Faculty/Staff Edition - Jan. 17, 2017

At this time of year, we celebrate the vision, accomplishments and ultimately the life of Martin Luther King Jr., who inspired a nation to stand up against racism and discrimination. Help CU take steps toward creating a welcoming community that embraces inclusion, diversity and respectful dialogue.

​Students now have a brand new place to gather at Williams Village. The Village Center Dining and Community Commons opened Jan. 11 and features state-of-the-art services from dining to residential programs, as well as healthcare and counseling.

January's monthly brown bag event will feature a presentation by Pamela Rosse from the Research & Innovation Office, focusing on the subject of conflicts of interest. The presentation will be held Monday, Jan. 23, from noon to 1 p.m. in the Rec Center.

Associate professor Franck Vernerey has been awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest U.S. government honor awarded to promising scientists and researchers beginning their careers.

CU Boulder students and professionals from the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics will operate the satellite for an upcoming NASA mission to investigate exotic astronomical objects like black holes, neutron stars and pulsars.

Bolstering their 60-year relationship, Ball Aerospace and CU Boulder this week announced a new agreement designed to make it easier for students and faculty to collaborate on research projects with Ball scientists.

A joint research project involving what's called cloud seeding aims to beef up mountain snowfall and, subsequently, power generation. The results hopefully will be applicable to many mountain ranges in the western U.S.

Jens Schmidt, a postdoctoral fellow at the BioFrontiers Institute, was just awarded the Damon Runyon-Dale Frey Award for Breakthrough Scientists to further his research on how regenerating protective chromosomal caps called telomeres, long believed to preserve youth, can also promote disease.