Community Edition - Dec. 20, 2020

Through the fall semester, campus officials are providing regular updates, including stats and items of note. In this issue: Boulder County remains at Level Red; campus planning for the vaccine underway; and more.

As research emerged showing wind and brass instruments could produce COVID-19-laden aerosols, CU Boulder alumna Maddie Levinson began sewing French horn covers for school band programs across the state.

The Public Achievement program, which helps young people learn how to be leaders in their communities, is navigating uncertain times during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A new neuroimaging study offers a first look at what happens in the brain when we try to stop thinking about one thing in order to make room for new ideas. The findings offer clues on how to be more productive when studying and working. They could also lead to new therapies for trauma and anxiety disorders.

Researchers at CU Boulder’s Renewable & Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI) on Thursday released a report outlining key steps the U.S. can take to drive CO2 emissions to zero in the key sectors of electricity, building, transportation and industry.

A team from the Mortenson Center in Global Engineering recently published results from a pilot impact evaluation of trail bridges in rural Rwanda. They installed sensors to monitor use at 12 bridge sites constructed by Denver-based nonprofit Bridges to Prosperity.

A CU Boulder geographer leads colleagues from the National Snow and Ice Data Center and CU Denver in an effort to leverage artificial intelligence for harmonizing large Earth observation datasets and mapping sea ice.

Global leaders pledged to protect 10% of the oceans by 2020. We’re nowhere close, but a U.N. treaty and lessons from Antarctica could help. Assistant Professor Cassandra Brooks and a colleague share on The Conversation.