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Celebrating 150 Years of CU People

Anna Tolette — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:16:07 +0000

Celebrating 150 Years of CU People Anna Tolette Mon, 03/09/2026 - 15:16

Julia MacLean

Over 150 years, 91��ý has been shaped by the vision, courage and tenacity of many students, faculty, staff and alumni. These Buffs have spurred change for the university and left an imprint on the legacy that propels it forward.

Joseph Sewall

1877 — Became CU’s first president

A 19th-century American physician, scientist and educator, Joseph Sewall served as 91��ý’s first president from 1877 to 1887. Before he arrived in Colorado, he trained in medicine and natural science and taught as a professor of chemistry at Illinois State Normal University. When CU opened on Sept. 5, 1877, there was only a single building — Old Main — which contained classrooms, a library, a chapel and the living quarters for the Sewall family.

Today, Sewall is remembered as the man “in at the birth” of CU, who directed its first steps and helped lay the foundation for what the university would become. In 1935, the university built Sewall Hall in his honor, which is the oldest continuously used residence hall on campus.

Mary Rippon in 1882.

Mary Rippon

1878 — Appointed CU’s first female professor

Mary Rippon’s distinguished career at 91��ý spanned over 30 years. Besides making history as the first female professor at CU, she is also believed to be one of the first women in the United States to teach at a state university. Beloved by students, Rippon taught language and literature, eventually earning a position as head of the Department of Germanic Languages and Literature. She is honored today by the Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre on CU’s campus. Rippon also lived a fascinating hidden life — in 1888, she secretly married a CU student, Will Housel, and gave birth to their daughter, Miriam Housel. She concealed this truth for decades to retain her position and support her family.

Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Jones (Ger’1918)

1918 — Graduated from CU

Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Jones was an educator and the first known Black woman to graduate from 91��ý. Born to parents who had been enslaved, she grew up in the Barnum subdivision of Denver, where her family became the area’s first Black property owners. Before attending CU, she broke barriers by becoming the first Black graduate to earn a two-year teaching degree from what is now the University of Northern Colorado. In 1918, she earned a bachelor’s degree in German from CU — however, due to racial prejudice, she was not allowed to walk across the stage at commencement or appear in the yearbook. Her diploma was handed to her off-stage, an act that led her to vow that she would never return to campus. Nearly 100 years after her graduation, CU formally recognized Buchanan’s achievement, and during the 2018 commencement ceremony, a diploma was symbolically accepted on her behalf by CMDI associate professor Polly McLean.

George Norlin

1919 — Appointed president of CU

George Norlin joined CU as a classics professor in 1899, became acting president in 1917 and began serving as permanent president in 1919, where he remained until 1939. Under his transformative leadership, CU underwent a dramatic period of expansion, despite the Great Depression: the student body more than tripled, several university buildings were constructed and architect Charles Klauder redesigned the campus in the Tuscan vernacular style. Norlin left a lasting moral and cultural legacy at the university. He is famous for resisting pressure from the legislature (influenced by the Ku Klux Klan), refusing to dismiss all Catholic and Jewish faculty. He also wrote The Norlin Charge, first read at the 1935 commencement ceremony, which remains a part of CU tradition today.

Byron White (Econ’38)

1935 — Earned the Buffaloes national attention

Byron “Whizzer” White is among the most celebrated student-athletes in the history of Colorado Buffaloes football. His senior year, he led the Buffaloes through a successful season, earning national attention and helping elevate the profile of the program. He was later inducted into the Buffaloes’ Athletic Hall of Fame in recognition of his elite play and impact on CU athletics. After his athletic career, White distinguished himself in public service, eventually serving as a justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Peggy Coppom (A&S ex’46) and Betty Hoover (A&S ex’46)

1940 — Began cheering on the Buffs

The “CU Twins” earned legendary status on campus through decades of unwavering devotion to CU athletics. The sisters first began cheering for the Buffs as Boulder High School students. They were loyal season ticket holders for CU football (beginning in the late 1950s) and basketball (late 1970s). Wearing matching goldenrod CU sweatshirts and waving pom-poms, Peggy and Betty became a fixture in the stands and remain one of the most iconic fan duos in school history. After Betty’s death in 2020, Peggy’s dedication to CU has remained as strong as ever. In recognition of her lifelong commitment, Peggy was honored with the 2025 Chancellor’s Impact Award.

David Bolen (Mktg; MBA’50)

1948 — Competed in the Olympic Games

After David Bolen served in the Army Air Force for two years during World War II, 91��ý track and field coach Frank Potts recruited him to the university. He then earned All-America honors. At 25, Bolen became the first CU student to qualify for the 1948 U.S. Olympic Team, where he placed fourth in the 400m race at the London games. After graduating, Bolen began a distinguished diplomatic career, serving as U.S. Ambassador to Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland beginning in 1974, and to East Germany beginning in 1977. He also was the first Black ambassador to a nation behind the Iron Curtain.

Billy Kidd

1964 — Won an Olympic alpine skiing medal

In February 1964, at the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, Billy Kidd became the first U.S. man to win an Olympic alpine skiing medal, a silver in the slalom. Over the next several years, he captured gold in the combined event at the 1970 World Championships in Val Gardena and became the first American man to win a world alpine title. He then went professional, claiming the pro world championship that same year. After graduating from CU, Kidd remained in Colorado and became the long-time director of skiing at Steamboat Ski Resort in 1970. Beyond instruction, he helped initiate ski-based outreach and inclusion efforts, supporting Special Olympics athletes, wounded veterans and Native American youth through ski camps and mentorship programs.

