Campus News

Analysis of 90 years of observational data has revealed that summer climates in regions across the globe are changing -- mostly, but not always, warming --according to a new study led by a scientist from the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences headquartered at the University of Colorado Boulder. “It is the first time that we show on a local scale that there are significant changes in summer temperatures,” said lead author CIRES scientist Irina Mahlstein. “This result shows us that we are experiencing a new summer climate regime in some regions.”

The University of Colorado Boulder enrolled more international students during the 2011-12 academic year and sent more students abroad during the 2010-11 academic year than any other higher education institution in Colorado. The data, released today by the Institute of International Education in its annual Open Doors Report, shows that CU-Boulder was home to 1,681 international students during the 2011-12 school year. CU-Boulder sent 1,316 students overseas during the 2010-11 school year.

Matthew Reed didn’t feel ready for college right out of high school. But after five years of military service, he felt more prepared to pursue a college degree. “Being in the military made me disciplined,” said Reed. “I’m much better prepared and in a much better situation to be in college now.” Reed, from Broken Arrow, Okla., is a sophomore majoring in geology and anthropology. Because he is an Iraq veteran, his tuition is covered by the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill.

The University of Colorado Boulder’s annual Diversity and Inclusion Summit will feature a variety of sessions for students, faculty, staff and community members from Nov. 13-15. All events are free, open to the public and on the Boulder campus.

A new University of Colorado Boulder study shows for the first time that episodes of reduced precipitation in the southern Rocky Mountains, especially during the 2001-02 drought, greatly accelerated development of the mountain pine beetle epidemic.

A new startup company that sprang from the University of Colorado Boulder this year is a Grand Challenges Exploration winner, an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Psychology and neurosciences department Associate Professor Don Cooper, co-founder and chief science officer of Mobile Assay Inc. of Boulder who developed the technology in his laboratory at CU’s Institute for Behavioral Genetics, will pursue an innovative global health and development research project titled “A Lab on Mobile Device Platform for Seed Testing.”

Balaji Sridhar has always liked science, but it was his father’s bad knees that were the impetus for him to study both chemical engineering and medicine. His father once was a good squash player, but had to give up playing when the cartilage in his knees wore out. With the dual graduate degrees, Sridhar hopes to someday be able to help people like his father who struggle with debilitating joint pain and reduced mobility due to damaged cartilage.

In humans, nature may be less than half of the story, a team led by University of Colorado Boulder researchers has found. In the first study of its kind, the team found that genetic similarities may help to explain why human birds of a feather flock together, but the full story of why people become friends “is contingent upon the social environment in which individuals interact with one another,” the researchers write.

“Nature teaches beasts to know their friends,” wrote Shakespeare. In humans, nature may be less than half of the story, a team led by University of Colorado Boulder researchers has found. In the first study of its kind, the team found that genetic similarities may help to explain why human birds of a feather flock together, but the full story of why people become friends “is contingent upon the social environment in which individuals interact with one another,” the researchers write.

Provost Russell Moore today announced the charge and membership of a visioning committee to consider future opportunities for synergies and collaboration between University of Colorado Boulder environment and sustainability research and academic programs. Sharon Collinge, director of environmental studies and a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, will chair the Environment and Sustainability Visioning Committee, or ESVC.