After brief presentations from the three dozen attendees, groups of educators and researchers, including Kim Anderson (left) from Cave of the Mounds and Brad Herrick (center), the Arboretum’s ecologist, brainstorm how they might work together. Photo: Jack Williams

At the emcee’s signal, participants flock to different tables. They quickly get down to discussing their common interests, intent on discovering whether to meet up again soon.

This is speed dating, of a sort. But while participants indeed search for new partners, romantic matches aren’t the goal.

Over appetizers on a cool fall afternoon at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum, dozens of scientists and environmental educators are hashing out collaborations that can advance research, build new partnerships, and improve the experiences of hundreds of thousands of visitors to educational sites across South Central Wisconsin.

Read the full UW News story by Eric Hamilton, November 26, 2019