Science & Technology

The History of Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship at 91��ý

Anna Tolette — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:24:05 +0000

The History of Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship at 91��ý Anna Tolette Mon, 03/09/2026 - 15:24

Sarah Kuta

For years, North Denver residents complained about bad smells wafting through their neighborhoods, but nothing ever seemed to change. Then, they got in touch with Shelly Miller, a 91��ý professor emerita of mechanical engineering who studies urban air quality.

Miller took their concerns seriously and sprang into action. Working in collaboration with residents and local community organizations, she conducted research to identify the sources of the odors and determine whether and how they might be affecting air quality. As suspected, the pungent aromas were coming from nearby industrial facilities, including a pet food factory, an oil refinery, a roofing plant and an animal rendering plant. Miller’s research also detected higher-than-normal concentrations of air pollutants during stinky periods.

In 2016, as a result of her findings, and with continued lobbying from residents, the City of Denver strengthened its odor ordinance. The new rules didn’t completely solve the problem, but they were a step in the right direction — one that helped make North Denver residents feel seen and heard.

Miller’s efforts are an example of public and community-engaged scholarship, or research that connects with and involves individuals beyond the university and, often, contributes to public conversations and policies.

“A lot of my projects up to that point had been lab-based or more controlled setups,” said Miller. “I started thinking about my contributions to science, and I realized I really wanted to impact people’s lives today.”

For 91��ý, this kind of research has been crucial to the university’s ethos since its inception 150 years ago. It continues today with innovative scholars like Miller, who are committed to studying and solving real-world problems — everything from reducing wildfire risk to bridging the political divide.

“It’s really essential to our identity as Colorado’s public flagship university,” said David Meens, executive director of the Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship (PACES), which has helped fund Miller’s air quality work. “The spirit of service is so strong, and it really comes from the ground up. People here want the scholarship they’re producing to be of value to people.”

PACES can involve community members directly in research projects

Engagement with the community was seen as essential for any public institution to be viable.

— David Meens, executive director of the Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship (PACES)

Engagement Origins

In 1861, Colorado’s first territorial legislature passed a bill to establish the university, though the plans took more than a decade to materialize in Boulder. These lawmakers commissioned the university to educate students, but they also had a much broader goal in mind: serving every resident of Colorado. That charge was later stipulated in a federal land grant and enshrined in the state’s constitution.

“Engagement with the community was seen as essential for any public institution to be viable,” said Meens. “It would take an understanding of its value and buy-in from really diverse communities — geographically, demographically — because its authorizing charge was really about supporting public life in Colorado.”

In 1912, the university established a new extension office to help bring that vision to life. The unit’s first director, Loran D. Osborn, felt the university’s resources were so valuable they should be made available to “individuals who cannot come within the college walls and communities which are seeking information and guidance in solution of the complex problems of modern life,” he wrote in the first University Extension Bulletin in February 1912.

In the ensuing decades, the unit greatly expanded 91��ý’s footprint throughout Colorado, with offerings like correspondence courses, public lectures, citizenship programs, radio broadcasts and clinics throughout the state. By the 1970s, 91��ý had become a major national research institution, an identity shift that also broadened its community engagement focus. 91��ý researchers began pursuing national and international projects, in addition to those closer to home.

That same ethos has carried through to the modern era. In 2001, the university created a new hub to support its community engagement activities, both in Colorado and beyond — the Office for University Outreach, which is now PACES.

Over the last 2.5 decades, PACES has awarded more than $8 million to various projects, from dance programs in rural Colorado communities to clean water initiatives in Africa — a project that ultimately gave rise to Engineers Without Borders USA, now a well-known and longstanding nonprofit.

91��ý scholars have also taken a stand against bullying using live theater, worked to make classrooms more inclusive for all students, and helped Rocky Mountain National Park develop new Indigenous history exhibits and programs. They’ve taught underrepresented youth how to code, helped rural communities maintain their historic water distribution philosophies, and delivered free fossil kits to schools around the state.

“We’re really interested in hearing from people directly and listening to the issues they have,” said Meens. “We want to know what’s going on so we can identify resources and folks on campus who might be able to help. We bridge that gap and put those pieces together.”

In addition to addressing the needs of Colorado communities, this type of work benefits 91��ý students, faculty and staff.

“Engaging in real-world contexts makes research better and more interesting,” said Meens. “Students who participate in these types of experiences learn more, and they have a more positive experience overall. Really, community-engaged scholarship is a tremendous value-add across all of the university’s core activities.”

Force for Good

In November 2025, Chancellor Justin Schwartz moved PACES into the newly formed Outreach and Community Engagement unit within his office — a move that elevates and reaffirms the university’s commitment to public and community-engaged research, teaching and creative work for the years to come.

Externally, PACES will continue fostering authentic relationships across Colorado and beyond. At a time when public confidence in higher education is waning and communities are facing numerous challenges, Meens believes public and community-engaged research will remain a force for good.

“We have a real opportunity,” he said. “We’re in a moment where folks understand the value of collaboration and working to achieve bigger things in ways that are beneficial to everyone. There’s so much more we can achieve.”

Submit feedback to the editor

Photos courtesy Shelly Miller

Research involving the community has been crucial to the university’s ethos since its inception 150 years ago.

Off

Traditional

White

CU Alum Takes An Affordable Approach to Indoor Farming

Anna Tolette — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:20:19 +0000

CU Alum Takes An Affordable Approach to Indoor Farming Anna Tolette Mon, 03/09/2026 - 15:20

Marc Zarefsky

Maximilian Knight (EnvEngr’17) was in sixth grade when he saw a documentary that changed his outlook on the world around him.

