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People Spotlights are news stories centered on an INSTAAR member or group, rather than a science result or a community event. In many cases, the spotlight will focus on a person's latest award or special accomplishment.

CU Boulder campus in fall colors with flatirons behind

New class of CU Distinguished Professors: Leaders in research, education, service (CU Connections)

Nov. 11, 2021

University’s highest faculty honor awarded to 11 professors for 2021, including INSTAARs Diane McKnight and Giff Miller.

Photo of Julio Sepulveda

Earth scientist to use NSF award to dive deep into oceanic change (Colorado Arts & Sciences Magazine)

Nov. 2, 2021

The health of the ocean is fundamental to life on the planet—yet much remains unknown about how the ocean and marine life will cope with a rapidly changing climate. An award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) will help Julio Sepúlveda start solving that crucial puzzle.

Residents gather in a community workshop hosted by the Center for Sustainable Landscapes and Communities (CSLC) at CU Boulder.

Persistent places: A new project pulls together diverse groups to define and map climate change

Oct. 15, 2021

A project that unites land managers, citizens, and scientists to jointly understand how Colorado Front Range ecosystems and public lands are responding to pressures from people and climate change has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

While kneeling in the snow, Bruce Vaughn displays an ice core segment, northeast Greenland

Faces of the Front Range: Bruce Vaughn and Bradley Markle look to save the world by understanding it (Denver Post)

Oct. 11, 2021

Denver Post profile of a visit to the Stable Isotope Lab, where Bruce Vaughn and Brad Markle shared ice cores, knowledge, and what keeps them going while researching the climate past and present. To read this article, you may need to enter your email address.

Diane McKnight kneeling by a streambed in the sub alpine

Congratulations to the 2021 AGU Union medal, award, and prize recipients (EOS)

Sept. 15, 2021

Diane McKnight is the recipient of the Robert E. Horton Medal, bestowed for outstanding contributions to hydrology

Chickadee on a branch

New grant to study life-and-death trait of chickadees (Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine)

Aug. 24, 2021

CU Boulder and University of Nevada Reno professors win $2.7 million grant from the NSF to study spatial cognition in chickadees. The new grant will allow the researchers to study natural selection on a complex behavioral trait, a difficult task that could potentially expand the ways natural selection is studied broadly, while also shedding light on how it relates to a changing climate.

Photo of Bob Anderson

Two CU Boulder profs elected to National Academy of Sciences (Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine)

May 7, 2021

Geologist (and INSTAAR) Robert S. Anderson and astrophysicist Fran Bagenal recognized for ‘distinguished and continuing achievements in original research’.

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.

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.

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