It's been a busy couple of weeks eventhough "In Wisconsin" hasn't been on the air. This week, we return to our regular Thursday at 7:30p time slot.

In Wisconsin Reporter Jo Garrett visits Milwaukee's Urban Ecology Center, a downtown oasis for birds migrating north. You will discover how this urban jewel has been reclaimed from drug dealers and criminals by birdwatchers and citizen scientists.

We also have a QUEST report by In Wisconsin Reporter Andy Soth as he looks at Wisconsin's first great scientist. Increase Lapham was a self-taught renaissance man who dabbled in botany, archaeology, forestry and climatology. Discover how his influence is still being felt in the state two hundred years after his birth.

You won't want to miss the teen musicians in the statewide Bolz Young Artist Competition. For several months, they have been auditioning but only four remained standing on the stage of Overture Hall in Madison. This week you'll meet cellist Elliott Yang of New Berlin. With the arrival of spring you can also discover a very urban section of Wisconsin's Ice Age National Scenic Trail in Janesville through the camera lens of videographer Mike Eicher.

In Wisconsin airs 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 24 on Wisconsin Public Television. The program also will air at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, March 27 on Milwaukee's MPTV and on WDSE-TV in Duluth at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 27.

Tonight is the premiere of our In Wisconsin special called "Our Birds". For the past 2 years Reporter Jo Garrett and Videographer Frank Boll have been crafting this documentary about Wisconsin's migratory birds. It premieres tonight at 7:00 p.m. on Wisconsin Public Television.

We also just found out today that Milwaukee Public Television will air this hour long documentary on May 12, 9:00pm and repeat it May 14, 2:00pm.

Give it a watch and then drop us a line in the comment section below. We'd like to hear your feedback. Emjoy the show.

This week on In Wisconsin we have several new reports and an oldie but goodie.

We will revisit a report from In Wisconsin's Jo Garrett. The Stormy Kromer is a hat that has been part of Wisconsin's history and culture for more than a century. The hat was invented by Kaukauna native Stormy Kromer. It's a clever combination of a baseball hat with pull-down earflaps and now it's taking on a Green Bay Packers twist.

We'll take you to one of Wisconsin's newest tourist attractions, the Canoe Heritage Museum. In Wisconsin Reporter Liz Koerner spotlights how this museum came to be in the small town of Spooner.

The 38th annual American Birkebeiner is the largest cross-country ski race in North America and this weekend more skiers than ever before will start the race. John Kotar, a Birkebeiner founder, talks about the beauty and tradition of the race, and the impact of climate change. Plus you'll get a humorous essay from Michael Perry about the calendar and that shrinking woodpile. It's all this week on In Wisconsin Thursday night at 7:30p on Wisconsin Public Television.

Tonight's episode (2/17) of In Wisconsin features the inspiring story of Dorothy Douglas, aka DJ Douglas, and her remarkable accomplishments. With a passion for flying, she disguised herself as a man to become a pilot and made a name for herself as "Sam Douglas" and wait until you see her other accomplishments including an appearance on the game show "To Tell The Truth."

Tune in and you'll meet Sam Thayer, one of the nations best foragers. He is the creator of the nation's first nature trail dedicated to teaching people about edible wild foods, the Standish Price Wild Food Interpretive Trail in Price County and then we'll go foraging for wild food in the heart of Madison. Nance Klehm is an urban forager who lives in Chicago. At Madison's Willy Street Coop class, she teaches students how to create an all-natural meal with edible wild plants found in the city.

In Wisconsin Reporter Andy Soth visits the forestry operation in the Menominee Reservation and explores the wisdom of Chief Oshkosh and his impact on a great northern forest. Those efforts have provided a living for Menominee Tribal Enterprises employees for 100 years and have resulted in an increase of trees in the harvested forest.

Our video postcard at the end of this week's show features a winter tour of the University of Wisconsin Arboretum. We hope you'll join us for a look at the people and places that make Wisconsin unique.

Warm up the griddle and get a stack of "cakes" going and think about topping it off with White Birch syrup. ????? What? White Birch Syrup?

Check it out, this Thursday marks the broadcast of a story we shot last summer on Wisconsin forager, Sam Thayer. Thayer has made White Birch Syrup in addition to hundreds of other foodstuffs from plants that he harvested from Wisconsin's landscapes. Thayer is one of the top names in the country in the world of foraging and this story focuses on his new venture: a nature trail devoted to wild edibles. It is, as far as Thayer knows, the only one in the nation. We travel the trail with Thayer this week. Cue the pancakes!

It started with a Facebook post: a short video clip shot while skating on crystal clear lake ice, the ribbed sandy bottom seen between skates. Wisconsin Public Television graphic designer Jen Hadley shot and posted the video which got us wondering why the ice on Madison's Lake Mendota is so clear this winter (check out an enhanced version of Jen's video).

Fortunately, our offices are mere blocks away from the University of Wisconsin limnology lab, built right upon the shore of Lake Mendota. There John Magnuson, emeritus professor of limnology and zoology went through the pictures Jen had taken, explained the reason for the clear ice and told us about some of the biological processes in the lake environment that could be observed through the crystalline cover (for more on that check out this slideshow).

