Science and the American Experiment - Presenters
Presenters
Bill Barker serves as the Associate Dean for Research in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at UW-Madison and earned a doctorate in Geology from the University of Georgia-Athens. Since joining UW-Madison in 1991, he has worked in research, regulatory compliance, industrial contracting and technology transfer.
Author and journalist Bill Berry lives in Stevens Point. He has written about the environment and conservation for more than five decades.
Mary Blanchard joined the Wisconsin Energy Institute (WEI) in January of 2014 as associate director. Blanchard’s career portfolio spans business development, product management, governmental relations, and marketing.
Angela Dickens is a policy analyst with the Lake Michigan Air Directors Consortium, working at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR). She works on air quality planning issues, primarily related to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Previously, she worked as an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the U.S.
Jane Elder recently retired from her position as Executive Director of the Wisconsin Academy. She brought to the Wisconsin Academy a strong background in public policy leadership, nonprofit management, and involvement in Wisconsin arts.
Donna Friedsam is a Distinguished Researcher at the University of Wisconsin and Health Policy Programs Director within the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. She leads a team of faculty and researchers evaluating pilot and demonstration initiatives of the Wisconsin Medicaid and BadgerCare Plus coverage programs.
Dee J. Hall is a co-founder of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism and has served as managing editor since June 2015. Previously, she worked at the Wisconsin State Journal for 24 years as an editor and reporter focusing on projects and investigations.
Jo Handelsman is the director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery. She has a long history with UW–Madison, having earned her PhD from the university in molecular biology in 1984.
Greg Jeschke co-anchors the evening newscasts on WKOW-TV and produces and hosts the award-winning documentary series, Our Wisconsin. Jeschke started at WKOW in 2004, returning to his home area after two decades of reporting and anchoring in other parts of the country, including Portland, OR, and San Francisco, CA.
Representative Debra Kolste was first elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in November 2012 and is currently finishing up her 3rd term in the legislature.
George Kraft is an Emeritus Professor of Water Resources and continues as a research scientist with both the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point College of Natural Resources and the University of Wisconsin – Extension. Dr. Kraft’s position is largely dedicated to serving the citizens, communities, businesses, and governments of Wisconsin.
Abbas Ourmazd is a UW-Milwaukee Distinguished Professor of Physics and a fellow of the American Physical Society. He earned his BA and his PhD in Physics from the University of Oxford in 1976 and 1979, respectively.
Logan Peterman is the Director of Agricultural Research and Analytics at Organic Valley.
Arjun Sanga is a leader in research, innovation, technology transfer, intellectual property management and commercialization with experience fostering research collaborations, managing intellectual property, closing licensing deals and developing startup companies.
Dietram A. Scheufele is the John E. Ross Professor in Science Communication and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Honorary Professor of Communication at the Dresden University of Technology (Germany).
Dr. Doug Stafford has been Director of the Milwaukee Institute of Drug Discovery since joining UW-Milwaukee in 2011. He is also the executive director of UW-Milwaukee's Shimadzu Laboratory for Advanced and Applied Analytical Chemistry.
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