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Howard Veregin

Howard Veregin is the Wisconsin State Cartographer at UW-Madison. He received his PhD from the University of California Santa Barbara in 1991 and has worked in the field of geographic information science ever since.

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Howard's Latest Articles

A simple collage of four photographs showing animal skeletons that are arranged like a museum key or label. The skeletons are separated into different containers. At the top left is a turtle at letter "(A)." To its immediate right, at letter "(B)," is a giraffe. At the bottom left, "(C)," is an owl. And at the bottom right is "(D)," a bat. An additional number for the bat is tied to a piece of string for cataloging. The edges of human fingers or hands can be seen holding the skulls or containers in photos "(B)" and "(D)."
Oddsconsin: Flesh-eating beetles
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Culture
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October 28, 2025

Touring the dermestid beetle colony home at UW Zoological Museum.

Photo taken at Lake Kegonsa Lock and Dam on the Yahara River in Madison. A sign for a "Boat Lock Operation" is mounted on the concrete in the lower foreground, while concrete steps and a walkway can be seen above and into the middle distance. The lake water and patches of grass stretch into the background.
Oddsconsin: UFOs and alien abductions
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Culture
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October 21, 2025

Perhaps we should be proud of our state's status as a hotbed of UFO sightings.

Photo taken at St. Martin's Cemetery in Northwest Dane County shows a religious stone sculpture positioned in a garden of colorful flowers and a large bush to its right. A picturesque, cloudy sky and field stretch out behind it in the top left corner of the image.
Oddsconsin: Children’s graves at St. Martin’s Cemetery
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Culture
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October 14, 2025

Cemeteries are one of the only things we have to remind us of a traumatic period in our history.

A historic black-and-white photograph shows a female body wearing a giant eye that covers their head and a posterboard sign that reads "Numen Lumen will be there."
Oddsconsin: Numen Lumen
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Culture
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October 7, 2025

Before Bucky Badger, there was Numen Lumen.

Photo of a line of small headstones in the snow. The one in the foreground displays the number "119."
Oddsconsin: Dane County Asylum and Home Cemetery
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Culture
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October 2, 2025

Between two strip malls lies a cemetery for the Dane County Poor Home and Asylum for the Chronic Insane.

Illustration: A gas mask in the shape of a dog's head sits on the floor of a laboratory space. Behind it are rows of dog cages, lab coats hanging from the wall, and several pressurized tanks labeled "GAS." Illustration by Owen Tuohy.
From the archives: The dogs of Science Hall
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From The Archives
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September 18, 2024

As Tone Madison's 10th anniversary approaches, we look back at some highlights from the past decade.

Photo of a relief map of colonial east Africa, including German East Africa, Kongo State, and British East Africa.
Secrets of Science Hall, part three
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Politics
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November 9, 2023

Sleeping sickness research at UW and its ties to colonialism.

Low-angled black-and-white photo of a brick building with boarded-up windows.
Secrets of Science Hall, part two
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Politics
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October 30, 2023

Syphilis, sleeping sickness, and the casualties of a hunt for a cure.

A black and white photo Science Hall, shot from below with the building tilted across the frame.
Secrets of Science Hall, part one
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Politics
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October 24, 2023

A history of the building's unsavory reputation and abandoned sixth floor.

Illustration: A gas mask in the shape of a dog's head sits on the floor of a laboratory space. Behind it are rows of dog cages, lab coats hanging from the wall, and several pressurized tanks labeled "GAS." Illustration by Owen Tuohy.
The dogs of Science Hall
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Culture
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April 5, 2022

World War I-era poison gas testing at UW-Madison leaves a legacy at once extensive and obscure.