"There's more physics to it than biology," Magnuson explained. As anyone who's enjoyed a glass of ice water can tell you, ice floats, and the ice cover of the lake floats on top of the water's surface.

In a typical winter, as temperatures decline ice forms on the lake. This thin layer is as clear as a window pane and maybe as thick, so when snow falls it isn't strong enough to support much weight. Most years, a heavy snow will push down the thin layer of ice floating on the lake surface. Lake water seeps up through cracks in the ice, mixes with the snow, making a slushy mixture.

That opaque slush freezes into what scientists call "gray" ice, which forms what is typically seen on a frozen lake. This year, weather conditions were different, something Magnuson says seems to happen every 12 to 15 years. Cold December temperatures, with no snow, then an early January thaw and a bit of rain left Lake Mendota topped by frozen water instead of the usual slushy mix of water and snow.

Quite a lot of snow has fallen since then, so we're glad to have captured this unusual moment in the life cycle of Lake Mendota.

As political debates rage over whether climate change is happening, and whether rising CO2 levels from burning fossil fuels are responsible, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have been working to determine what effects climate change will have on the state's resources.

Are there steps that can be taken to lessen any impact? Last summer Art Hackett travelled to Vilas County for a look at new research to determine whether future changes can be estimated by looking back at the landscape of northern Wisconsin during previous spikes in temperature.

He also checked into research underway at the UW-Madison Experimental Station at Arlington. Scientists are trying to see if plants found in warmer climates will grow in a warmer Wisconsin. Test plots also involve crops such as switchgrass and miscanthus which might take CO2 out of the atmosphere and provide feed stocks for production of bio-fuels such as ethanol.

If you'd like to find out more tune in tonight at 7:30 for "In Wisconsin" and this report on climate change. That report will also get posted right here on our website. The report is also part of our larger environment reporting project called "Quest". To learn more just go to the website.

You'll find a lot of critters in this week's episode of In Wisconsin everything from white tail deer to bald eagles and you might even catch a few pine martens.

First, this month the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is launching the largest deer study ever in the State of Wisconsin. There's a growing concern among some hunters that the Wisconsin deer herd is being decimated by predators. In a related move the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently decided to go ahead with plans to remove the gray wolf from the federal endangered species list in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. Wolves were hunted to near extinction in Wisconsin before they returned on their own.

You can find out more about deer research at the WI DNR site. They're also signing up volunteers to do deer research.

Once endangered but not anymore... the dramatic comeback of the American Bald Eagle in Wisconsin is an inspiration for other states. Every winter bald eagles are attracted to the open water and prime fishing on the Wisconsin River below the dam at Prairie du Sac. You can catch a glimpse of these majestic birds in videographer Frank Boll's video essay. If you'd like to see them soar this weekend is prime time. It's the 22nd annual Sauk Prairie Eagle Watching Days. To find out more click on this link http://www.ferrybluffeaglecouncil.org/eagledays/index.html And finally in this week's show they appear to be cute and ready to cuddle but pine martens can be vicious. This pint-sized predator is a member of the weasel family. The animal was driven from the state by excessive trapping around the turn of the century. Wisconsin researchers re-introduced pine martens in the late 1970's but it failed to take a foothold. At the same time martens in Minnesota and Michigan are thriving. In Wisconsin Reporter Jo Garrett gives you an update on the battles in a three year research project to find out why.

It's all this week on In Wisconsin, Thursday night at 7:30 on Wisconsin Public Television. Or catch the encore presentation Sunday night at 10:30. And if neither of those times are convenient you can always watch those reports right here on our website. Let me know what you think of the show.

After being on hiatus for the month of December... "In Wisconsin" returns tonight at 7:30p right after Wisconsin Foodie.

One of the highlights - the Middleton High School Marching Band's performance in London's New Years Day Parade. More than a half-million spectators on the ground and a worldwide audience. It took a little bit of juggling for us to get the video recorded off a satellite starting at 5:30 a.m. New Year's Day. We hope you enjoy it.

Liz Koerner delivers an all new report as she visits two Manitowoc artists for a look at studio-portrait postcards. They represent a time when few people had cameras. Discover how a current revival of the art merges old with new as people enjoy the fun of being photographed in outlandish dress or by not dressing at all.

In Wisconsin Reporter Frederica Freyberg looks at how local businesses are navigating Chinese business etiquette. Be warned leave the Packers hat at home. Discover why this is an insult in China. And we'll visit a eco-friendly dairy farm near Waterloo.. where nothing is wasted. In Wisconsin Reporter Art Hackett visits the Crave Brother's farm near Waterloo for a look at value-added agriculture

The newsmagazine airs 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 6 on WPT and is available in high definition. WPT will broadcast an encore of the program at 10:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 9. The program also will air at 11:30 a.m. on Milwaukee's MPTV and on WDSE-TV in Duluth at 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 9.