The Cove, which won the Academy Award for best documentary feature in 2010, featured an in-depth look at a small town in Japan known for capturing and selling dolphins to aquariums around the world. The film featured graphic footage and raised critical questions about dolphin hunting practices.

Knight was transfixed.

“It was a pretty tough subject, but through that film, I became more aware of things going on in the world,” Knight said. “The whole community of people trying to do good in the world and trying to make the world a better place — that really inspired me and continues to.”

Knight took that inspiration and found his own way to improve the world. As founder and CEO of Boulder-based Rooted Robotics, Knight’s mission is to provide affordable automation systems to indoor farms of all sizes.

The company, founded in 2019, offers game-changing technology to small and mid-size controlled-environment growers who can’t afford industrial-sized — and industrial-priced — services.

“If we look to 50 or 100 years from now, if climate change does get significantly worse, as is largely expected, we need to be able to feed ourselves,” Knight said. “We need to be able to do that at scale without having millions or billions of people starve because we can’t grow as much food in the same ways that we used to.”

Enter controlled-environment agriculture, a term Knight explained refers to incorporating a more technology-focused approach to farming. In these environments, which often exist as vertical farms or greenhouses, growers can control everything from temperature and sunlight to humidity and nutrients, along with countless factors in between.

This flexibility allows growers to customize what they grow and when they grow it in a way traditional farmers cannot.

Rooted Robotics offers products that help farmers with seeding, harvesting and cleaning. Each system is designed with simplicity, reliability and sustainability in mind. Everything the company sells is also made to be upgradable with customized add-ons, allowing the machines to grow with the farms they support.

Knight’s own expertise in the field dates back to his time in 91��ý’s College of Engineering & Applied Science, where he learned many of the technical skills he routinely applies to his work. But perhaps the biggest takeaway from his time at CU was, as he describes it, learning how to learn.

“I studied environmental engineering, which is not really what I do today,” Knight said. “Even though I’m not doing water treatment engineering or sanitation engineering, I learned how to teach myself new skills.”

Christian Maljian (left), Sebastian Vazquez-Carson (middle) and Maximilian Knight (right)

Knight also met Rooted Robotics’ chief technology officer at the school. He and Sebastian Vazquez-Carson (Phys’17) were friends as undergraduates, and the two reconnected in 2022 when Vazquez joined the company to help with a robotic system.

When Knight considered undergraduate programs, he was drawn to the community he found at CU. Today, with his company still housed in Boulder, he has kept close ties to the school. Christian Maljian (Engr’19) is co-founder and head of mechanical engineering. Of Rooted Robotics’ seven part-time employees, six are students from the College of Engineering & Applied Science or the Leeds School of Business.

Rooted Robotics also hosts summer interns from 91��ý. In addition, the company partnered with the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering this year to sponsor a capstone project. The senior students involved with the project are helping Rooted Robotics develop a variation of the company’s seeding machine.

Knight’s hope is that, through the partnership and the innovation he’s brought to the company since its founding, Rooted Robotics can continue to be an inspiration and valuable resource for indoor growers.

“A beautiful vision that could exist in 50 to 100 years would be that we’re growing most of our agriculture in these controlled environments,” Knight said. “Because of that, nature will be able to reclaim a lot of the farmland that blankets the Earth. That can also help with reversing climate change at scale. That’s part of the future that we want to create.”

Submit feedback to the editor

Photos courtesy Maximilian Knight

Maximilian Knight’s company Rooted Robotics takes an affordable approach to indoor farming.

Off

Traditional

Spring 2026

White

CU Researchers Study Potential Links Between Hearing Loss and Dementia

Anna Tolette — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:19:01 +0000

CU Researchers Study Potential Links Between Hearing Loss and Dementia Anna Tolette Mon, 03/09/2026 - 15:19

Lisa Marshall

Can hearing loss cause dementia?

Professor Anu Sharma gets this question a lot. As an auditory neuroscientist in CU’s Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Sharma has spent much of her career in a soundproof room on the Boulder campus, spying on volunteers’ brain activities as headphones pipe sound into their ears. Her small yet high-tech studies have produced some of the most detailed evidence that hearing loss, even in early, mild stages, reorganizes the way the brain responds to sound and other stimuli.

The findings complement a growing body of large public health studies linking presbycusis, also known as age-related hearing loss, and cognitive decline.

A seminal 2011 study from Johns Hopkins University found that, over the course of 12 years, people with mild hearing loss were twice as likely to be diagnosed with dementia, while those with moderate to severe hearing loss were three to five times as likely. In 2017, the Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention identified hearing loss as the “single largest potentially modifiable risk factor for dementia.”

Such studies have sparked worrying headlines, emboldened some hearing aid companies to claim their products can “prevent Alzheimer’s disease,” and prompted older patients to ask their audiologists about cognitive health.

“Ten years ago, almost nobody would come into the clinic asking about brain health,” said Dr. Vinaya Manchaiah, director of audiology at CU Anschutz. Now, it happens all the time.

Sharma and Manchaiah still respond cautiously.

“There’s a lot of fear-mongering going on, and that worries me,” Sharma said. While ample evidence shows that hearing loss is associated with cognitive decline, it’s still not clear whether it causes it — and if so, how and what can be done.

That’s where Sharma’s lab comes in. By studying the brain activity of adults in various stages of hearing loss, she hopes to shed light not only on what, precisely, presbycusis does to the brain, but also whether hearing aids can undo the damage.

Professor Anu Sharma

Rewiring the Circuit

Seated in her office, images of brain scans glowing red and yellow on her computer monitor, Sharma explains the concept that has inspired much of her 20-year career: cross-modal plasticity.