“Ralph”

1966 — Folsom Field debut

The first official Ralphie mascot, “Ralph” was the live buffalo that launched one of the most beloved traditions at the 91��ý. In 1965, CU freshman Bill Lowery was determined to bring a live buffalo to Buffs football games instead of a costumed mascot. With the help of his rancher father, he successfully brought a buffalo calf from northeastern Colorado to Boulder. Ralph made her debut at Folsom Field on Oct. 1, 1966, charging onto the field with Lowery and a few of his fellow students flailing alongside her in cowboy boots.

Juan Espinosa (Jour’74)

1972 — Launched the newspaper El Diario de la Gente

As a 91��ý student, Espinosa launched the bilingual newspaper El Diario de la Gente in 1972 as a member of the United Mexican American Students, a campus group aimed at bringing cultural awareness to Boulder’s Chicano community. The Vietnam War veteran later moved to Pueblo, Colorado, where he co-founded the alternative community newspaper La Cucaracha and worked for 22 years at The Pueblo Chieftain.

Tom Cech

1989 — Awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

A distinguished professor of chemistry at 91��ý, Thomas Cech is a renowned biochemist whose work has fundamentally reshaped our understanding of molecular biology. After earning his doctorate degree in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1975 and completing postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he joined the faculty of 91��ý in 1978. In 1982, he and his research group made a groundbreaking discovery that RNA molecules, specifically from the pond organism Tetrahymena thermophila, could splice themselves, acting as enzymes in cellular reactions without proteins. In recognition of this paradigm-shifting work, Cech was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1989. Cech continues to lead research and education at 91��ý as the founding director of the BioFrontiers Institute.

Ceal Barry

2018 — Inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame

As head coach for over 22 seasons, Ceal Barry left an undeniable mark on 91��ý’s women’s basketball. In her time as coach, she accumulated a record of 427-242, the most wins by any head coach in CU sports history. Under her leadership, the program flourished. She had 13 seasons with 20 or more wins, 12 NCAA Tournament appearances and three trips to the Elite Eight. She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018 in recognition of her impact and achievements. After stepping down as coach, Barry served for 15 years in CU Athletics administration, including a year as interim athletic director in 2013. The university unveiled Ceal Barry Plaza in her honor in January 2026.

Joe Neguse (Econ, PolSci’05; Law’09)

2018 — Elected to Congress

At 91��ý Joe Neguse was involved in student government, served as co-student body president under the “tri-executive” system and worked on issues like diversity, affordability and higher-education finance. After graduating, he went on to serve on the CU Board of Regents, co-founded a nonprofit aimed at youth civic engagement and worked in Colorado politics. In 2018, Neguse was elected to represent Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the first Black Coloradan elected to Congress. During his time in office, he has focused on priorities like public-lands protection, affordable higher education, consumer protection and government accountability.

Wei Wu (MMus’13)

2019 — Awarded a Grammy Award

A bass singer from Beijing, Wei Wu has built a remarkable career in opera, earning international acclaim. Upon arriving in the U.S. in 2007, he auditioned for graduate work at 91��ý’s College of Music, officially enrolling in 2008. During his time at CU, he honed and perfected the vocal technique, diction and stage presence that became instrumental to his professional success. Wu received his big break after performing the role of Kôbun Chino Otogawa in the world premiere of “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs” at Santa Fe Opera. The recording won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording.

David Ellsworth (Art’71; MFA’73)

2021 — Honored with the Smithsonian Visionary Award

David Ellsworth helped elevate wood turning from a utilitarian craft to fine art. While studying sculpture at 91��ý, he developed his signature approach, “blind turning,” a method using a set of bent tools that enables woodturners to hollow out wood into elegant, thin-walled vessels. Ellsworth taught his strategies at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and Anderson Ranch Arts Center, going on to found his own Ellsworth School of Woodturning. In 2021, he was honored with the Smithsonian Visionary Award by the Smithsonian Institution in recognition of his “ground-breaking, innovative and transformative career in wood art.”

Sarah Gillis (AeroEngr’17)

2024 — Played the violin in space

Sarah Gillis made history on Sept. 13, 2024 when she became the first person to play the violin in space, performing “Rey’s Theme” from Star Wars: The Force Awakens aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft more than 870 miles above Earth. Her crewmates captured her performance, which took place in zero gravity conditions during the Polaris Dawn mission, and sent to Earth via Starlink. Gillis first developed an interest in space in high school and went on to study aerospace engineering at 91��ý. After internships and work at SpaceX, she joined the Polaris Dawn crew as a mission specialist, where she became the youngest astronaut to participate in a spacewalk.

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Photo credits: In order of appearance: Courtesy Carnegie Library for Local History/Museum of Boulder Collection (Mary Rippon); CU Heritage Center (Joseph Sewall); CU Heritage Center (George Norlin); Glenn Asakawa (Peggy Coppom and Betty Hoover); Courtesy the Buchanan Archives (Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Jones); Courtesy Tom Cech; Glenn Asakawa (Tom Cech); Polaris Dawn crew (Sarah Gillis); Soloman Howard (Wei Wu); Courtesy Juan Espinosa; CU Heritage Center (David Bolen); CU Heritage Center (Byron White); CU Athletics (Ceal Barry); Courtesy Joe Neguse; Roshni Gorur/Courtesy of Anderson Ranch (David Ellsworth); Courtesy Billy Kidd; Coloradan archives (Ralphie)

91��ý has been shaped by the vision, courage and tenacity of many students, faculty, staff and alumni since 1876.

