The Arboretum is a valuable research site for studies in ecology, restoration, environmental engineering, social science, and public health. Every year, we celebrate research at the Arboretum by hosting presentations and posters by student researchers about their projects. This event supports the education and development of emerging scientists and serves both professionals and the public by sharing current research from dynamic fields of study.

The Research Symposium takes place every year in the middle of the Arboretum’s popular Winter Enrichment Lecture Series.

The 2026 Arboretum Research Symposium will be held in the Visitor Center on February 5, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, no registration is required. Please join us to learn about recent research and support student researchers. Bring your questions!

2026 Arboretum Research Symposium

Talks (part I)

10–10:05 – Welcome. Maddie Smith, Community Education Coordinator, UW–Madison Arboretum

10:05–10:25 – Arboretum research program update. Dr. Jared Beck, Research Ecologist, UW–Madison Arboretum

10:25–10:45 –Vertical distribution dynamics of grassland pyrogenic carbon one year post-fire. Mengmeng Luo, PhD candidate, Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, UW–Madison

10:45–11:05 – The role of environmental heterogeneity in maintaining leaf chemical diversity in prairie populations of wild bergamot. Linden Taylor, PhD candidate, Department of Botany, UW–Madison

Poster Session

11:05–11:30 – View posters, chat with researchers and community members, and enjoy refreshments.

Investigating the reproductive cycle and distribution of new non–native Asian earthworms in the Midwestern US. Andrea Rodriguez Quiros, Hilldale Fellow, Conservation biology & Environmental Studies, Department of Botany, UW–Madison

More than mushrooms: educational and community outcomes of a student-organized mycoblitz. George Meindl, Associate Teaching Professor, and Kiki Liss-‘s-Gravemade, undergraduate student, Forest and Wildlife Ecology, UW–Madison

Woody invasive species monitoring in Noe Woods. Cooper Rosin, Lecturer, Nelson Institute, UW–Madison, and Capstone students

Determining invasive Asian jumping worms’ survivability in aquatic environments. Claire Foote, undergraduate student, Biological Systems Engineering, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, UW–Madison

Talks (part II)

11:30–11:50 – Seven decades of change at Faville Prairie. Sam Anderson, PhD candidate, Department of Botany, UW–Madison

11:50–12:10 – Supercool winter physiology: at what temperature do trees chill? Francisco Campos-Arguedas, PhD candidate, Department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences, UW–Madison

12:10–12:30 – Does selective deer browsing promote soil homogenization in forest ecosystems of Wisconsin? Aundrea Taylor, MS student, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, UW–Madison