April 2017
Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano Philip P. DiStefano

Dear Friends,

Today is Earth Day and CU Boulder has a proud legacy of leadership in conservation and sustainability. The first student-run campus environmental center was founded on the nation’s first Earth Day in 1970. We have the first collegiate recycling program (1976), the nation’s first zero-waste major sports stadium (2008) and the first student-led renewable energy purchase (2000). We have been dedicated to environmental sustainability for nearly 50 years.

But you may be wondering, "What has CU Boulder done lately?"

Our students, staff and faculty have done a lot, including this spring. Graduate students Tyler Huggins (civil engineering) and Justin Whiteley (mechanical engineering) patented a battery made of spent brewery water that stores renewable energy. A team of engineers developed a material to cool buildings with zero energy. Recently, our grounds staff came up with a way use a steamer to kill weeds, eliminating the need for pesticides. Watch a video about the process. And, just this week, we announced the hiring of the campus' first chief sustainability officer. Read more below. 

Faculty and student research on our changing environment helps companies and governments make critical economic, military, social and humanitarian decisions.

Space-based Earth observation, in which CU Bouder is an international leader, is vital to natural disaster forecasting, agriculture, aviation and commerce, along with air- and water-quality management.  

If we are to develop tomorrow's leaders, be the top university for innovation and positively impact humanity, our work must be fully intergrated from teaching to research to application.

Happy Earth Day and Go Buffs!

Sincerely,

Philip P. DiStefano,
Chancellor
www.colorado.edu/chancellor



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