“One of the most remarkable aspects of our brain is its ability to adapt to change,” she said. “A basic tenet of this ability is that the brain will reorganize itself following sensory deprivation.”

She first saw this in children born deaf. Sharma found that because their auditory cortex (the brain region earmarked for sound processing) was deprived of sound, their brains repurposed that valuable real estate to assist other senses, like vision and touch, instead.

This elegant rewiring has its upsides.

For instance, studies have shown that, with multiple parts of their brains weighing in to process what they see and feel, some deaf individuals are better at recognizing faces and have a heightened sense of touch.

“It is a dynamic and elegant plasticity,” said Sharma. “And for a long time we had only seen it in children that were born deaf or adults that were profoundly deaf.”

In 2011, after reading the first news stories associating hearing loss with cognitive decline, she wondered: Could such rewiring occur in earlier, milder stages of hearing loss?

She and her students recruited dozens of people with hearing loss, along with age-matched participants with normal hearing. As flashing objects marched across a monitor or vibrations tickled their fingertips, an EEG (electroencephalogram) cap with 128 electrodes measured electrical activity in their brains.

When the first results came in, “I was shocked,” recalled Sharma.

Even among those with mild hearing loss, the brain had already begun to rewire itself, leveraging parts of its sound processing center to help make sense of sights and sensations.

But of greater concern was what happened when they tried to make sense of sound.

When the repeated sound “ba” was played for those with hearing loss, it prompted only limited activation in the auditory cortex. Meanwhile, brain regions responsible for working memory and other cognitive functions crackled with activity.

“Even as early as mild hearing loss, listening becomes effortful,” Sharma explained. “As a result, you do two things: You rely more heavily on other modalities, like vision, and you use parts of your brain designed for cognition.”

Some have theorized that this extra load on the brain’s memory centers eats up “cognitive reserve,” boosting risk of decline later in life.

And Sharma’s own studies show that those with untreated age-related hearing loss tend to perform worse on cognitive tasks.

“Anu has done some landmark research showing that, even with mild hearing loss, you can have changes in the brain,” said Manchaiah. “The big question now is: Can you do something about it?”

Hearing Loss by the Numbers

30%

Adults over age 50 who have age-related hearing loss

15%

Adults who could benefit from hearing aids in the U.S. and use them

7-10 years

Adults typically wait this long to seek treatment for hearing loss

$2,000 to $7,000

Average cost of prescription hearing aids

$1,000 to $2,000

Average cost of OTC hearing aids

Can Hearing Aids Prevent Cognitive Decline?

In 2020, Sharma published the results of a small but groundbreaking study.

Her lab found that when 21 adults with untreated, mild to moderate age-related hearing loss wore hearing aids for six months, their brains began to look more like those of people with normal hearing again. In essence, that cross-modal plasticity had reversed.

Most also scored better on cognitive tests than they had prior to getting hearing aids.

The study, while promising, came with caveats and prompted more questions.

For instance, participants were professionally fitted with state-of-the-art hearing aids and wore them for an average of 10 hours a day. Would people experience beneficial brain changes and cognitive improvements with less expensive hearing aids? How much does fit matter? And how long do they need to be worn?

Larger studies elsewhere have yielded mixed results.

One randomized controlled trial, published in 2023, showed that hearing aids did not reduce the risk of cognitive decline on a population-wide level, but they did in specific subgroups, including people with cardiovascular disease.

All this makes it hard for doctors to give patients a straight answer, said Manchaiah.

So, he and Sharma are working to fill the research gap.

In 2025, armed with a $3.5 million National Institutes of Health grant, they launched an ambitious five-year study.

The randomized controlled trial plans to recruit 280 people with early, untreated hearing loss and divide them into four groups: prescription hearing aids with professional fit; over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids with in-person support from an audiologist; OTC hearing aids with online support from an audiologist; and OTC self-fit groups.

All study participants will receive free hearing aids (to keep) and undergo EEG, cognitive and behavioral testing before and after use. They will complete questionnaires and surveys throughout the study.

“This is one of the largest hearing aid studies ever done, in terms of the number of different things we are measuring,” said Machaiah, who is leading the study along with Sharma. “There are many unanswered questions, but in a few years we will have a lot more answers.”

In the meantime, Sharma said there are many other reasons to seek treatment for age-related hearing loss, as research has shown it can contribute to social isolation and depression.

“Regardless of the cognitive issues, if you have hearing loss, it’s really smart to get hearing aids,” said Sharma. “They will enhance your quality of life.”

To inquire about participating in the study, email eeglab@colorado.edu.

Submit feedback to the editor

Illustrations by Petre Péterffy

A 91��ý lab is exploring how age-related hearing loss rewires the brain — and whether hearing aids can undo the damage.

Off

Traditional

Spring 2026

White

Cyborg Jellyfish at 91��ý

Anna Tolette — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:12:40 +0000

Cyborg Jellyfish at 91��ý Anna Tolette Mon, 03/09/2026 - 15:12

Julia MacLean

It’s not uncommon for people to frequently stop in front of assistant professor Nicole Xu’s mechanical engineering lab, mesmerized by the giant aquarium of drifting moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita). Inside, Xu’s team has created “cyborg” jellies, fitting them with tiny microelectronic devices that steer their movements with pacemaker-like pulses. The technology could transform deep-sea exploration by offering an energy-efficient way to gather climate data in remote waters — and inspire the next generation of ultra-efficient underwater vehicles.

500 million+ years

evolutionarily unchanged

20 years

captive lifespan

2 years

wild lifespan

Data Divers

Energy-efficient

Most efficient swimmers on earth.

Future upgrades

Sensors for temperature, pH, salinity.

Health and safety

of the jellies are prioritized.

