Zoology professor, grad student among Climate Quest finalists

September 30th 2014 Simon Kuran
Natural & Physical Sciences
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Professor of Zoology Warren Porter and graduate student Paul Mathewson have reached the final round of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Climate Quest competition.

At the Climate Quest Concept Pitch on Sept. 19, 18 teams presented their ideas to a panel of investors and entrepreneurs, who rated the ideas on many factors including creativity, scalability, and potential impact.

Porter Porter

The panel selected five teams to advance to the next round of the competition. Climate Quest is led by the UW-Madison Office of Sustainability in partnership with the Global Health Institute, Wisconsin Energy Institute, and Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and focuses on developing practical, multi-disciplinary approaches with likely society-wide impact.

Porter and Mathewson's project is called, "Improving Global Dairy Production in the Face of Climate Change." It would provide online and mobile access to a tool that allows users to assess climate change impact on milk production and identify environmental or livestock changes that can improve milk production under current or future climate conditions.

Each advancing team will receive a planning grant to produce a full proposal and proof of concept for the final Climate Quest event later this year. The winners will be supported in implementing their solutions.

"These projects are a constructive response to the dilemma we find ourselves in. Climate Quest is a way for all of us to go beyond debating whether climate change is happening or assigning blame, and moving the process forward by engaging the community in developing solutions," says lead Climate Quest organizer Darin Harris.

To read about the other four finalists and learn more about the competition, visit the Office of Sustainability's website.