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Spring 2026

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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

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

News and research from the 91��ý campus.

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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.

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Illustrations by John Provencher

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

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What It's Like in LASP's Student Command Controller Program

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 18:13:11 +0000

What It's Like in LASP's Student Command Controller Program Anna Tolette Mon, 11/10/2025 - 11:13

Julia MacLean

Cleared for Takeoff

In the Student Command Controller Program, an undergraduate missions operations program offered by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), 91��ý students can train to become certified mission operators for NASA spacecraft. After learning the ropes through a summer course, students work on spacecraft missions that include telescopes and nanosatellites.

Kate Mulholland (AeroEngr’26) took a special interest in mission operations after watching the film Apollo 13 at age 11. Now a command controller, she has the technical knowledge and confidence to handle complex tasks and high-stakes work.

“Being a part of the Command Controller Program is one of the most valuable experiences I have had since coming to 91��ý,” she said.

$1 billion

worth of NASA-regulated spacecraft controlled by students

1981

The year LASP launched the Student Command Controller Program

Larger NASA missions involved students in 2025

24/7, 365

Spacecraft are monitored by students

50–70

Students apply each year

8–10

Students accepted

Number of hours per week students work during the academic year

250

Student command controllers since 1981

Program Students have gone on to work at:

Jet Propulsion Laboratory
EchoStar
Northrop Grumman
Advanced Space
BAE (formerly Ball Aerospace)
LASP

Students Studying:

Black holes
Supernovas
Solar wind
Magnetic fields
Exoplanets

Student Jobs Include:

Fine-tuning how spacecraft batteries charge
Sending research plans to onboard instruments
Powering mission equipment on and off
Uploading files to increase instrument precision

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Photo courtesy LASP

It is an excellent opportunity and comes with some bragging rights: your job description becomes ‘flying spaceships’!

–Adrian Bryant (MAeroEngr’27)

Students gain hands-on experience operating NASA spacecraft, managing real missions, and preparing for careers in space science and engineering.

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Five CU Innovators Changing the World

Anna Tolette — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 20:04:07 +0000

Five CU Innovators Changing the World Anna Tolette Mon, 07/07/2025 - 14:04

91��ý is teeming with innovation, curiosity and thought leadership. And the people who comprise the university — CU Buffs — make global impact.

We’re highlighting five stellar Buffs — 91��ý students, alumni and faculty whose work is relevant, leading-edge and promises to create ripples out into the world. Their stories were written by five equally outstanding CU affiliates, who personally know and understand the importance of their work.

As journalist Tom Costello (Jour’87) wrote in his essay on his NBC colleague Savannah Sellers (Jour’13), she “breaks through.”

Many Buffs are breaking through — they bridge traditional silos, strive to think differently, and take huge risks. And just as many credit the university for equipping them to pursue their passions. 91��ý is more than its stunning location — this university is the people who push for more.

Idowu Odeyemi (PhDPhil’27)

Charting New Paths as a Rising Philosopher

Idowu Odeyemi came to 91��ý to refine his philosophical acumen while carving a path for young Africans like him who aspire to study philosophy.

Beyond his research, he said, “I want to challenge and expand the traditional boundaries of the discipline so that the philosophical community must either engage with African thinkers or justify why not.”

Idowu’s work — centered on oppression and blame — delves into how oppressive systems like patriarchy, colonialism, Nazism and slavery affect moral agency. He invites us to consider haunting questions such as why a battered wife doesn’t simply leave while her husband is out, illustrating how the threat of severe harm to one’s welfare can override considerations of morality and compel individuals to remain in oppres-sive circumstances.

Consider a battered wife who faces an oppressive double bind: resisting her abuser risks her safety, while compliance perpetuates the very system that oppresses her. This leads to an untenable situation where she is damned if she revolts, and damned if she doesn’t. In Idowu’s view, this dilemma complicates blaming oppressed individuals for not revolting.

Another facet of Idowu’s scholarship introduces the term “epistemic disgust” — a neglected psychological response that prompts us to reject certain beliefs and utterances because they repulse us. If someone says, “All white men smell like hot dog water,” for instance, many listeners feel revulsion that blocks such an utterance from entering our belief system. Idowu’s ground-breaking theory on how disgust can shape belief formation was published in the prestigious journal Episteme.

He also ventures beyond academia: His essay “On Accent and Confidence” in Isele Magazine was nominated for the 2025 non-fiction prize and recognized as one of the 50 notable essays from Africa in 2024, and another piece, “Living in America, Leaving Nigeria” (published by The Republic), was named among the 18 notable essays by a Nigerian in 2023.

As a graduate student, Idowu has published four peer-reviewed papers in leading journals — an achievement typically expected of faculty. Recently, he delivered a philosophy colloquium at the University of Missouri — uncommon for a graduate student. He was a Harper PhD Fellow at the Benson Center, a fellow at the Center for African and African American Studies and, in 2023, a fully funded fellowship took him to the University of Oxford. This summer, he will be visiting the National Archives in London through a research award from 91��ý’s Center for African and African American Studies.

Through Idowu’s compelling research and prolific achievements, he exemplifies how 91��ý’s nurturing environment fosters tomorrow’s transformative thinkers.

91��ý philosophy associate professor Ajume Wingo serves as Odeyemi’s advisor. Ajume is a member of the royal family in the Nso kingdom, located in the northwest region of Cameroon. In addition to being widely published in political and social philosophy, he is the founder of several NGOs, including PridePads Africa and Pathfinders4peace.

