Research

Professor Rajagopalan Balaji was interviewed by NPR's KGNU about the extreme difficulties facing western states as they renegotiate the Colorado River Compact that governs water use.

Researchers at the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long-Term Ecological Research Program have spent more than three decades studying ecosystems in one of the world’s most hostile environments.

Eduardo Montalto researches affordable, sustainable seismic protection systems designed to reduce how much earthquake shaking reaches a building and minimize structural damage. He also develops advanced computer models to better understand how buildings perform under extreme conditions, particularly when constructed with unconventional materials.

By combining hydrology and paleoclimate modeling, Professor Balaji Rajagopalan and colleagues uncovered the long-standing mystery behind the disappearance of the Harappan Civilization.

Professor Abbie Liel and colleagues have identified building code features that have the biggest impact on hazard resilience and translated those features into tangible, practical building solutions. The findings were published in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction.

Mark Hernandez is serving as a commissioner of the newly launched Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air to elevate indoor air as a critical public health priority and drive coordinated global action and solutions.

Researchers in Professor Mark Hernandez's lab have discovered that a passive, generally safe ultraviolet light treatment can rapidly inactivate airborne allergens. They believe this approach could serve as an additional tool to help reduce allergens in homes, schools and other indoor environments.

The study, led by CEAE PhD student Daniel Donado-Quintero, shows that setting carbon benchmarks can encourage asphalt producers to lower emissions for example by using more recycled materials or optimizing production processes—supporting Colorado’s Buy Clean Act and CDOT’s efforts to reduce embodied carbon.

At CU Boulder’s Living Materials Lab, Professor Wil Srubar is developing “bioblocks” made from microalgae that use sunlight, seawater and carbon dioxide to grow carbon-negative limestone—offering a sustainable alternative for use in concrete, cement and other building materials.

Zhi Li, who joined CU Boulder as an assistant professor in August 2025, leads the new Flood Lab, which develops high-resolution models to predict flood impacts with one-meter precision—technology not yet used in real time due to high computational demands.