UW-River Falls

  1. UWRF’s Humane Handling Institute secures $1 million gift from Rosen Family Foundation, Inc.

    Photo of Kurt Vogel, UW-River Falls professor of animal welfare and behavior and director of the Humane Handling Institute, speaks with meat industry employees during a training session on effective and humane restraint and stunning of animals at the university’s Mann Valley Farm in November 2023. The Rosen Family Foundation, Inc. has given a $1 million gift to support the Humane Handling Institute. UWRF photo.

    July 9, 2024

    Investment endorses institute’s innovative, impactful animal welfare initiatives The Rosen Family Foundation, Inc. has announced a $1 million gift in support of the internationally recognized Humane Handling Institute at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. The transformational gift to the UW-River Falls Foundation establishes the largest program endowment in the university’s history: The Rosen Family Humane […]

  2. UWRF alum/New Richmond teacher named Wisconsin Teacher of the Year

    Photo of New Richmond High School agriscience teacher Rachel Sauvola shoveling corn from a gravity box as she instructs students, from left, Michael Mast, Jazzmira Traynor and Melany Rodriquez how to remove corn to be fed to animals at the school-operated farm that Sauvola began and oversees. Sauvola, a 1999 UW-River Falls graduate, was recently recognized for her teaching expertise by being named a 2025 Wisconsin Teacher of the Year. UWRF photo.

    July 2, 2024

    Educator noted for her inspired education methods, development of school farm Whether developing a new program to produce beef for school lunch or training agriculture teachers across the nation to better instruct their students, Rachel Sauvola comes up with innovative ways to convey knowledge, a process she credits in part to her time as a […]

  3. UW-River Falls program engages youth in water science, stewardship

    Photo of local high schoolers learning about water science with university faculty and students.

    May 10, 2024

    Offering 22 miles of world-class trout fishing and other recreational activities, the beloved Kinnickinnic River runs through the city of River Falls and the UW-River Falls campus. The community and the campus are invested in its health. So, it was no surprise the Youth Water Stewards pilot program, funded by the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin, […]

  4. Leaving a legacy: New scholarship at UW-River Falls will assist aspiring teachers

    Photo of Ann and Manley Olson

    April 22, 2024

    Scholarship named for two Hudson sisters who had longtime careers as educators The University of Wisconsin-River Falls has received funding for a new endowed scholarship designed to benefit students from Hudson with a love of education. The Blanche Hansen Nygard and Meta Hansen Elementary Education Scholarship will provide $1,200 annually to an elementary education major […]

  5. Big cheese: Successful cheddar production means UW-River Falls dairy plant is up and running

    Photo of Brianna Crotteau, project coordinator at the Wuethrich Family/Grassland Dairy Center of Excellence at UW-River Falls, handing Sam Galgowski, a cheesemaker at the dairy plant, a plastic container that Galgowski filled with cheese during production on Tuesday. The cheddar cheese produced was the first produced at the dairy plant that will serve as a production site and a training location for students and dairy industry employees. UWRF/Pat Deninger photo.

    March 28, 2024

    New, much-anticipated $9 million facility will serve as site to train students, dairy industry employees River Falls, Wis. – With one slice, then another and another, Sam Galgowski cut a large block of cheddar cheese at the bottom of a metal vat into smaller chunks. Galgowski – cheesemaker at the Wuethrich Family/Grassland Dairy Center of Excellence at […]

  6. Planting a tradition: UW-River Falls team wins National Forage Bowl Competition

    Photo of a team of UW-River Falls students and their coach who recently placed first in the National Forage Bowl Competition in Mobile, Ala. Left to right are Tucker Lundquist, Hannah Schull, Coach Yoana Newman, Ryan Bottema and Jace Heiman. UW-River Falls teams have won the last four Forage Bowl competitions they have competed in. Contributed photo.

    March 14, 2024

    Victory marks fourth successive win, showcases strength of crop science, horticulture programs When it comes to all things big and small in forage production and management, University of Wisconsin-River Falls students definitely know their subject well. A team of four UW-River Falls students placed first in the National Forage Bowl Competition, an event in conjunction with […]

  7. UW-River Falls Institute Helps Students Hit the Ground Running

    Photo of El Bartho (right) and Myah Eliason documenting curly leaf pondweed, an invasive aquatic species.

    March 6, 2024

    For UW-Stout senior El Bartho, interning at the UW-River Falls Ecological Restoration Institute (ERI) was the perfect way to determine what she wants to do after graduation. The Environmental Science major interned as a conservation technician in summer 2023, working on a pilot project with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) St. Croix Wetland […]

  8. UW-River Falls to host Science Olympiad competition on Jan. 20

    Photo: About 900 students from Wisconsin, Minnesota and other Midwestern states will compete in the Science Olympiad event at UW-River Falls on Saturday, Jan. 20. The event is affiliated with the national Science Olympiad organization and is designed to increase interest in science and recognize scientific achievement. UWRF file photo.

    January 19, 2024

    Event to include about 900 high schoolers from across the Midwest When about 900 high school students on 58 teams from Wisconsin, Minnesota and elsewhere across the Midwest convene at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls on Saturday, Jan. 20, they will exhibit their knowledge of and affinity for all things science. Those students will take […]

  9. Finding his place: UW-River Falls student praises campus atmosphere for helping him find success

    Photo of UW-River Falls student Blake Zak performing at the Scholarship Recognition Event and Donor Social Oct 8, 2023. The event, organized by University Advancement, occurs annually and is designed to bring together scholarship donors and scholarship recipients

    December 21, 2023

    Blake Zak never intended to go to college, never intended to make his way to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. After graduating from high school in Hastings, Minn., Zak, a musician, was content to play music on weekends at bars and restaurants while working and leading worship services at his hometown Lutheran church. “I didn’t […]

  10. A call to service: UW-River Falls veterans reflect on their time in the military

    Photo of Gage McClean-Coyer, who works refueling aircraft and maintaining fuel storage facilities in the United Arab Emirates during a deployment in 2012. McClean-Coyer served in the U.S. Air Force from 2010-13. Today McClean-Coyer attends UW-River Falls, where he is set to graduate with a master’s degree in school counseling in December. Contributed photo.

    December 14, 2023

    Military tenures helped prepare for life as students, afterward, veterans say As Gage McClean-Coyer reflects on the meaning of Veterans Day, he is struck by a mix of emotions. On Nov. 11 – Veterans Day – McClean-Coyer, who is set to graduate with a master’s degree in school counseling from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls […]

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