Photo by Alastair Norcross

Savannah Sellers (Jour’13)

Serious, Fun, Whimsical — and Never Dull

As the face of “the Generation of Now,” Savannah Sellers co-anchors the streaming morning newscast of NBC News NOW, then reports for The Today Show and NBC Nightly News. She demonstrates how a journalist can break through a saturated news market and reach a new generation of consumers who crave accurate information on their own terms.

While transitioning from 91��ý to NBC News in New York could have been daunting, Savannah quickly established herself as smart and determined, yet easy-going and relevant. This rare combination made her a natural choice to help lead NBC’s outreach to younger viewers, where they are — on social media.

She helped map a new look and pacing for NBC News. The target age: 20-to-40- somethings who want news on the go for their 24/7 lifestyle. Almost immediately, the audience was there. The newscasts moved fast. They were serious, fun, whimsical — and never dull.

Savannah took Snapchat viewers to Parkland, Florida, hours after a former student murdered 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Her coverage was raw and real. A record 18 million people tuned in: mostly kids seeking information about a tragedy affecting other kids they didn’t know, but who were their age.

She has documented America’s heroin epidemic with an Emmy award-winning Nightly News series, revealing that the victims are not always stereotypical drug addicts — they could be your own neighbor or family member.

She has detailed and explained the confusing fight over banning TikTok, the app-of- choice for her younger audience, led honest discussions on diversity, equity and inclusion, and shared the deeply personal and painful struggle she and her husband have faced with fertility.

To meet Savannah is to discover a person of tremendous warmth, charm and insatiable curiosity who wants to know your story — what motivates you, and why. Those are the traits of a great broadcast journalist.

As one NBC exec put it, “She breaks through! She pops!”

It delights me to see a fellow CU alum become such a trusted voice and valued colleague at The Peacock. Go Buffs!

Tom Costello (Jour’87) is the senior correspondent at NBC News. With nearly 30 years of experience at CNBC and NBC News in London, New York and Washington, D.C., he reports daily across all NBC News platforms.

Photo by Nate Congleton

Dania Arayssi (MPolSci’22; PhD’26)

Vital Work in Transnational Politics

Dania Arayssi doesn’t just care deeply about the big social and economic problems that affect people’s everyday lives — she rigorously studies them and takes action.

Before coming to 91��ý, she participated in the U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) at the U.S. State Department and earned multiple advanced degrees. She then founded the Gleam of Hope Group, which works with thousands of young people and women to address food and health needs. For many, these accomplishments would constitute an entire career. For Dania, this was just the beginning.

Dania brought her passion for understanding pressing socioeconomic and political issues to 91��ý in 2021. Her dissertation work centers on remittances, money sent by those working abroad back to their families in their home countries. Remittances are an important source of income for families around the world. Dania’s research seeks to explain how these remittances affect people’s incentives to be politically active. Does the added economic security make people more likely to pressure the government for change? Or does economic security dampen any potential dissent, making people less likely to vote or protest? What issues do people who receive remittances care about the most?

Dania uses a rigorous combination of interviews, focus groups and original survey data to study these questions in her home country of Lebanon. Her work helps us understand how diaspora communities affect politics around the world. In an era of transnational politics, her work is vitally important.

Dania represents the best of 91��ý. After completing her dissertation, she plans to work at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy in Washington, D.C. During these politically contentious times plagued by myriad challenges, I personally find enormous hope that CU alumni like Dania will be out in the world contributing their expertise, knowledge and wisdom.

Sarah Wilson Sokhey works as an associate professor in 91��ý’s Department of Political Science, a faculty associate at the Institute of Behavioral Science and the founding director of the Studio Lab for Undergrads in the College of Arts and Sciences. Her current research focuses on the local provision of public services in Ukraine during wartime. In 2024, she was inducted into the President’s Teaching Scholars Program, one of the highest CU teaching awards.

Photo courtesy Dania Arayssi

Jun Ye (PhDPhys'97)

Using Quantum for High-Tech Innovation

My friend and colleague Professor Jun Ye is an ever-flowing fountain of scientific and technological innovation.

One of the greatest laser scientists in the world, he and his students have built several generations of record-setting optical clocks. The technology has advanced to the point where Jun’s clocks would gain or lose less than a second in the whole age of the universe. These highly accurate clocks are tied into technology improvements to support better navigation, communication and the ability to sense unseen things (for example, small changes in gravity associated with objects buried underground). Additionally, his lab created the world’s first nuclear clock.

Through his research at JILA, Jun uses lasers to detect slight traces of unusual elements in gas samples. His group is now examining the air exhaled by people with various diseases to find tiny traces of certain chemicals associated with a particular disease. If this works, one day cancer testing might be as easy as puffing some air into a soda straw.

Much of his research is built around using the properties of quantum mechanics to do high-tech research — precision measurement, secure communication, exotic material design — that eludes the reach of “old-school” classical mechanics.

Perhaps as impactful as anything else he does, Jun has trained an entirely new generation of elite scientists and engineers, who are now the beating heart of Colorado’s, and the nation’s, high-tech industry. When I visit high-tech Colorado companies, it often seems that the technical leadership are 91��ý alums who earned their degrees while working in Jun’s group.

On top of his research, Jun is working with me on a joint project to understand why there is more matter than antimatter in the universe. It sounds like a very abstract topic, but it is part of a bigger question: How are the conditions in the universe such that the development of humankind is possible? I feel very privileged to collaborate with Jun. I’ve learned a lot from working with him. Sometimes I wonder if the man ever sleeps!

