The Buff Innovator Insights podcast offers a behind-the-curtain look at some of the most ground-breaking innovations in the world, along with the personal journeys that made those discoveries possible.
Join Terri Fiez, Vice Chancellor for Research & Innovation, for an up-close and personal look at how researchers, scholars and artists become global pioneers, why they are so dedicated to discovery, and their visions of the future in the wide range of fields they explore.
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Your host
Vice Chancellor for Research & Innovation
University of Colorado Boulder
March 18: Margaret Murnane
JILA; Physics; STROBE
In the first episode of Buff Innovator Insights, we meet Dr. Margaret Murnane, one of the world’s leading experts in ultrafast laser and x-ray science. Join us to learn about her improbable journey from growing up in the Irish countryside to developing the microscopes of the future and cultivating the world’s next generation of physicists.
March 25: Jun Ye
JILA; Physics; CUbit Quantum Initiative; Q-SEnSE
In this episode, we meet Dr. Jun Ye, director of the CUbit Quantum Initiative. We’ll talk with Dr. Ye about his formative years in China, his transformation into a leading researcher in the US, and how his work is helping to realize the vast potential of quantum science and technology.
April 1: Lori Peek
Sociology; Institute of Behavioral Science; Natural Hazards Center; CONVERGE
Hear from Dr. Lori Peek about her formative years in small-town Kansas, how her research is helping us learn from disasters like Hurricane Katrina and the COVID-19 pandemic, and her love for teaching and mentoring students.
April 8: Sona Dimidjian
Psychology and Neuroscience; Renée Crown Wellness Institute
Dr. Sona Dimidjian is director of the Renée Crown Wellness Institute, which seeks to promote the wellness of young people and the systems and adults who support them through interdisciplinary research-practice partnerships. Dr. Dimidjian’s research focuses on cultivating mental health and wellness among women, children, and families by engaging people’s capacities for learning to care for themselves and their communities.
April 15: Evan Thomas
Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering; Aerospace Engineering; Mortenson Center
Dr. Evan Thomas is the director of the Mortenson Center in Global Engineering, which combines education, research, and partnerships to positively impact vulnerable people and their environment by improving development tools and practice. The Mortenson Center's vision is a world where everyone has safe water, sanitation, energy, food, shelter and infrastructure.
April 22: Jennifer Ho
Ethnic Studies; Center for Humanities and the Arts
Dr. Jennifer Ho is the director of the Center for Humanities and the Arts at CU Boulder. The daughter of a refugee father from China and an immigrant mother from Jamaica, she is the author of three books: Consumption and Identity in Asian American Coming-of-Age Novels (2005), Racial Ambiguity in Asian American Culture (2015) and Understanding Gish Jen (2015).
April 29: Sidney D’Mello
Psychology; Computer Science; Institute of Cognitive Science; Institute for Student-AI Teaming
Dr. Sidney D'Mello leads the NSF National Institute for Student-Agent Teaming, which aims to develop AI technologies to facilitate rich socio-collaborative learning experiences for all students. D'Mello's research is at the intersection of the cognitive, affective, computing and learning sciences.
May 6: Jennifer Balch
Geography; Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences; Earth Lab
Dr. Jennifer Balch is the director of Earth Lab. Her research aims to better understand the role of fire on Earth at a global scale. Balch's team examines how shifting fire regimes are reconfiguring tropical forests, encouraging non-native grass invasion, and affecting the global climate.
Questions or feedback about this podcast can be directed to rio@colorado.edu.