U.S.-Mexico Border  Jacumba Hot Springs, California

Award prompts students to rethink the last year and the West

March 9, 2021

The Thompson awards from the Center of the American West urge students to write about the West and show them the year that was for a $500 prize.

DC region hires

Scholars reveal the changing nature of U.S. cities

Jan. 28, 2021

New research unravels the mystery of how our cities evolved into their present form.

sea ice

Scientists aim to fuse Earth data to help classify, map sea ice

Dec. 17, 2020

CU Boulder geographer leads colleagues from National Snow and Ice Data Center and CU Denver in effort to leverage artificial intelligence for harmonizing large earth observation datasets and mapping sea ice.

Flames approach houses during the Blue Ridge Fire on Oct. 27, 2020 in Chino Hills, California.

We’ll see more fire seasons like 2020 - here’s a strategy for managing our nation’s flammable landscapes

Nov. 12, 2020

New sources ranging from satellites to government records to social media are providing a wealth of opportunities to learn more about wildfire behavior and how it threatens people and affects ecosystems.

Arctic sea ice levels have been falling for several decades. GraphicaArtis/Getty Images

Where’s the sea ice? 3 reasons the Arctic freeze is unseasonably late and why it matters

Oct. 28, 2020

With the setting of the sun and the onset of polar darkness, the Arctic Ocean would normally be crusted with sea ice along the Siberian coast by now. But this year, the water is still open. I’ve watched the region’s transformations since the 1980s as an Arctic climate scientist and,...

Houses, allegedly destroyed by shelling, in Ganja, Nagorno Karabakh. Aziz Karimov/EPA

Nagorno-Karabakh: what do residents of the contested territory want for their future?

Oct. 12, 2020

War and forced displacement has returned with vengeance to Nagorno-Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is engulfed in the flames of war. Half of its population has fled, while the remaining families cower in basements as artillery and drones destroy their houses and cultural institutions. A ceasefire on October 10, agreed after ten hours...

Plan flying putting out fires by a neighborhood

Humans ignite almost every wildfire that threatens homes

Sept. 22, 2020

Wildfires are a natural disturbance for these regions, but when combined with climate change and housing growth in the wildland-urban interface, they become larger and more destructive.

NREL solar

Energetic alumnus improves energy systems

Sept. 9, 2020

CU Boulder alum, now employed by NREL, discusses the importance of his interdisciplinary background for his career.

A small creek running by

New grant supports interdisciplinary research on "the critical zone” and the future of Western water

Sept. 2, 2020

Three CU Boulder faculty are principal investigators on a new five-year, $6.9 million National Science Foundation grant to study the “critical zone”—from Earth’s bedrock to tree canopy top—in the American West.

Forrest fire

Forests scorched by wildfire unlikely to recover, may convert to grasslands

Aug. 26, 2020

A new study of 22 burn areas across 710 square miles found that forests are not recovering from fires as well as they used to, and many regions will be unsuitable for ponderosa pine and Douglas fir in the coming decades.

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