Eric Cornell has been at CU for 34 years and wears many hats. He teaches first-year physics for the 91��ý Department of Physics; he is a JILA fellow; and a scientist with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. In 2001, he and 91��ý professor Carl Wieman won the Nobel Prize in Physics for creating Bose-Einstein Condensation, the “world’s coldest stuff.”

Photo courtesy Jun Ye

Steve Swanson (EngrPhys’83)

Space Commander Gains and Gives Respect

Steve Swanson was one of the most highly respected members of the NASA astronaut office during the Shuttle and Space Station Programs in the 1990s and 2000s.

Steve and I met in the late 1980s when we were both in the aircraft operations division at Johnson Space Center. I was an instructor pilot in the space shuttle training aircraft. Steve was a software wizard and the flight simulation engineer responsible for managing the computer that enabled a Gulfstream II business jet to fly like a space shuttle. We were both interested in becoming astronauts. I was selected in 1992, and

Steve was named an astronaut in 1998 after obtaining a PhD in computer science from Texas A&M University.

Steve excelled right away in the astronaut office and was selected as one of the four extra-vehicular activity (EVA) crewmembers to install one of the four solar array elements of the station. It was considered an honor to be chosen for such a significant mission on his first flight — he was clearly a rising star!

I began working at 91��ý thanks to Steve. He talked to me after his post-flight trip to Boulder to visit with the students and return items he had flown for the university. CU asked him to consider a professor position in the CU aerospace department, but he wanted to fly more for NASA and so asked if I might be interested instead.

Steve also led the EVA team to install the final solar array element two years later. His final mission in 2014 was serving as a station crewmember and the mission commander.

That fall, I was proud to arrange a live video conference in the Fiske Planetarium so Steve could talk to the students while he was on the Space Station. Today, Steve shares his experiences at Boise State University, leading and advising student teams participating in NASA’s Artemis Challenges, inspiring them to do great things in science and engineering.

Joe Tanner is a retired NASA astronaut, Navy pilot and 91��ý teaching professor. During his 16-year career as an astronaut, he flew four missions on the space shuttle, one to the Hubble Space Telescope and two to the International Space Station. He also mentored astronaut Sarah Gillis (AeroEngr’17) when she was a CU student; Gillis traveled to space in fall 2025 with SpaceX.

Photo courtesy NASA

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From quantum science to journalism, these five 91��ý students, alumni and faculty are making bold, world-shaping contributions.

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Summer 2025

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News Briefs from 91��ý

Anna Tolette — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 19:59:39 +0000

News Briefs from 91��ý Anna Tolette Mon, 07/07/2025 - 13:59

100 Launches for BioServe

91��ý’s BioServe Space Technologies is a research center that uses space-based research to help improve life on Earth. On April 21, it celebrated its 100th orbital launch. A SpaceX Dragon capsule carried BioServe equipment for three different projects, including colonies of billions of bacteria and algae. BioServe has collaborated with global science experiments in space since 1987, and its research has contributed to advancements in the understanding of medical conditions like bone loss and cancer.

New Master’s Program in AI

91��ý will be among the first universities nationwide to launch a new master’s program in artificial intelligence (AI) this fall. Students will gain theoretical and hands-on experience to prepare them for the rapidly developing AI landscape. Courses will include subjects such as machine learning, statistical learning, natural language processing and AI ethics. The program will be available online its first year and in person the following year.

1190 Gets FM Debut in Denver

After going of the air in 2022 to modernize its technologies, CU’s student-run Radio 1190 can now be heard on Denver’s radio airwaves at 92.9 FM. In February, Radio 1190 debuted on its new channel, ready to reach new audiences with a wide range of independent music. Listeners also can visit 1190.radio online to hear the station.

Heard Around Campus

“When I mention her name, people would say, ‘Oh, Professor Casey on TikTok,’ or ‘I watched her videos on YouTube...’”

– Shamika Klassen (PhDInfoSci’24) on the announcement of Casey Fiesler as the first William R. Payden Endowed Professor of the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information (formerly the College of Media, Communication and Information).

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Photo by Patrick Campbell

DIGITS

College of Music Pianos

Earlier this year, the College of Music introduced a new Steinway & Sons model D concert grand piano — made possible, in part, by a donor gift — which will enhance student and faculty performances.

170

Approximate number of pianos in the College of Music fleet

Average age, in years, of the college’s pianos

Number of Steinway pianos at CU

~203K

Approximate cost of the new Steinway D

50%

Of new Steinway covered by a single donation

Jack Armstrong, news director for Radio 1190

91��ý’s BioServe Space Technologies, the launch of an AI master’s program and Radio 1190.

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Astronaut Sarah Gillis is the First to Play Violin in Space

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 20:29:29 +0000

Astronaut Sarah Gillis is the First to Play Violin in Space Anna Tolette Mon, 03/10/2025 - 14:29

Christie Sounart

At more than 870 miles above Earth, this was no ordinary violin recital.

On Sept. 13, 2024, Sarah Gillis (AeroEngr’17) played “Rey’s Theme” from Star Wars: The Force Awakens by legendary composer John Williams — from a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. As she played, Gillis firmly pressed her violin to her shoulder with her chin as she floated around the zero-gravity chamber, her hair flowing wildly.

Gillis’ three astronaut crewmembers filmed the inaugural performance as part of the Polaris Program’s Polaris Dawn mission, then transmitted the video to Earth via Starlink, a laser-based satellite communication.

