Includes both the community and people spotlight news categories.

Visit the Community page

Jared Collins, Airy Peralta, and Brad Markle at the celebration of INSTAAR awards. Photo by Marisa Seitz.

Airy Peralta and Jared Collins garner first INSTAAR Graduate Community Awards

May 24, 2023

Airy Peralta and Jared Collins are the recipients of the first INSTAAR Graduate Community Awards. The award is a new honor that recognizes students who expend substantial effort in activities that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the INSTAAR community and as representatives of INSTAAR.

Holly Barnard and artist Jocelyn Catterson an artwork by Catterson in the Lieutenant Governor's office at the Colorado State Capitol building.

Art and climate science converge in new exhibit at the Colorado Capitol (KUNC)

May 24, 2023

An exhibit that just opened in the Colorado capitol building's rotunda features artwork made in the process of partnerships between artists from around Colorado, their communities, and CU Boulder scientists. Called “Coloradans and our Shared Environment in Times of Challenge and Change,” the art grapples with the climate and environmental challenges that are part of Coloradoans' lives: drought, decreasing groundwater, acid mine drainage, wildfire, pine beetle tree mortality, and more.

A mixed-media artwork by Jocelyn Catterson explores groundwater in the San Luis Valley, reflecting a partnership with INSTAAR Holly Barnard.

Coloradoans and our shared environment in times of challenge and change (CU OOE)

May 18, 2023

A collaborative exhibition tells the story of how Coloradans are experiencing interrelated challenges of fire, drought, and water and air quality in their communities. Artists (the CASE Fellows) partnered with scientists and communities to make visible the connections between Coloradans and their environment. Several INSTAARs acted as scientist partners. This website showcases the artwork, as well as quotes from the partners, explorations of the issues, and what you can do to act.

Student use of open office spaces at SEEC has been down since the pandemic. New funding seeks to make SEEC spaces safer, more engaging, and more inclusive.

Recipients of President’s DEI Awards, Grants honored at reception

May 12, 2023

CU System awards and grants to advance diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) were also honored at an April 20 event. INSTAAR has received a grant to address inclusive open workspaces. Through participatory scenario development, ethnographic walks, and semi-structured interviews, SEEC community members will reflect on inequitable and unwelcoming spaces and conceptualize just future concepts.

Sarah Spaulding talks with students during a hike to sample diatoms in Rocky Mountain streams.

2023 Elizabeth Jester Fellows Award recipient Sarah Spaulding (NALMS)

May 2, 2023

Sarah Spaulding has been honored by the North American Lake Management Society for their extensive contributions to the aquatic sciences. These represent a career-long dedication and vision to improve science through coordination of research, unparalleled teaching and mentorship, and accessibility and engagement of all.

Julio Sepulveda speaks about ocean microbes and how we can protect our ecosystems to a packed house at the Dairy Center.

The secret stories of ocean microbes (Research & Innovation Community Talk)

Feb. 23, 2023

As part of CU Boulder's annual Research & Innovation Week (October 17–21, 2022), the 2022 Faculty Fellows gave short TED-style talks in the Gordon Gamm Theater at the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder. In this talk, Dr. Julio Sepúlveda describes the microbes that fill our oceans, the impact of climate change on the ecosystems that depend on those microbes, and his research group’s work to better understand how we can all contribute to protecting our oceans and our planet.

Maddie Sanders, one of the CASE Fellows, works on a large mural

Announcing the Colorado Art Science Environment Fellows and Colorado State Capitol Exhibition

Dec. 19, 2022

The Office for Outreach and Engagement announces the CASE Fellows program. The program pairs Colorado artists with CU Boulder scientists to produce art that will be exhibited at the Colorado State Capitol in an exhibition about how Coloradans are experiencing interrelated challenges of fire, drought, and water and air quality. Lisa Schwartz from OOE is leading the program in partnership with Shelly Sommer at INSTAAR, Boulder County Arts Alliance and with exhibition and curatorial support from Amy Hoagland.

Mike Gooseff rows a raft on the Colorado River during field work.

2022 Alumni Awards: Michael Gooseff - MCivEngr’98; PhD’01 (YouTube)

Nov. 22, 2022

Presentation on Michael Gooseff, winner of the 2022 Robert L. Stearns Award, profiles his career as a polar science researcher and educator. Gooseff leads the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long-Term Ecological Research project, chairs the Water Quality Control Commission for the State of Colorado, and was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board on Water Body Connectivity for the Environmental Protection Agency among other leadership and teaching roles.

Randall Duncan on a research site near Crested Butte, Colorado, investigating how beavers influence hydrology. Photo by Katharine Lininger.

GEO-VETS initiative funds military veteran’s research project (CU Boulder Arts & Sciences)

Nov. 11, 2022

Randall Duncan is an undergraduate student who is also a U.S. Army veteran. He is pursuing dual degrees in geology and geography while working with Holly Barnard on hydrology research in the critical zone. Duncan is investigating how beavers influence rivers and floodplains near Crested Butte, Colorado, funded by the NSF GEO-VETS (Geosciences-Veterans Education and Training) initiative.

Warren Sconiers at one of his research sites on Niwot Ridge.

Warren Sconiers: A winding path of discovery through research and teaching (British Ecological Society)

Oct. 25, 2022

Warren Sconiers—an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder interested in plant-insect interactions, insect ecology, and climate change—shares his story as part of Black History Month.

Pages