m.: Research poster session
- 3:45–4 p.m.: Announcement of 2026 Aldo Leopold Award recipients
- 4–5 p.m.: Keynote, Dr. Aimée Classen (University of Michigan) — “The Case for Field Stations in the 21st Century”
- 5–6 p.m.: Reception
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Funding provided by the University Lectures General Fund