Small cameras

enable the study of animals in their natural environments.

Data collection

Information can be collected by swarms of jellyfish at higher spatial and temporal resolutions.

Biohybrid Robots

Moon jellyfish fitted with tiny electronic devices.

Control and steering

Devices simulate swimming muscles like a pacemaker.

Safe

Stinging cells can’t penetrate human skin.

Small sensors

measure changes in the ocean to track climate change.

91��ý Program

Part of a Denver Aquarium partnership, which includes well-being checks on the jellies by aquarists.

Goal is affordable, sustainable ocean monitoring.

About Aurelia Aurita (Moon Jellyfish)

Size

As small as one centimeter (half of a penny) or larger than a dinner plate.

Environments

Found in a wide variety of ocean habitats around the world.

Diet

Zooplankton, crustacean larvae, small fish.

Anatomy

No brain, but sensory nerves for movement.

Submit feedback to the editor

Photos by Glenn Asakawa

Pioneering research helps us understand more about our oceans.

Off

Traditional

Spring 2026

White

CU Research Finds Human Rights Under Threat

Anna Tolette — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:11:21 +0000

CU Research Finds Human Rights Under Threat Anna Tolette Mon, 03/09/2026 - 15:11

Yvaine Ye

Deforestation in the Maranhão state of Brazil, July 2016

More than 99% of the world’s 7.7 billion people face at least one threat to their environmental rights, according to a new study.

In 2022, the UN formally recognized that everyone on the planet has the right to a healthy environment. But according to the most comprehensive analysis of environmental inequality to date, 91��ý researchers found that nearly half of the global population lives in regions facing three or more of the five environmental threats analyzed: polluted air, unsafe water, extreme heat, food insecurity and biodiversity loss.

“Over the years, communities around the world have been fighting for local environmental justice,” said first author Naia Ormaza-Zulueta (PhDEnv St’25), a researcher in 91��ý’s Better Planet Lab. “We want to stitch their stories into a single, undeniable global tapestry.”

For their study, Ormaza-Zulueta and Zia Mehrabi, a data scientist in the Better Planet Lab, calculated whether an individual in a given location around the world is experiencing, or has recently experienced, any of the five environmental threats that violate their rights.

The team found that almost everyone on Earth lives in a place that has recently experienced at least one of these environmental threats. The report indicated that over 45%, or 3.4 billion people, have at least three rights threatened, and 1.25%, or 95 million people, experienced all five environmental threats studied.

Disadvantaged populations, such as those with lower incomes and those living on Indigenous lands, are far more likely to experience poor air quality, excessive heat and limited access to clean water.

Many of the poor environmental conditions around the globe result from the activities of wealthy nations, the study found. For instance, the large demand for products in the United States and Europe has caused biodiversity loss and deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.

“No matter where we live, our rights are inherently connected to those of people in other parts of the world,” Ormaza-Zulueta said.

The analysis was published in September 2025 in Environmental Research Communications.

Submit feedback to the editor

Photo by Ibama from Brasil

Billions live in environments that violate human rights.

Off

Traditional

Spring 2026

Deforestation in the Maranhão state of Brazil, July 2016

White

Allergy Busters, Preserving Language and a Rare Dinosaur Tree

Anna Tolette — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:05:18 +0000

Allergy Busters, Preserving Language and a Rare Dinosaur Tree Anna Tolette Mon, 03/09/2026 - 15:05

UV Allergen Busters

91��ý researchers have discovered that low-intensity ultraviolet light can disable common airborne allergens such as pet dander, dust mites, mold and pollen. The light alters the structure of the allergen proteins so the immune system no longer recognizes them. Using 222-nanometer-wavelength UV lights in a controlled chamber, the team found that allergen immunorecognition dropped significantly within 30 to 40 minutes. Because allergens persist indoors long after their sources are gone, this approach could offer a simple, fast and portable way to reduce allergy and asthma triggers in indoor environments.

Preserving Language

CU researchers hope that digital tools will protect and revitalize Arapaho, a language native to the Boulder area. Andrew Cowell, 91��ý linguistics professor and faculty director of the Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies, along with students, community partners and native Arapaho speakers, have created two online databases (one lexical, the other for in-depth text) to help these efforts. The free lexical database functions like a living dictionary with more than 20,000 entries, according to the Arts and Sciences magazine. The text database, not publicly released to avoid online exploitation, contains more than 100,000 sentences of spoken Arapaho, including natural conversations and stories recorded over decades.

Space Policy and Law

As space activity worldwide increases, CU will become a hub for connecting technical expertise with governance, highlighted by the creation of the Hatfield Endowed Professor in Space Policy & Law, which is held by Marcus Holzinger (PhDAeroEngr’11). Alongside the launch of the Colorado Space Policy Center, the university is fostering collaboration across academia, industry and government. These efforts aim to prepare students to apply technical knowledge to policy challenges and shape the future legal and regulatory frameworks for space exploration.

Campus Talk

“I can’t wait to lock arms, get to work, have some fun and build the future of Colorado Athletics.”

— Fernando Lovo, the new 91��ý director of athletics, after being introduced Jan. 5, 2026. Lovo comes to CU from the University of New Mexico. His predecessor Rick George will step into an advisory role and serve as director of athletics emeritus on campus in June.

Digits

Dinosaur Tree

91��ý is home to one of the oldest and rarest trees in the world

2025

Year Judy (PE’76; MEdu’06) and Rod McKeever (ChemEngr’76) gifted CU a Wollemi pine

30th

Street location of the Boulder greenhouse where the pine, “Wally,” lives

1994

Year the Wollemi pine was rediscovered in Australia after it was previously thought to be extinct

91M

the pine fossil’s records date back, in years

200M

age of Wally’s plant family

Submit feedback to the editor

Photos by Patrick Campbell (researcher) and Rachel Sauer (wollemi pine)

News and research from the 91��ý campus.