Polaris Dawn posted the video, “Harmony of Resilience,” on X that day as part of a partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and El Sistema USA, which supports American music education programs. The video included Gillis’ performance and clips from orchestras playing the same piece in Los Angeles, Boston, Haiti, Sweden, Brazil, Uganda and Venezuela.

“The whole music moment was meant to inspire and show what’s possible when you can bring the world together,” Gillis said in an interview two months after returning to Earth.

“The whole music moment was meant to inspire and show what’s possible when you can bring the world together.”

Gillis reflected on the months of preparation for the performance, which included having engineers completely reconstruct her violin to survive the harsh space environment, and meeting Williams himself at the Los Angeles recording session.

“That was probably more stressful than actually going to space, if I’m completely honest,” said Gillis, who does not play violin professionally. “I was so nervous that he would show up and say, ‘No, you don’t have the rights to use this anymore.’ And instead he was so kind and supportive.”

From Training Astronauts to Becoming One

Gillis first gained interest in space as a high school student at Boulder’s Shining Mountain Waldorf School, where she attended a 91��ý space for nonmajors course with her brother David Levine (FilmSt, Hist’13) and met former CU instructor and NASA astronaut Joe Tanner. Tanner helped Gillis with a space-related project she had for school, and he encouraged her to consider engineering at 91��ý.

“He really planted that seed,” she said. “I honestly don’t know that I would’ve considered engineering if that hadn’t happened.”

After Gillis returned to Earth, Tanner — who flew on four NASA space shuttle flights from 1994 to 2006 — was eager to swap space stories with her.

“Being a friend to Sarah was perhaps my greatest joy during my eight years at CU,” said Tanner. “I may have helped open a few doors for her, but she made everything happen. I couldn’t be more proud of her, even if she were my own daughter.”

During her junior year at CU, Gillis took an internship at SpaceX that lasted more than two years. She helped develop and test displays and interfaces on the interior of the company’s Dragon spacecraft, the first private spacecraft to take humans to and from the International Space Station.

“I got to see some of those design decisions in space on my mission,” she said. She joined SpaceX full time in August 2017 as a space operations engineer, training astronauts on the interfaces she’d already worked on.

Several years later, her boss called a surprise meeting with her. Jared Isaacman, Polaris Dawn’s mission commander, was there to invite her to become part of the crew as a mission specialist, joining himself, Scott Poteet (mission pilot) and Anna Menon (medical officer and mission specialist).

“My response was, ‘Hell yes, but I’ll need to talk to some people first,” she said. “I immediately walked out of the room and straight downstairs to my husband, who worked at SpaceX with me. He had his headphones on at his desk. I tapped him on the shoulder and said, ‘I need to talk to you.’ … It was very special to share that exciting news.”

Five Record-Breaking Days

Two and a half years later, on Sept. 10, 2024, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launched the crew aboard a Dragon spacecraft from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. One of the crew’s main objectives on the mission was to conduct research to help better understand the human effects of space flight and space radiation. This included the first spacewalk from Dragon.

On the third day of the mission, Gillis and Isaacman exited the spacecraft in SpaceX’s newly designed and developed extravehicular activity spacesuits. For 10 minutes, she tested different components of the suit and became, at 30 years old, the youngest astronaut to complete a spacewalk.

When asked to describe the feat in one word, she settled on “dark.”

“I was emerging into the total blackness of space. It’s this immense void where you realize how close to Earth we are and how much is still left to explore out there, but it’s also this overwhelming dark blanket that is surrounding you.”

"It’s this immense void where you realize how close to Earth we are and how much is still left to explore out there."

The next day was her violin performance, which was planned to test the connectivity of SpaceX’s Starlink laser-based internet from space. The data may help improve communications for future missions to the Moon and Mars.

The crew also conducted other experiments — including gathering data on space radiation — that could help advance human health for future long-duration space flights.

Gillis noted one surprising aspect of being in space she hadn’t prepared for: how easily things got lost without the presence of gravity.

“It was always a constant treasure hunt of, ‘Has anybody seen this? Has anybody seen that?’” she said, adding that a missing camera SD card was found in the spacecraft weeks after landing. “You’d stick something with Velcro, then turn around and it would be gone.”

The historic mission lasted five days and ended with a successful splashdown off the coast of Florida.

“I hope that it is inspiring to people to see what the future of human spaceflight could be and where we’re going — that it is a possibility that more and more people are going to go to space.”

“I hope that it is inspiring to people to see what the future of human spaceflight could be and where we’re going — that it is a possibility that more and more people are going to go to space,” Gillis said.

The Next Step

Gillis’ husband, Lewis Gillis (Aero Engr’17; MS’17), formerly a SpaceX senior propulsion engineer, reflected on his wife’s extraordinary career to date when the couple visited campus this past November.

“With some curiosity and passion and connecting to all the humans around her, Sarah’s made it quite a long way,” he said. “I’m excited to see what she builds next and who she meets along the way.”

Gillis said she would reconsider another spaceflight if given the opportunity, but she is eager for others to experience space first. She remains in her astronaut training position at SpaceX.

Reflecting on her historic mission, she said: “I think the more people we can get into space to see the world from that perspective, the better off humanity will be.

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Photo by Glenn Asakawa; Polaris Dawn Crew (violin)

SpaceX's Sarah Gillis made history by becoming the youngest astronaut to complete a spacewalk and perform the first violin recital in space.

