People dig in a long along a riverbank as snow falls

Tiny ‘ice mouse’ survived Arctic cold in the age of dinosaurs

Aug. 10, 2023

Roughly 73 million years ago, dinosaurs like tyrannosaurs and hadrosaurs lived among conifer trees in northern Alaska. The region was also home to a much smaller creature—a tiny mammal that weathered months of darkness and freezing temperatures in the winter.

Highway road sign reads: "Extreme heat. Save power 4-9 p.m. Stay cool."

Heat waves are more dangerous than you think. Here’s why, and how to stay safe

July 20, 2023

Large portions of the U.S., including parts of Colorado, are reeling this month from extreme temperatures. CU expert Colleen Reid, who studies the health impacts from natural disasters, says these events seem to disproportionately hurt communities where people have less access to air conditioning and green space.

Plastic bottles and other trash on a beach

The future of recycling could one day mean dissolving plastic with electricity

July 5, 2023

Every year, consumers in the United States produce millions of tons of plastic waste, and most of it winds up in landfills. New research from chemists at CU Boulder takes a first step toward making all that trash vanish.

Man moves a piece on a wooden board, while several other people watch sitting at school desks

Collective property rights spark spirit of cooperation that extends beyond managing land

May 25, 2023

Since the 1990s, Indigenous groups and other communities around the world have increasingly fought for, and secured, collective property rights to the land they live on. New research suggests that these arrangements can have impacts not just on ecosystems like forests but on the psychology of people.

Researchers with CU Boulder and CSU signs at the Everest base camp

CU professor treks to the top of the world to share urgent wildlife and climate message 

Aug. 15, 2022

This past May, Joanna Lambert traveled around the globe, met with world leaders and hiked up the world’s highest mountain to speak about how climate change is increasing human and wildlife conflict around the world.

Hands holding peanuts

Amid climate change and conflict, more resilient food systems a must, report shows

July 15, 2022

A new CU Boulder-led study ranks the top 32 threats to food security over the next two decades, pointing to climate change and conflict as top culprits and calling for more coordination in building resilient food systems around the globe.

Goats near a village

For East Africa’s pastoralists, climate change already fueling violence, hunger

May 10, 2022

For centuries, East African peoples like the Maasai and Turkana have survived by herding cattle, moving these animals across miles of wide-open grasslands to keep them fed. Now, worsening droughts and a host of other challenges are threatening that nomadic existence.

Members of the GEER team watch a drone take off from a snowy driveway

Engineers deploy drones to survey Marshall Fire, gather lessons for future disasters

Feb. 14, 2022

Just after first responders extinguished the flames of the Marshall Fire, a team of engineers from across the country hit the ground in an urgent effort: to collect data on the disaster before it disappears for good.

Bushbaby in a tree at night

Female bushbabies more stressed, may be more vulnerable to changing environment

Nov. 10, 2021

Life isn't always easy for small primates in the Soutpansberg Mountains of South Africa––foraging for food, contending with cold temperatures and fighting off rivals. A new study explores how they may weather the environmental changes ahead.

The events center in Glascow, Scotland. (Photo from PxHere)

What is the COP26 climate conference and why does it matter?

Nov. 1, 2021

Thousands are now gathered for what is known as COP26, a significant international conference on climate change. Countries must decide how they will act to limit global warming to no more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels.

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