Student Edition - Sept. 30, 2016

Research at CU Boulder encompasses thousands of scholarly, scientific and creative endeavors at any given time, resulting in new knowledge, technologies and creative work that advance the economy, culture and health of Colorado, the nation and the world. Here is a selection of the top CU research stories of the week.

Matthew Winchester and Matthew Hurst are among a handful of national scholarship recipients selected for 2016 by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. Typically, the organization choses only one winner per university, but in CU Boulder's case, ASF has chosen two per year since 2015, according to the campus Top Scholarships office.

For most students, Family Weekend at the University of Colorado will involve some variation of a similar pattern: breakfast at one of their favorite local hangouts, a sightseeing drive, then a trip to Folsom Field in time for Saturday’s 12:30 Buffs game against visiting Oregon State. But that’s not how CU senior Alex Kelley’s day will go.

CU Boulder's two recent Olympic Bronze Medalists, Emma Coburn and Jenny Simpson will serve as official starters at the 31st Annual Rocky Mountain Shootout on Saturday, which is CU's only home cross country meet. Then they head to Folsom Stadium where they will tailgate with alumni before being called out between the first and second quarters in the game vs. Oregon State. Join in the celebration.

Though remaining in positive territory, the optimism of Colorado business leaders is projected to dip slightly in the fourth quarter of 2016. It then is expected to increase during the first quarter of 2017. The upcoming presidential election is causing some of the uncertainty captured in the latest Leeds Business Confidence Index.

Jim Voss, scholar in residence in the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences and retired NASA astronaut, has won the 2016 Haley Space Flight Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. It recognizes outstanding contributions to human space flight.

Focused on connecting scientists and communities, the CU Boulder Engaged Scientist Series will begin with the director of Thriving Earth Exchange at the American Geophysical Union, Raj Panda. This talk and the associated workshop for graduate students will begin a series of trainings to equip scientists with community engagement skills.

Continuing the exciting 2016-17 dance season at CU Boulder is “Boneless,” a showcase of two works by MFA students intent on uncovering who we really are underneath our society’s thick layers of commercialism and social standards. These two works, incorporating contemporary dance, animal instinct and skateboarding, come to CU’s Charlotte York Irey Theatre Oct. 21-23.