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Spring 2025

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News Briefs from 91��ý

Julia Maclean — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 19:10:15 +0000

News Briefs from 91��ý Julia Maclean Mon, 03/10/2025 - 13:10

Heard Around Campus

Former CU Buffaloes head football coach Bill McCartney.

“Coach Mac was an incredible man who taught me about the importance of faith, family and being a good husband, father and grandfather.”

– 91��ý Athletic Director Rick George after the death of Bill McCartney on Jan.10, 2025. Coach Mac was among the most successful head coaches in all sports in 91��ý’s 135-year athletic history.

Incarcerated at Risk in Climate Disasters

U.S. prisons are unprepared to safeguard the incarcerated from extreme heat, floods and other climate-related threats, according to a CU study with accounts from nearly three dozen formerly incarcerated people. Researchers found that vulnerabilities in infrastructure, insufficient emergency protocols and lack of oversight leave inmates at heightened risk during disasters. The team hopes their study will inspire more research around climate change adaptation, mitigation and prevention while also considering the voices of incarcerated people.

CU Buys Shuttered Louisville Movie Theater

91��ý purchased the 8.85-acre Louisville property that housed the Regal Cinebarre movie theater, which closed last May. The site, purchased for $10 million, is intended for a mixed-use, transit-oriented development that includes university housing. The property is seven miles from campus.

New Quantum Facility in Boulder

91��ý is spearheading and providing leadership and resources to a new 13,000-square-foot quantum facility in east Boulder. The effort is in partnership with Colorado State University, Colorado School of Mines and Elevate Quantum, a tech hub with a coalition of 120 organizations. The facility will include collaborative office space for early-stage quantum companies and state-of-the-art scientific equipment.

Digits: Europa Instrument

The Surface Dust Analyzer, designed and built by the 91��ý Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics team, launched to Jupiter’s Europa moon aboard NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft to collect data that may determine whether the moon has conditions that could support life.

Years to get to Europa

35 pounds

Weight of CU apparatus

$53 million

Instrument’s cost

16 miles

How close Europa Clipper will be to the moon’s surface

~1.9B

Number of miles Europa Clipper will travel across the solar system

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Climate risks for incarcerated individuals, a new CU development in Louisville, a cutting-edge quantum facility and the legacy of Coach Bill McCartney.

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Mining the Moon: A New Era of Commercial Space Exploration

Anna Tolette — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 20:49:47 +0000

Mining the Moon: A New Era of Commercial Space Exploration Anna Tolette Tue, 11/12/2024 - 13:49

Kelsey Yandura

Elizabeth Frank (PhDGeol’14) is helping pave the way for a new era of space exploration and commerce as the chief scientist at Interlune, a Seattle-based startup aiming to become the first private company to harvest the Moon’s natural resources, namely the stable isotope helium-3.

This useful gas, while rare on Earth, is abundant on the Moon and sought after for its uses in medical imaging, nuclear fusion research, quantum computing and more. For the extraction and transportation of the isotope, Interlune plans to build a lunar harvester that the company would fly via spacecraft to the Moon.

What is the vision in terms of the future of space mining and space commerce?

We are trying to find novel ways to leverage the commercial space sector for planetary exploration. What makes people excited about Interlune is that even though we have this vision that seems kind of sci-fi, we have actual customers on Earth in areas like quantum computing, medical imaging and national security. There is an actual demand.

Your PhD was in planetary geochemistry at CU. What led you to Boulder?

There’s an incredible space community in Boulder — a lot of interdisciplinary work among CU departments and organizations like LASP and the Southwest Research Institute. When I was touring CU, I was handed a list of planetary scientists in Boulder that was upwards of 50 people. I thought, “Oh my gosh, there’s just so much going on.”

Your work seems to challenge the idea that industries exist in a silo. Can you talk more about your multidisciplinary approach?

When you’re a PhD student, you are expected to be a specialist. But I don’t actually identify anymore as a specialist. I’m a generalist — I have a PhD in planetary geochemistry, but I’ve also worked in spacecraft engineering, mining consulting, business development and more. To move humanity forward, you need people like me to stitch the specialists’ work together in new and exciting ways.

What topics in the field have been piquing your interest these days?

Ethics and sustainability are really top of mind. The mining industry has a long legacy of harming both people and the environment. I think that we can learn from the mistakes of the past. We want to be intentional and thoughtful about how we use technology and extract space resources for human use.

Any thoughts or advice for recent graduates?

I think PhD students and graduates should know that just because you got your degree in one topic, doesn’t mean you have to stay in that field. You can redirect your career in unexpected and exciting ways. Stay open to opportunities and take them — you never know where they’ll lead you.

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Photo courtesy Elizabeth Frank

Elizabeth Frank (PhDGeol’14) is helping pave the way for a new era of space exploration and commerce as the chief scientist at Interlune, a Seattle-based startup aiming to become the first private company to harvest the Moon’s natural resources.

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Fall 2024

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75 Years of LASP: Missions Across the Cosmos

Anna Tolette — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 17:18:56 +0000

75 Years of LASP: Missions Across the Cosmos Anna Tolette Tue, 11/12/2024 - 10:18

Kelsey Yandura

CU’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) is the university’s first and highest-budget research institute — and the only organization of its kind to have sent scientific instruments to every planet in our solar system, plus the sun and a host of moons.

Founded in 1948 as a collaboration between the U.S. Air Force and the university’s physics department, LASP’s initial experiments included launching instruments mounted on captured German V-2 rockets in order to study the sun. Today, over 75 years later, the institute is made up of more than 100 research scientists who specialize in designing, building and operating spacecraft and spacecraft instruments.