Off

Traditional

Spring 2026

White

91��ý's Jolly Rancher-Influenced Vaccine

Anna Tolette — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:02:41 +0000

91��ý's Jolly Rancher-Influenced Vaccine Anna Tolette Mon, 03/09/2026 - 15:02

Amber Carlson

Rabies remains a major public health threat — 60,000 people die annually — especially in developing countries where vaccines are in short supply and challenging to store. Current vaccines need to be kept refrigerated or frozen because the proteins in them start to degrade at warmer temperatures. When the proteins go bad, the shots become ineffective. For this reason, it’s been challenging to administer traditional rabies vaccines in regions that lack electricity or specialized cold storage equipment.

But 91��ý researchers are looking to change that, thanks to recent innovations from the university’s chemical and biological engineering department, where scientists have discovered a new way to keep these shots viable at warmer temperatures and combine multiple timed-release doses into a single injection.

These new, temperature-stable shots don’t degrade in warmer environments and can be stored in bulk powder form until they’re ready to be used.

To make the vaccines, the research team sprays the vaccine proteins with a sugar solution that hardens to a candy-like texture. The candied particles then get a nanoscopic coating of aluminum oxide (the same chemical that makes up sapphire jewels) that protects the sugar-coated vaccine particles for days to weeks before dissolving in the patient’s body.

“We’re basically making sapphire-coated Jolly Ranchers that deliver vaccines,” said Ted Randolph (ChemEngr’83), 91��ý professor and lead study author.

Rabies shots typically require three to five doses to be effective, so combining the doses into one shot is more efficient and cuts down on unnecessary health care visits.

Randolph believes the same process could also be used to create vaccines for other viruses, such as human papillomavirus (HPV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

To bring this technology to market, Randolph and Robert Garcea, professor emeritus in 91��ý’s molecular, cellular and developmental biology department, formed the startup VitriVax. In October, the company announced it had raised $17.25 million in series B funding.

“It’s been 25 years of lots of talented grad students adding little bits and pieces to the puzzle,” Randolph said.

Submit feedback to the editor

Illustration by Ibrahim Rayintakath

New single-dose, temperature-stable rabies vaccines could expand global access.

Off

Traditional

Spring 2026

White

Art, Science and Polar Bears

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 18:32:16 +0000

Art, Science and Polar Bears Anna Tolette Mon, 11/10/2025 - 11:32

Julia MacLean

Lianna Nixon is an educator who blends science and art.

As a wildlife photographer and conservation storyteller, the Arctic is Lianna Nixon’s (Class’17; MEdu’21) second home. What began as a college expedition evolved into a career that blends art, science and education. From drifting on sea ice to counting polar bears, her adventures are as fascinating as they are meaningful.

Tell us about some of your Arctic adventures.

I first went to the Arctic in 2017 with Sea Legacy, a nonprofit organization run by two National Geographic photographers. Perhaps my most transformative Arctic photography and film experience was working on the MOSAiC Expedition (the Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) while at CU. I was able to create connections about the Arctic climate system we see today, the experiences of scientists and the prowess of intersectional storytelling through visceral art-science narratives. While out on the ice floe, we were also visited by quite a few polar bears!

What are some things you work on now in the Arctic?

Six to eight weeks out of the year, I guide on expeditions out of Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago, photographing arctic wildlife. It’s not just about posting on Instagram — it’s being able to create conversations and share the beauty, vulnerability and importance of this region. My work is taken further into the scope of science and conservation outreach to be used in citizen science projects that observe wildlife behavior and other communication needs.

What do you want people to take from your storytelling work?

My work focuses on applying new-age media, which includes photography, film, immersive 360-degree film and storytelling. When we humanize and bring different perspectives to abstract, difficult or polarizing topics, which is essentially the premise of climate science.

What motivated you to return to school for an education degree?

I always wanted to be a scientist, but my brain is programmed for art. That’s why I chose education — it’s a fantastic mediary space to bring those two together.

What are you doing when you aren’t in the Arctic?

I mainly do graphic design. My job has had to be very flexible with guiding, because I also hold my own BEAR Expedition a couple of weeks a year in Alaska, which allows people to view brown bears. The flexibility of my job is also due to the work of my husband, Casey VanCampenhout (Class’17), who is an F-15 fighter pilot. We’re stationed here in Vancouver, Washington. I’m also director of Tsé Bii’, a nonprofit which works with the Diné of the Navajo Nation located in Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park to bring sustainable off-grid electrical and water resources to their homes.

Submit feedback to the editor

Photo courtesy Lianna Nixon

Lianna Nixon turned her college Arctic expeditions into a career as a wildlife photographer and conservation storyteller.

Off

Traditional

Fall 2025

White

Spruce Gulch: Grounds for Discovery

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 18:23:57 +0000

Spruce Gulch: Grounds for Discovery Anna Tolette Mon, 11/10/2025 - 11:23

Jess Winterley

It was a hot summer day in the early 1990s when Linda Holubar Sanabria (A&S’67) spied the enemy. Tall and deceptively pretty, bearing its hallmark lavender-colored, black-tipped flowers: the spotted knapweed. This noxious weed had quietly claimed Holubar’s family ranch as its home, and she soon discovered it was taking up residence on at least 50 acres of the sprawling 493-acre property — of which 476 acres are now known as the Spruce Gulch Wildlife and Research Reserve — which Holubar inherited from her family in 1994.

