Paul Hanson
Distinguished Research Professor
UW-Madison Center for Limnology
pchanson@wisc.edu
I explore how climate change, land use, and human activity affect our lakes and rivers, as well as how AI and collaborative science are transforming freshwater research worldwide. Beyond my work in science, I also study the intersection of art and research, particularly through my my passion for music.
Inland Waters
Our research aims to understand how lakes and reservoirs provide critical resources around the world and how they respond to the pressures of changing climate, land use, and human populations.
Water Quality
We study water quality at the ecosystem level, examining both individual lakes and entire regions. Our research explores key processes like nutrient cycling, anoxia, harmful algal blooms, and carbon storage and processing—all of which play a vital role in maintaining healthy aquatic environments.
Team Science
Diverse, interdisciplinary, and international teams are essential for tackling environmental challenges on both regional and global scales. Collaboration is at the heart of our approach, shaping both our scientific research and training programs.
Knowledge Guided Machine Learning
Our team is leading the way in integrating AI with aquatic ecology, advancing research on AI applications in metadata and ecosystem modeling. We pioneered Ecology Knowledge-Guided Machine Learning (Eco-KGML), a rapidly growing field that is shaping ecological research in labs worldwide.