Katie Venit

  • Summertime Blues: Why Do Some Lakes Turn Bluish-Green in the Summer?

    Summertime Blues: Why Do Some Lakes Turn Bluish-Green in the Summer?

    During the hottest time of the year, you may notice that some of your favorite lakes turn blueish green and murky. You might not be allowed to swim in them. This happens because of cyanobacteria, which is sometimes also called blue-green algae (“cyanobacteria” means “blue bacteria”). Cyanobacteria is different from the green algae that you…

  • Squeaky Cheese Curds: The Science Behind Wisconsin’s Favorite Snack

    Squeaky Cheese Curds: The Science Behind Wisconsin’s Favorite Snack

    Spring means fresh cheese curds at the farmers market. There’s nothing like picking up a fresh, warm bag and getting that first squeaky bite. That squeak comes from a special way that long protein molecules in fresh cheese curds rub against your teeth. To make cheese curds, milk is warmed and a culture with bacteria…

  • Why is That?: Neat-o Mosquito

    Why is That?: Neat-o Mosquito

    Neat-o Mosquito is the first of my regular columns in Chippewa Valley Family Magazine. I’ve always enjoyed science and have long wanted to be a science writer. I’ve also enjoyed writing for my children, so a science column for kids seemed like a perfect fit. I’ve long wondered how insects survive the winter, so this…

  • Sisters on Separate Trails

    Sisters on Separate Trails

    I finally published an essay that I had been working on for quite some time about my twin sister Bethie, called Sisters on Separate Trails. This story is centered around a day we spent in Hayward, Wisconsin, when she skied the Prince Haakon cross country ski race. Writing this piece was a lesson in how…

  • How to Win the East Hill Neighborhood Thrift Sale

    How to Win the East Hill Neighborhood Thrift Sale

    Remember, all the good stuff is gone by 10 am. Wear comfortable shoes, for you do not live in the East Hill, and you will get lost and spend hours searching for your car in the hot sun. You will be reminded of Sir Henry Morton Stanley searching the Congo for Dr. Livingstone except you…

  • The Wisconsin Idea

    The Wisconsin Idea

    The Wisconsin Idea is the idea that  government exists to help its constituents, codified by the turn of the century progressives. It remains today mostly in the sphere of higher ed and can be summed up with a phrase: the boundaries of the university should reach the boundaries of the state. In other words, all…

  • The Magic Network

    The Magic Network

    Once upon a time I lived in a place far, far away, filled with so many people that one could walk the streets in total anonymity, never bumping into a friend at the grocery store, never seeing a particular stranger so often in so many places you forget you hadn’t been introduced until you start…

  • Raising Children Like Dough

    Raising Children Like Dough

    Dining out as a family has been challenging ever since my oldest began walking and almost Hansel and Greteled himself into a pizza oven at Foster’s Cheese Haus. We’ve gone to a few places here and there, it’s always ended badly. (Burrachos, I’ll say it again: I’m so sorry.) Desperation can make you do funny…

  • Haleakala

    Haleakala

    Experience has taught me to be wary when my twin sister, Beth, proposes a “trip of a lifetime.” These generally include heights, poisonous reptiles, extreme temperatures, and lots of gear. A few years ago, Beth and my brother Chris hiked into and then out of the Grand Canyon in three days. I declined to join…

  • The Nautilus Shell Game

    The Nautilus Shell Game

      The Nautilus Shell Game was my first freelance assignment, which I wrote after a summer internship with the National Zoo’s communications department. That department maintains the website and publishes a bimonthly magazine called Zoogoer.