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Sunset over the continental divide and subalpine meadow

10 reasons to be optimistic this Earth Day (CU Boulder Today)

April 21, 2021

In celebration of Earth Day’s 51st anniversary, CU Boulder Today explores 10 research-related discoveries led by CU Boulder that have the potential to positively change the way we live and soften humanity’s imprint on our precious planet.

Rolf Kihl, with thick glasses, works in the Sed Lab while wearing his cherished CU Buffs sweater.

In memoriam: Rolf Kihl

March 4, 2021

Rolf Kihl, a meticulous and inventive scientist who established INSTAAR’s Sedimentology Lab and ran it for decades, passed away on January 19, 2021. The INSTAAR community mourns his loss.

Photo of Holly Barnard

Holly Barnard wins Boulder Faculty Assembly Excellence Award (Boulder Faculty Assembly)

Feb. 16, 2021

The Boulder Faculty Assembly has awarded INSTAAR Fellow Holly Barnard an Excellence Award for leadership and service.

Two people push a car through floodwaters

Finding “glocal” solutions to flooding problems (Eos)

Feb. 3, 2021

Scientists call for joint efforts to combine real-time global rainfall data with high-resolution local hydrology to better forecast floods.

Woman using a hose to water a vegetable field, Vietnam

Our place in the food security chain (Eos)

Jan. 27, 2021

Food insecurity is a growing threat in many places around the world. This situation is exacerbated by two events that many geoscientists are tasked to study: natural hazards and our changing climate. The February issue of Eos, organized by Ben Zaitchik and Merritt Turetsky, looks at how geoscientists are using their research to help create resilient communities around the world that can always be sure of food in their pantries.

The Calwood fire burns through grass and trees along a ridge, releasing a large smoke plume

2020 rivals hottest year on record, pushing Earth closer to a critical climate threshold (Washington Post)

Jan. 15, 2021

The year 2020, which witnessed terrifying blazes from California to Siberia and a record number of tropical cyclones in the Atlantic, rivaled and possibly even equaled the hottest year on record, according to multiple scientific announcements Thursday. Experts said that another year as hot as 2016 coming so soon suggests a swift step up the climate escalator. And it implies that a momentous new temperature record - breaching the critical 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warming threshold for the first time - could occur as soon as later this decade.

A bearded Bruce Vaughn in a very furry parka and sunglasses

Xmas Special 2020: Studying Climate Change at the North Pole with Bruce Vaughn (Nice to Know podcast)

Dec. 22, 2020

Climate change - we all know that it's happening, but how do we actually know this scientifically? Bruce Vaughn studies glaciers up at the North Pole, looking at ice cores to study how our climate has changed over the Earth's history. We talk about how this is done, and also how we are now entering uncharted territory of atmospheric CO2, warming, and what we as a species can do about it.

Photo of Katharine Suding

8 CU Boulder faculty members become distinguished professors (CU Boulder Today)

Dec. 10, 2020

With approval in November by the University of Colorado Board of Regents, the University of Colorado has introduced 12 newly designated distinguished professors, eight of whom are affiliated with the CU Boulder campus. INSTAAR researcher Katie Suding is among their number.

Photo of Mette Bendixen

Mette Bendixen receives the AGU Science for Solutions Award

Nov. 11, 2020

The American Geophysical Union has announced that INSTAAR postdoctoral scholar Mette Bendixen is the recipient of their 2020 Science for Solutions Award. The award follows Bendixen’s out-of-the-box work on an overlooked global challenge: the scarcity of sand resources.

Steep mountains climb out of a glacial lake in the Kangchenjunga region in eastern Nepal

A new Cold War in the Himalaya: Asia’s water tower as a climate and geopolitical hotspot (Nepali Times)

Nov. 6, 2020

Updates from last week's virtual conference, "The Himalayas: Geopolitics and Ecology of Melting Mountains," that brought together academics and researchers from around the world, including INSTAAR Alton Byers.

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