As LASP looks ahead to the next 75 years, its dedication to innovation keeps it at the leading edge of space science. Here are just a few of the many missions LASP has helped propel forward.

Sun

2010–30

EVE on NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory examines variations in the sun’s extreme ultraviolet light over time.

Mission Highlight: Recorded enormous solar 'tornadoes,' ultra-hot plasma plumes swirling above the sun’s surface.

Mercury

2004–15

LASP Spectrometer on NASA MESSENGER first detected magnesium in Mercury’s exosphere.

Mission Highlight: Confirmed the presence of ice deposits in permanently shadowed craters at Mercury’s poles.

Venus

1978–92

Ultraviolet Spectrometer on NASA’s Pioneer Venus Orbiter identified sulfur dioxide in the clouds, indicating potential volcanic activity.

Mission Highlight: Pinpointed the highest point on Venus — Maxwell Montes stands 10.8 km high.

Earth

Scheduled 2027

LASP radiometers on NASA Libera will record how much energy leaves our planet’s atmosphere on a day-by-day basis, providing crucial information about how Earth’s climate is evolving over time.

Moon

2013–14

Lunar Dust Experiment on NASA’s LADEE gathered and analyzed lunar dust particles.

Mission Highlight: Revealed tiny meteoroids deliver water to the Moon’s exosphere.

Mars

2013–14

Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph on NASA MAVEN discovered an aurora caused by proton precipitation in Mars’ atmosphere.

Mission Highlight: Determined that solar wind has significantly stripped Mars’ atmosphere, altering its climate from warm and wet to cold and dry.

Jupiter

1989–2003

Ultraviolet Spectrometer on NASA Galileo observed the impacts of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 fragments on Jupiter.

Mission Highlight: Found evidence of a subsurface ocean on Jupiter’s moon Europa.

Saturn

1997–2017

Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph on NASA Cassini measured emissions from gases emitted by volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io.

Mission Highlight: Detected an icy plume of salt-rich organic chemicals erupting from Saturn’s moon Enceladus.

Uranus

1977–Current

Photopolarimeter Subsystem on NASA Voyager 2 discovered Uranus’ rings are younger than the solar system.

Mission Highlight: Identified an irregular magnetic field, highly tilted from Uranus’ spin axis.

Neptune

1977–Current

Photopolarimeter Subsystem on NASA Voyager 2 found Neptune’s rings are incomplete circles created by dust knocked off tiny moons.

Mission Highlight: Performed the first mission to fly past Neptune and detect its irregular magnetic field.

Pluto

2006–Current

Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter on NASA New Horizons was the first student-designed instrument to launch on an interplanetary mission.

Mission Highlight: Discovered the largest known glacier in the solar system.

And beyond…

LASP has been involved in missions beyond our solar system, including operations for NASA’s exoplanet-hunting Kepler mission and the IXPE mission, which studies extreme space environments.

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Images courtesy NASA

CU’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) is the university’s first and highest-budget research institute. Here are just a few of the many missions LASP has helped propel forward.

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Space

Celebrating 150 Years of CU People

Joseph Sewall

Mary Rippon

Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Jones (Ger’1918)

George Norlin

Byron White (Econ’38)

Peggy Coppom (A&S ex’46) and Betty Hoover (A&S ex’46)

David Bolen (Mktg; MBA’50)

Billy Kidd

“Ralph”

Juan Espinosa (Jour’74)

Tom Cech

Ceal Barry

Joe Neguse (Econ, PolSci’05; Law’09)

Wei Wu (MMus’13)

David Ellsworth (Art’71; MFA’73)

Sarah Gillis (AeroEngr’17)

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Allergy Busters, Preserving Language and a Rare Dinosaur Tree

UV Allergen Busters

Preserving Language

Space Policy and Law

Campus Talk

Digits

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The Reaches of 91��ý Research

Exploring New Horizons <LASP>

Engineering Organoids <BioFrontiers Institute>

Plastics to Fertilizer <ATLAS Institute>

Our Shared Future

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What It's Like in LASP's Student Command Controller Program

Cleared for Takeoff

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Five CU Innovators Changing the World

Jump to:

Idowu Odeyemi (PhDPhil’27)

Savannah Sellers (Jour’13)

Dania Arayssi (MPolSci’22; PhD’26)

Jun Ye (PhDPhys'97)

Steve Swanson (EngrPhys’83)

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News Briefs from 91��ý

100 Launches for BioServe

New Master’s Program in AI

1190 Gets FM Debut in Denver

Heard Around Campus

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Astronaut Sarah Gillis is the First to Play Violin in Space

From Training Astronauts to Becoming One

Five Record-Breaking Days

The Next Step

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News Briefs from 91��ý

Heard Around Campus

Incarcerated at Risk in Climate Disasters

CU Buys Shuttered Louisville Movie Theater

New Quantum Facility in Boulder

Digits: Europa Instrument

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Mining the Moon: A New Era of Commercial Space Exploration

What is the vision in terms of the future of space mining and space commerce?

Your PhD was in planetary geochemistry at CU. What led you to Boulder?

Your work seems to challenge the idea that industries exist in a silo. Can you talk more about your multidisciplinary approach?

What topics in the field have been piquing your interest these days?

Any thoughts or advice for recent graduates?

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75 Years of LASP: Missions Across the Cosmos

Sun

Mercury

Venus

Earth

Moon

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

Pluto