Articles by Denise
Recent Publications
Tera Johnson's Big Idea
in Isthmus, Summer 2010
Tera Johnson begins the tour of her one-of-a-kind organic whey processing plant at its back entrance, in front of a double-wide delivery bay. Here, on busy days, 20 tanker trucks roll in to deliver up to a million pounds of the sloshy cheese byproduct.
Wisconsin Specialty Protein, which opened early last year, occupies an eight-acre section of the Reedsburg industrial park, strategically located in the middle of exceptionally productive dairy country and a carefully protected network of Baraboo River Valley wetlands. Read more.
The Author: Illinois School District 21 Winter Newsletter
Climate change: What Experts Expect for the Upper Midwest
Denise is a freelance journalist, writing for a variety of publications. Denise has been published in the Wisconsin State Journal and the University of Wisconsin's On Wisconsin magazine among others. Check back to see Denise's most recent articles.
Spreading the Love
in On Wisconsin, Spring 2010
Since giving up the practice of law to found the National Mustard Museum, Barry Levenson makes a compelling case for his chosen condiment.
On October 28, 1986, at 2:30 a.m., Barry Levenson MA’73, JD’74, streaming tears, pushed an empty shopping cart through the deserted aisles of Woodman’s grocery store on the east side of Madison. He was mourning a close call and ultimate World Series loss by his beloved Boston Red Sox. Read more.
The Ant Man
in Isthmus, Spring 2010
The long, windowless room is uncomfortably warm and humid. The counters and shelves are filled with Tupperware boxes, like the ones people use to store sweaters under their beds. But these boxes are filled with gray mold and crawling with leaf-cutter ants.
Don't run for a can of Raid. Instead, cross your fingers and hope that the keeper of these ants, UW-Madison associate professor of bacteriology Cameron Currie, can tease secret recipes for cheap biofuel out of these teeming ant tunnels. Read more.
The Author: Illinois School Distrcit 21 Winter Newsletter
Here’s a writing assignment Denise looks forward to every quarter, The Author, newsletter for School District 21, one of the finest in greater Chicago. It encompasses 13 schools from preschool to 8th grade. Working with a large percentage of English language learners in their classrooms, this district lays the groundwork for real life-long learning. Denise love to shine a light on their hard work and achievement and let their community know they have a school system they can count on. To read the winter edition of tne newsletter click here.
Global Warming Hits Madison!
in Isthmus, Winter 2010
Remember June 2008?
Madison recorded almost 11 inches of rain that month, easily breaking the previous June record set way back in 1869. Flood damage to homes, businesses, roads, bridges and water treatment plants in southern Wisconsin totaled $766 million, making it the most costly natural disaster in Wisconsin history.
This drenching came as no surprise to Steve Vavrus, a senior scientist at the UW-Madison Center for Climatic Research and a member of the WICCI Climate Working Group. "That was not a rogue thunderstorm," he says confidently. "We will be seeing more of these in the future." Read more.
Also check out the Isthmus's introduction welcoming Denise to their writing team.
The Godmother of Goat Cheese
in On Wisconsin magazine, Summer 2009
When Anne Topham gave up academia to make the perfect chèvre, she had no idea that a herd of other artisans would follow in her footsteps.
Anne Topham ’63, MA’65 did not set out to become the Midwest’s godmother of goat cheese, but she has earned the title. Hailed by the New York Times as Wisconsin’s grande dame of chèvre, a soft goat cheese originating in France, she is acclaimed by foodies far and wide for helping launch the area’s artisanal cheese upsurge. Read more.
Climate change: What Experts Expect for the Upper Midwest
in The Organic Broadcaster, July/August 2009
We’ve all read the headlines trumpeting the destructive potential of global warming, filled with phrases like melting ice caps, rising sea levels, and devastating tropical storms. But what is this going to mean to those of us farming in the Midwest over the coming decades, and what can we do now to meet these challenges?
The Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (WICCI), completed a 9-part seminar series in June 2009 titled “Bracing for Impact.” The University of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and other state agencies and institutions have pooled resources to present cutting-edge climate predictions. Their goal: to develop practical information that can guide all decision makers from government organizations to individuals. Read more.