For the next 15 years, Holubar dedicated the quiet of dawn and the cool of dusk to eradicating the invasive plant, which arrived via contaminated batches of grass seed dispersed by the U.S. Forest Service after a 1988 fire. Leaving the knapweed unchecked was not an option for Holubar and her spouse, Sergio Sanabria (A&S’66; Arch’70; MArtHist’75), as they knew this would result in soil erosion, displaced vegetation and overall devastation to the land. So, for thousands of hours, Holubar labored over the acreage.

“At first, I felt very small as I began removing one plant after another from an endless sea of them,” said Holubar. “They ranged from taller than me to tiny seedlings.”

Though she made substantial progress, the effort needed a boost — not from harmful herbicides, which would contaminate the water and land, but from a more creative (and hungry) solution: weevils.

A Symbiotic Friendship

In 2001, during the thick of her weeding efforts, Holubar learned about a successful experiment at 91��ý’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR). The project demonstrated that biocontrol insects (in this case, weevils) could greatly reduce densities of an invasive knapweed — similar to the unwelcome foe on Holubar’s land.

Putting her hope in these knapweed-eating weevils, she called the lead scholar of the experiment, ecology and evolutionary biology professor (now emeritus) Tim Seastedt.

“Field ecologists don’t pass up opportunities to leverage a new field site, and Spruce Gulch is special,” said Seastedt. He noted that the innovative insect approach, in addition to preserving good vegetation, could save landowners thousands of dollars in management costs.

Through a combination of hungry weevils and volunteer weeding efforts, the project proved successful over time and demonstrated the effectiveness that non-chemical methods can have on an invasive plant species.

The experiment also opened the door for additional ecology projects on the property — marking the start of what would become a 24-year symbiotic friendship between the university and land, and what would eventually result in a landmark gift.

Volunteers from a co-sponsored U.S. Forest Service event remove invasive spotted knapweed from an upland meadow on the Spruce Gulch Reserve.

Inheriting a Legacy

Holubar’s connection to the wildlife reserve began nearly a century ago, when her maternal grandmother, Irma Freudenberg, purchased part of it in 1927. With the help of her children, Freudenberg established a ranch on the picturesque land that Holubar’s parents, Alice (A&S’33) and LeRoy Holubar (ElEngr’36), later expanded in 1962.

Boulder’s mountainous terrain fostered the family’s passion for the outdoors. Holubar’s parents were pioneers in developing and sourcing climbing and expedition gear through their business, Holubar Mountaineering (which an interim owner later sold to The North Face). LeRoy Holubar, a CU mathematics professor, also helped establish the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group and the first Boulder climbing school.

Upon Freudenberg’s death, Holubar’s parents inherited part of the land and expanded it to what is now the Spruce Gulch Reserve. The site has been sculpted by history — from serving as hunting grounds for Indigenous peoples like the Arapaho, to sustaining mining and logging operations, grazing and agriculture, plus wildfires and floods.

“Having grown up on this land and having it be a part of my family for almost a century, I view it as my heart and soul and want nothing more than to protect it,” said Holubar.

Her love for the reserve and dedication to conservation meant diligently seeking out its next caretaker — a role that, after withstanding weeds and weevils together, 91��ý was ready to undertake.

Acres for Academics

Primed to steward Holubar’s family legacy of environmentalism into the future, 91��ý assumed ownership of Spruce Gulch in June of 2025. Holubar’s generous 476-acre land donation was accompanied by endowment funds, as well as a conservation easement with Boulder County.

The site and funds, valued at a combined $10.4 million, are managed by INSTAAR and support studies across the sciences, humanities and fine arts. From biologists to visual artists, the reserve and its endowment will enrich and support studies by academics from many departments, opening new educational possibilities across disciplines.

“Sergio and I wanted to discourage an inevitable disciplinary blindness by opening the site to as many different worldviews as possible,” said Holubar.

For her commitment to conservation and ensuring the protection of the wildlife reserve, Holubar received Boulder County’s 2025 Land Conservation Award. And, for their outstanding community partnership and collaboration on the Spruce Gulch project, Boulder County Parks & Open Space was awarded the Blue Grama Award by the Colorado Open Space Alliance.

A living laboratory, Spruce Gulch features canyons and cliffs intermixed with forest, savanna and prairie meadows. Its abundance of research opportunities has already aided CU faculty and students in producing 29 scholarly publications, plus chapters in six doctoral dissertations, three master’s theses and four undergraduate honors theses.

“The acquisition of Spruce Gulch allows us to pursue essential science relevant to the grasslands and foothills region, where most of us live,” said Seastedt, director of the reserve. “Therein lies the magnitude of this gift.”

Submit feedback to the editor

Photos courtesy Tim Seastedt

Ecology and evolutionary biology professor (now emeritus) Tim Seastedt.

Linda Holubar Sanabria gave a $10.4 million donation to 91��ý, creating a 476-acre wildlife and research reserve.

Off

Traditional

Fall 2025

White

The Reaches of 91��ý Research

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 18:17:21 +0000

The Reaches of 91��ý Research Anna Tolette Mon, 11/10/2025 - 11:17

Kelsey Yandura

At its core, research is the disciplined pursuit of a single question: “What if?”

What if measuring space dust could tell us something about our place in the cosmos?

What if we could grow whole human organs from just a few cells?

What if we could transform plastic into fertilizer?

These are the kinds of questions driving work within and among 91��ý’s 12 research institutes and more than 75 research centers, employing 3,000 researchers, students and staff whose fields span environmental studies to cognitive science. In 2024, their work contributed to more than $742 million in research support, including nearly $500 million in federal funding.

When paired with time, attention, resources and a serious tolerance for failure, these seeds of curiosity can develop into something revolutionary, sometimes well beyond their original vision. And while some of the finer points may be hard to grasp, the reach of this research is not abstract — it can be traced, quite literally, through the layers of our world. It moves inward, reshaping the delicate architecture of the human body. It arcs out into space, collecting data from distant planets. It extends downward, into the soil and water systems that sustain our ecosystem.

To capture even a hint of the scope of research taking place at 91��ý, we explore three different research projects that showcase a unique dimension of impact, both on campus and beyond.

At A Glance

>>One of 38 U.S. public research institutions in the Association of American Universities

>>5 Nobel Laureates since 1989

>>Only university to send space instruments to every planet in the solar system

>>12 research-based institutes and 75+ centers

>> 3,000+ faculty, researchers, students and staff support the institutes

Journey of New Horizons

>>Past

2006 _ Launch

2015 _ Pluto flyby

2019 _ Arrokoth flyby

2024 _ 60 AU milestone

>>Future

2050 _ Edge of heliosphere

>>The onboard Student Dust Counter is the farthest-operating dust detector in history

Exploring New Horizons <LASP>

When it comes to measuring the reach of research, the vision behind the New Horizons mission has always been far-flung.

Launched in 2006, the New Horizons spacecraft spent nine years hurtling through the darkest reaches of our solar system to capture the first-ever recorded glimpse of Pluto and its moons up close.

“The expectation was that it was going to be a boring chunk of dark ice,” said Mihály Horányi, physics professor and LASP scientist. “But we were in for a big surprise. It’s very active. It has flat regions, mountain regions and floating icebergs...all kinds of unexpected things.”

But for New Horizons, Pluto was just the beginning. The spacecraft pressed deeper into space. In 2019, the Hubble Space Telescope onboard captured what would become the most distant and primitive object yet to be explored by a spacecraft: a reddish, oddly snowman-shaped object called Arrokoth. Nothing like it has been found anywhere else in the solar system.

And it’s still going. As of October 2024, New Horizons passed 60 times as far from the Sun as Earth is — twice as far out as Pluto was in 2015.

But the reach of New Horizons takes on another dimension than just physical distance. Onboard the spacecraft is nestled a device called the Student Dust Counter (SDC), the first NASA science instrument ever designed, built, tested and operated almost entirely by students. Its impact has been both interstellar and interpersonal.

“At the time, the idea was unconventional,” explained Horányi, who has served as the instrument’s principal investigator for more than two decades.

Approval required long rounds of advocacy up and down NASA’s decision-making chain. The condition? Students would be held to the same rigorous standards as the professionals.

From the outset, students at CU rose to the challenge. In 2002, about 20 students (both undergrad and graduate) worked to design, engineer and build every piece of the dust counter, from building to testing to calibration.

When the time came for delivery and testing, the SDC was the first instrument completed and delivered to New Horizons. It underwent the same demanding NASA design reviews as veteran instrument teams.

“Sometimes,” recalled Horányi, “the students performed better than the professionals.”

Today, the spacecraft is over 60 astronomical units from the Sun — more than 5.5 billion miles away — making SDC the farthest-operating dust detector in history. And it is still operated by students.

The measurements have been full of surprises. Dust densities in the outer solar system turned out to be higher than expected, prompting new debates about the structure and extent of the Kuiper Belt, which contains Pluto, other dwarf planets and comets. SDC data now informs studies on whether there’s a “second belt” beyond Pluto, how far the Kuiper Belt extends, and how our solar system’s dust environment compares to those around other stars.

And while the science is groundbreaking, Horányi is just as proud of the human impact.

More than 30 students have served as SDC team members since its inception. Many went on to prestigious graduate programs and major research institutions. Others have followed entirely different paths, including one electrical engineer who became a Buddhist priest.

“They all did something important,” Horányi said. “Something bigger than getting an A in a class.”

The current lead, Alex Doner (Physics’26), will soon hand the reins to Blair Schultz (Physics’28), who will guide the mission’s next phase. The instrument will likely operate into the early 2050s, potentially detecting the edge of the Sun’s influence — the heliosphere — and the transition to true interstellar space.

Engineering Organoids <BioFrontiers Institute>

Meanwhile, across campus at CU’s BioFrontiers Institute, scientists are working to explore and traverse the limits of a different kind of landscape: the inner workings of the human body. The questions they’re asking sound like science fiction, but have immediate and vital application — what if we could reliably make miniature, lab-grown versions of human organs? The results could change the medical world as we know it, offering new ways to test drugs, study disease and someday possibly replace failing organs.

“There’s been a lot of excitement in the past few years about being able to take a patient’s stem cells and grow them into a miniature version of one of its tissues or organs,” said Kristi Anseth (PhDChemEngr’94), a 91��ý professor of chemical and biological engineering who is leading the organoid research. “Making complex mimics of organs would open doors for screening new types of drugs or trying to better understand the evolution of diseases, like cancer.”

One of the trickiest parts of growing organoids is their three-dimensional shape — they tend to grow unpredictably.

“It is a stochastic, or random, process,” said Anseth. “We were talking to clinicians and biologists who were growing these organoids, but each looked a little different, and these differences can lead to different behavior or function.”

This “snowflake problem” has been a major roadblock against some of the most exciting possibilities of organoid research — transplants, for example, wouldn’t work if the organ couldn’t be reliably grown to fit the patient.

Anseth’s team, in collaboration with stem cell biologist professor Peter Dempsey at the Anschutz Medical Campus, set out to make this random process into a predictable one, designing biomaterials — specifically, highly tunable hydrogels — that serve as scaffolds for these cells to grow in three dimensions.

“Being engineers, we thought, ‘Well, it’s going to be really important for the usefulness of these [organs] to make them the same way.’”

They started with the human intestine, where these hydrogel scaffolds successfully helped guide organoid growth into precise, reproducible sizes and shapes. That consistency means researchers can run large-scale, apples-to-apples experiments in a way that’s reliable enough for both science and medicine.

“We’re taking something that’s been unpredictable and making it precise, scalable and useful,” said Anseth. “You could use it to screen for new ways to deliver drugs. Wouldn’t it be great if you could take more drugs orally? Or get diagnosed at an earlier age?”

And while the team has made exciting progress, the crux of this work is still on the horizon. The ultimate goal of creating full-size replacement organs from organoids is likely years away.

“Now, we’re thinking of all the ‘what if’s,’” said Anseth. “It’s time to start solving the more complicated problems.”

For now, Anseth’s “mini-intestines” are helping illuminate a path toward more efficient drug testing and more accurate disease models. But she sees this as just the beginning.

“We already have ways to repair cartilage, to heal bones faster — things that didn’t exist a decade ago,” she says. “Now, the next direction is targeting complex diseases that happen in our hearts, our brains, our livers. That’s the promise of organoids...We’ll find interventions that can both improve and save lives.”

It’s time to start solving the more complicated problems.
Kristi Anseth, 91��ý professor of chemical and biological engineering, who received the National Academy of Engineering’s 2025 Simon Ramo Founders Award.

Organoids

Miniature versions of human organs grown from stem cells in labs

>>Goal

Improve and save lives by targeting complex diseases in vital organs

>>Uses

Drug testing, disease modeling, regenerative medicine

>>Challenges

Inconsistency in shape, behavior and function

The Plastics Problem

>> Part of nearly every aspect of modern life

>> 400M+ tons produced globally each year

>> About 11M tons end up in lakes, rivers and streams annually

>> Microplastics found in human tissue, oceans and soil

>> Most compostable plastics require industrial facilities

Plastics to Fertilizer <ATLAS Institute>

At CU’s interdisciplinary ATLAS Institute, researcher and assistant professor Carson Bruns is proving that the insights gleaned from the tiniest of molecules can change the very ground beneath our feet.

At Bruns’ Laboratory for Emergent Nanomaterials, the building blocks get the spotlight. By examining and structuring materials at very small scales, the team designs what he calls “molecular machinery” — new materials that, when scaled up, have the potential to display novel properties and functions.

Currently, thanks to a Research & Innovation Seed Grant, the team is applying these methods to one of the most controversial materials of our time: plastics.

From grocery bags to medical packaging, petroleum-based plastics are woven into nearly every aspect of modern life. But their convenience comes at a staggering cost.

“I believe we’re in a plastics crisis,” said Bruns. “We need to shift to a new paradigm, and the more people working on solutions, the better.”

Bruns explained that microplastics show up everywhere, even in human tissue. Plus, most plastics, even the “greener” compostable ones, are carbon-based — which means that, upon breaking down, they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Most also require specialized, high-temperature industrial composting facilities to break down properly. In Boulder, these shortcomings prompted the city’s main composting partner, A1 Organics, to stop accepting biodegradable plastics altogether.

“Our aim is to create plastics that can safely biodegrade — eliminating the microplastics problem — but without heavy CO2 emissions,” said Bruns.

True to nanoengineering form, the team is rethinking the entire process, starting with source materials.

“We’re looking at agricultural waste as a raw material source,” said Bruns. By using runoff from vegetable washing or ash from burned plant matter, these new and improved plastics would biodegrade into elements like nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sulfur that already have value in the soil, releasing minimal carbon dioxide. The solution is cost-efficient, to boot.

“We know how to make high-performance plastics, but they’re too expensive to scale,” said Bruns. “Our goal is to make eco-friendly plastics that are as strong, tough and flexible as petroleum plastics.”

This research is still in its early stages, and collaboration has been key. To test biodegradability and soil impact, Bruns partnered with ecology professor Merritt R. Turetsky, director of arctic security. This cross-disciplinary work — melding nanotechnology, materials science and environmental biology — has already yielded promising early results.

“I’m excited about the collaboration,” said Bruns. “I think this problem requires many perspectives. Nobody can solve it alone, so working together across fields is really energizing.”

The team’s goal for the 18-month grant period is to develop at least one material that not only holds up in everyday use, but also demonstrably fertilizes soil. If successful, the applications could range from packaging films and plastic bags to plates, utensils and even foams that mimic Styrofoam.

In the long term, Bruns envisions a circular system: after use, the plastic could enter a specialized recycling stream for processing into fertilizer — or, ideally, degrade naturally in a backyard compost heap. Either way, it would close the loop between creation and decomposition, consumption and renewal.

“It’s about finding a better ending for these materials,” he said. “If we can make something useful in life and beneficial in death, that’s a win for both people and the planet.”

Our Shared Future

“My little part today, or this week or this month, is part of a bigger picture,” said Andrew Poppe (Phys’06; PhD’11) a research scientist at the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California Berkeley who worked on the Student Dust Counter as both an undergraduate and graduate student.

“Do we want to be the type of society that just wakes up in the morning, goes to work, does the work, comes home, has dinner and repeats? Or do we want to be the type of society that is naturally curious about the world around us, whether that is the smallest things you put under a microscope or the biggest things that you can see through a telescope?”

These research projects are just a glimpse into the scope and scale of innovation taking place around campus. Individually, each has its own trajectory of impact. Together, they create a mosaic of possibilities for our shared future.

Submit feedback to the editor

Illustrations by John Provencher

CU researchers across space science, bioengineering and nanomaterials are turning “what if” questions into transformative discoveries.

Off

Traditional

Fall 2025

White