Broadcast News: Learning Channel to Feature UW-Researchers

The work of several UW–Madison researchers will be featured during the “Understanding Festival,” a series of one-hour programs to be broadcast on the Learning Channel (cable channel 46 in Madison) this coming Saturday, Aug. 23.

The program on “Understanding Bacteria,” which will air at 9 p.m. Saturday and again at 1 a.m. on Sunday, will feature Professor Eric Johnson and Emeritus Professor Edward Schantz of the university’s Food Research Institute. Their research has focused on the use and effects of botulinum toxin injections to relieve the symptoms of several neuromuscular disorders.

A camera crew and producer came to the UW–Madison campus last March to interview Johnson and Schantz. Also interviewed for the program were: Food Research Institute director Michael Pariza; plant pathology professors Jo Handelsman and Robert Goodman; associate professor of food science James Steele; Mark Johnson, a senior scientist at the university’s Center for Dairy Research; and William Klein, food science lab manager at Babock Hall.

At the Babcock dairy plant, the crew filmed a segment on the role of bacteria in creating the holes in Swiss cheese and making yogurt.

“Understanding Bacteria” was produced by the Cronkite Ward Company of Washington, D.C., which specializes in documentaries. It is co-owned by former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite.