2021-22

Art meets science

Wendy Turnbull — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 17:00:00 +0000

Art meets science Wendy Turnbull Tue, 10/11/2022 - 11:00

Kenna Hughes-Castleberry

JILA Fellow and Associate Professor of Physics Cindy Regal helped consult on a mural placed in Washington Park in Denver. The mural, titled Leading Light, loosely alludes to atomic, molecular and optical (AMO) physics, which Regal studies by using laser beams.

With bright yellows and vivid pinks, the mural depicts four women interacting with different blue spheres, representing electrons. One woman wears sunglasses, modeled on the goggles used for lab safety when working with lasers.

The artist, Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, found Regal’s work captivating. “We share a vision to not only uplift women in STEM and to bring science and our society closer together, but also to foster dynamic and organic relationships with science in everyone, whether or not they choose to become scientists,” the artist said.

Creating the Leading Light mural. Photo by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya.

Principals
Cindy Regal; Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya

Funding
Heising-Simons Foundation

Collaboration
JILA; Department of Physics; Findings Project

Learn more about this topic:
Where Science Meets Art: A Mural on AMO Physics

JILA Fellow and Associate Professor of Physics Cindy Regal helped consult on a mural placed in Washington Park in Denver.

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The finished mural, which is loosely based on JILA Fellow Cindy Regal’s work. Photo and art: Amanda Phingboddhipakkiya.

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The finished mural, which is loosely based on JILA Fellow Cindy Regal’s work. Photo and art: Amanda Phingboddhipakkiya.

Wildfire brings devastation, then rebirth

Wendy Turnbull — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 16:45:00 +0000

Wildfire brings devastation, then rebirth Wendy Turnbull Tue, 10/11/2022 - 10:45

Kelsey Simpkins

CU ��«��Ƶ researcher analyzing data. Photo by Glenn Asakawa, Casey A. Cass.

Researchers converge in the wake of Colorado’s Marshall Fire to advance understanding and approaches to disaster resiliency

When the Marshall Fire tore through 6,000 acres in ��«��Ƶ County on Dec. 30, 2021, it became the costliest wildfire in Colorado history. More than 1,000 homes burned. Tens of thousands of residents were forced to evacuate, and many returned to neighborhoods that were damaged or even destroyed.

In the days and weeks that followed, dozens of CU ��«��Ƶ researchers—many of them personally affected by the disaster—put their unique expertise into action. They launched drones to assess the damage, analyzed water samples, monitored air quality and mapped the movement of the fire to better understand its impacts on the environment, infrastructure and community.

The speed, coordination and sensitivity of this scientific response is in large part due to CONVERGE, a National Science Foundationfunded collaboration established in 2018 to identify, train and support disaster researchers. Led by sociology Professor Lori Peek, this invisible infrastructure connecting the disaster research community is housed at the longstanding CU ��«��Ƶ-based Natural Hazards Center, which Peek also directs.

As disaster research is highly event driven, CONVERGE compiles the field’s knowledge and people, allowing disaster researchers to tap into its resources and networks at a moment’s notice.

“It’s about bringing researchers together before, during and after a disaster so that we can work in more multi- and interdisciplinary ways on the wicked problems that we’re facing,” Peek said. Climate change, poverty, unsustainable development and other forces “are turning natural hazards into major human disasters,” she said.

To help respond to these urgent challenges, CONVERGE hosts a Leadership Corps of engineers, social and natural scientists, and a network of hazard and disaster researchers from around the world called the Social Science Extreme Events Research (SSEER) Network. It offers free online disaster research training modules, shares open data, and provides financial and technical support for research on the human impacts of natural hazards.

CONVERGE has trained more than 5,000 students, academics, emergency management officials and other professionals on the fundamentals of hazards and disaster research. These efforts have improved the knowledge and skills of researchers on the ground following major events.

After the Marshall Fire, CONVERGE quickly mobilized to organize several virtual forums with researchers, emergency responders, journalists, community members and representatives from municipal governments. These forums—the first of which had more than 400 registrants—jump-started the process of identifying pressing research needs, potential redundancies and ways to appropriately connect with affected communities in the immediate aftermath of the fire.

The first virtual forum also led to the establishment of the Marshall Fire Unified Research Survey, which involves dozens of researchers working together to reduce the research burden on affected communities while learning from their experiences.

“In my 20 years of being a researcher, I have never seen this kind of coordinated research effort,” Peek said.

By connecting researchers to knowledge and data, CONVERGE draws on lessons that disaster researchers have learned from earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and other calamities over decades and allows them to quickly apply those lessons in new and different ways, she said.

The collaboration is also committed to “not only characterizing problems, but developing solutions and working with communities and policymakers to put them into action,” Peek said.

This is critical for research in the wake of wildfires, as their impact on people is rapidly increasing, and climate change signals the Marshall Fire may only be the start of more suburban fires this century.

“This is not something we’re done dealing with,” Peek said. “The convergence mindset and orientation to research is crucial because it asks us to consider: What are we going to do to solve that problem?”

CU ��«��Ƶ researchers launch drone to assess damage. Photo by Glenn Asakawa, Casey A. Cass.

Principal investigator
Lori Peek

Funding
National Science Foundation (NSF)

Collaboration + support
Institute of Behavioral Science; Natural Hazards Center; Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI); NSF-supported RAPID facility at the University of Washington and DesignSafe Cyberinfrastructure at the University of Texas at Austin; the cities of Superior and Louisville, Colorado; ��«��Ƶ County; and the Colorado State Recovery Task Force

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Researchers converge in the wake of Colorado’s Marshall Fire to advance understanding and approaches to disaster resiliency.

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Neighborhood after the Marshall Fire. Photos by Glenn Asakawa, Casey A. Cass.

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Climate Innovation Collaboratory to accelerate action on climate crisis

Wendy Turnbull — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 16:30:00 +0000

Climate Innovation Collaboratory to accelerate action on climate crisis Wendy Turnbull Tue, 10/11/2022 - 10:30

Chris Yankee

CU ��«��Ƶ and Deloitte together launched a Climate Innovation Collaboratory in 2022 to translate cuttingedge climate research and data into meaningful climate solutions for federal, state and local government agencies and communities.

CU ��«��Ƶ is a powerhouse of research and proven interdisciplinary approaches in the climate sciences and innovative technology solutions. Deloitte, an audit, tax and advisory service company, specializes in helping government agencies mitigate the impacts of climate change and achieve climate equity, resilience and sustainability goals.

The collaboration will expand government access to critical climate data and science, encourage the exchange of public information, and support the work being done at CU ��«��Ƶ’s 12 research institutes and more than 75 research centers.

The collaboratory is ramping up with two research and technology development projects addressing environmental challenges in the western U.S., including one project on wildfire risk assessments and another project on drought mitigation.

Researchers work on a project to develop a blockchain and sensor platform for groundwater conservation in California.

Principal investigators
Jennifer Balch; Evan Thomas

Funding
Deloitte

Collaboration + support
Earth Lab; Mortenson Center in Global Engineering

Learn more about this topic:
CU ��«��Ƶ, Deloitte launch Climate Innovation Collaboratory to accelerate action on climate crisis

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Groups unite to map challenges to Colorado’s public lands

Wendy Turnbull — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 16:15:00 +0000

Groups unite to map challenges to Colorado’s public lands Wendy Turnbull Tue, 10/11/2022 - 10:15

Shelly Sommer

Land managers, residents and scientists across Colorado’s Front Range are uniting to map how ecosystems and public lands are responding to pressures from people and climate change.

“Colorado will face some tough choices in the coming years and decades. . . . It’s important for residents of Colorado to have a voice in how we set priorities as we look into the future,” investigator Amanda Carrico said.

Researchers will adapt an advanced computer model of Earth systems to the Rocky Mountain environment. A measurement campaign on Niwot Ridge is helping develop and test the model.

At the same time, Carrico is learning from land managers how they make decisions in the face of public pressure and climate change. Those conversations will shape project research with land managers and residents.

“Working with local institutions on local problems—that’s something we’re all excited about,” investigator Keith Musselman said.

Faculty, students and technicians from CU ��«��Ƶ and the University of Wyoming walk the site of the newly installed EcoTram near INSTAAR’s Mountain Research Station. Photo: Keith Musselman

Principals
Peter Blanken; Amanda Carrico; Eve-Lyn Hinckley; John Knowles; Keith Musselman

Funding
National Science Foundation (NSF)

Collaboration + support
CU ��«��Ƶ students and staff; land managers; residents

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Land managers, residents and scientists across Colorado’s Front Range are uniting to map how ecosystems and public lands are responding to pressures from people and climate change.

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Can startups be the vessel for solving climate change?

Wendy Turnbull — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 16:00:00 +0000

Can startups be the vessel for solving climate change? Wendy Turnbull Tue, 10/11/2022 - 10:00

Nicole Mueksch

Entrepreneurs in the business of protecting the environment may be more effective at addressing climate change than sweeping policies or large corporations, according to a study from the Leeds School of Business.

The study, co-authored by Jeff York, a professor of strategy and entrepreneurship, found that small businesses with climate-cautious goods and services can establish a common ground between people who place high value on growing business and those who value protecting the environment.

Researchers say the findings could help reshape how we address climate change: Investing in environmental entrepreneurs rather than legacy companies could rally more support for climate initiatives.

“If we could think of addressing climate change as a growth opportunity, I think that’s a much more powerful way of thinking about it,” York said.

Principal investigator
Jeff York

Collaboration + support
Academy of Management; Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability; Babson College; Leeds School of Business; Social Entrepreneurship Conference; Strategic Management Society

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Can startups be the vessel for solving climate change?

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A ‘revolution’ in environmental data science

Wendy Turnbull — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 15:45:00 +0000

A ‘revolution’ in environmental data science Wendy Turnbull Tue, 10/11/2022 - 09:45

Katy Human

New national center at CU ��«��Ƶ will tackle pressing socio-environmental challenges with big data analytics and more

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has funded a major new data science and diversity effort at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), a research institute at CU ��«��Ƶ. The new center, the Environmental Data Science Innovation and Inclusion Lab, or ESIIL, will enable work that illuminates the biological effects of climate change and the loss of biodiversity; helps planners prepare for extreme disturbances such as wildfires and floods; and, above all, includes diverse voices and responds to community needs.

Funding of $20 million for five years will support collaborative research and education involving huge science datasets, innovative cyber-infrastructure, machine-learning approaches to analysis, and engagement with decision-makers and other stakeholders.

ESIIL, pronounced “easel,” promises to empower a diverse community of researchers to turn environmental data into actionable knowledge, said ESIIL Director Jennifer Balch, an associate professor of geography and a fellow of CIRES. The metaphor of an easel is intentional, Balch said: “We want to be the structure to support vivid new science.”

NSF and other agencies and organizations have established environmental networks and observatories that are generating vast amounts of open-access environmental data—more data than can be analyzed to their full potential today, Balch said. So, she and colleagues from across CU ��«��Ƶ, the University of Arizona and the University of Oslo proposed building “a community of thousands” of researchers and students who know how to ask and answer important environmental questions with data.

University of Arizona research Assistant Professor Tyson Swetnam, part of the new center’s leadership team, is an informatician at CyVerse, an NSF-funded cyber-infrastructure center. Swetnam said he can imagine ESIIL supporting, for example, a project by a student researcher in rural Arizona who lacks access to large computing resources. With just a cell phone and intermittent broadband internet connection, she should be able to freely explore and analyze diverse datasets on the cloud, looking for evidence of, say, genetic resilience in spruce trees growing on the peaks of Arizona’s sky islands, where many species are threatened by warming, drought, pests and disease.

“We want to support open data, open source software, open code . . .and open science,” Swetnam said.

CU ��«��Ƶ computer science Professor Claire Monteleoni is another critical ESIIL leadership member, an expert in using machine learning in climate science who helped create the field of climate informatics a decade ago. Monteleoni said she’s especially inspired by ESIIL’s focus on team science. The lab will be studying itself, essentially, to help identify factors that help diverse teams work well together, as well as the impact of teamwork training. “I’ve spent the first chunk of my career trying to get people working on climate change to talk with people working on AI and machine learning,” Monteleoni said. “So it will be great to have lessons coming from team science as we connect these communities.”

Finally, ESIIL will involve students and communities. ESIIL’s Stars internship program, for example, will support students and faculty members from Oglala Lakota College, United Tribes Technical College and Metropolitan State University of Denver, to start. And ESIIL’s Leaders program will support emerging scientists from underrepresented communities.

Linking tribes and tribal colleges, other academic institutions, government agencies and private organizations is a key characteristic of the new center, said James Rattling Leaf Sr., ESIIL’s tribal liaison. “Effective partnerships and communication among these groups are needed to address major challenges facing our world, and ESIIL is well positioned to address those challenges.”

Principal investigator
Jennifer Balch

Funding
National Science Foundation (NSF)

Collaboration + support
The Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), including CIRES’ Education and Outreach Program, Department of Computer Science, Earth Lab and USGS North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center, all at CU ��«��Ƶ; CyVerse at the University of Arizona; Metropolitan State University of Denver; Oglala Lakota College; United Tribes Technical College; University of Oslo, Norway

Learn more about this topic:
ESIIL Aims to Foster a “Revolution” in Environmental Data Science

New national center at CU ��«��Ƶ will tackle pressing socio-environmental challenges with big data analytics and more.

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View of the Tunnel Fire seen from Bonito Park on April 19, 2022. Photo by U.S. Forest Service.

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View of the Tunnel Fire seen from Bonito Park on April 19, 2022. Photo by U.S. Forest Service.

The future of autonomous airborne drones

Wendy Turnbull — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 15:30:00 +0000

The future of autonomous airborne drones Wendy Turnbull Tue, 10/11/2022 - 09:30

Josh Rhoten

Smead Aerospace will house a new NSF Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) on autonomous air mobility and sensing

A major research center on autonomous air mobility and sensing has been founded at CU ��«��Ƶ in partnership with the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The Center for Autonomous Air Mobility and Sensing (CAAMS) will be housed in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences and is organized under the NSF’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers program (IUCRC). The five-year, multiuniversity and industry partnership will integrate research from traditional engineering topics such as automatic control, aerodynamics, wireless communication and energy storage with new disciplines such as artificial intelligence, autonomy, machine learning and robotics.

Dynamic combinations of these disciplines will lead to next-generation technology solutions and policies as autonomous airborne drones become more prevalent across society in applications ranging from agriculture and shipping to transportation and national security.

The IUCRC framework is designed to help startups, large corporate partners and government agencies connect directly with university faculty and student researchers to solve common pre-competitive challenges, all in a low-risk environment. The aim is to develop new technology, leverage resources and, most important, develop the U.S. workforce in critical areas through research projects led by graduate students.

Colorado is a natural home for a center like CAAMS. The state ranks first in the nation for per-capita private aerospace workers and has the second-largest aerospace economy in the country. Corporate partners in this center so far include several companies with close Colorado ties, including Ball Aerospace, Lockheed Martin and Draper.

Professor Eric Frew will serve as the center’s director, with Associate Professor Nisar Ahmed serving as the CU ��«��Ƶ site director. Both are members of the Ann & H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences. And both are deeply involved in the College of Engineering and Applied Science’s Autonomous Systems Interdisciplinary Research Theme.

Frew said the new center will build on expertise within the college, the university and the state. He pointed specifically to the Research and Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles and the Autonomous Systems Interdisciplinary Research Theme that launched in 2018 as examples of the foundational work already being done here.

“The aviation industry is moving beyond remotely piloted, uninhabited aircraft systems toward new autonomous air mobility and sensing concepts,” he said. “Addressing those challenges requires a multidisciplinary approach that we are well suited to lead.”

Frew added that the center will help facilitate the adoption of these systems by providing a space where regulators, industry and academics can comfortably and easily work together. In addition, the center will increase public awareness and understanding around unmanned vehicles.

Ahmed said that partners involved in the project will gain access to an annual research portfolio equivalent to over $2.4 million for an annual membership fee of $50,000.

“That is a tremendous monetary return on investment,” he said. “But partners also get to influence the direction of the research program to their needs and gain access to our state-of-the-art facilities and top engineering students. We are always looking for new partners.”

CAAMS is the college’s third new IUCRC since 2020. The other two centers explore green building technology and developments around the Internet of Things.

Principal investigators
Eric Frew; Nisar Ahmed

Funding
National Science Foundation (NSF)

Collaboration + support
Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences; Autonomous Systems Interdisciplinary Research Theme; industry partners Ball Aerospace, Draper and Lockheed Martin; Research and Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles; university partners Sinclair Community College, Brigham Young University, Penn State University, the University of Michigan, Texas A&M University and Virginia Tech

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Smead Aerospace will house new NSF IUCRC on autonomous air mobility and sensing

Smead Aerospace will house a new NSF Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) on autonomous air mobility and sensing.

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Students develop deployable antenna for use on small satellites

Wendy Turnbull — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 15:15:00 +0000

Students develop deployable antenna for use on small satellites Wendy Turnbull Tue, 10/11/2022 - 09:15

Josh Rhoten

A group of students from the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering have developed a compactable antenna that could allow for more powerful radio communications from the small satellites of the future.

Developed as a 2022 senior design project for Lockheed Martin Space, the team’s prototype is a deployable helical antenna that starts in a compressed state, improving upon current satellite antenna hardware that is fully deployed upon launch. After activation in space, the prototype’s antenna component extends to four times its compressed height for full functionality.

The aerospace industry is seeking to shrink the overall size of satellites while retaining or improving on their capabilities. Doing so would not only speed production from decades to years, but could also lower the cost of production.

Principals
Seniors from the Department of Mechanical Engineering

Funding
Lockheed Martin Space

Collaboration + support
Industry and Foundation Relations; Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering; First RF Corp

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Deployable antenna could provide more powerful communications on smaller space satellites

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New cereal box-sized satellite to explore alien planets

Wendy Turnbull — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 15:00:00 +0000

New cereal box-sized satellite to explore alien planets Wendy Turnbull Tue, 10/11/2022 - 09:00

Daniel Strain

A new miniature satellite designed and built at CU ��«��Ƶ’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) has mighty goals. It’s the first CubeSat mission funded by NASA to peer at one class of exoplanets, marking a major test of what these small spacecraft are capable of.

Since its launch in 2021, Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment (CUTE) has been tracking the volatile physics around “hot Jupiters”—a class of large and extremely hot planets orbiting distant stars. CUTE is measuring how quickly gases are escaping from a minimum of 10 of these exoplanets using its unique, rectangular telescope design. The findings may tell scientists a lot about hot Jupiters and the full range of planets in the galaxy.

“The more places we understand atmospheric escape, the better we understand it as a whole,” said mission principal investigator Kevin France.

CU ��«��Ƶ Astrophysics and Planetary Sciences graduate students and LASP engineer Nicholas DeCicco install CUTE into the LANDSAT-9 secondary payload dispenser at Vandenberg Space Force Base in July 2021. Photo: NASA/Parsons Corporation.

Principal investigator
Kevin France

Funding
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collaboration + support
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP); NASA Astronomy; Space Research Institute of the American Academy of Science in Graz, Austria; Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland; the University of Toulouse, France; the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands; the University of Arizona

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New cereal box-sized satellite to explore alien planets

A new miniature satellite designed and built at CU ��«��Ƶ’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) has mighty goals.

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Students operate $214M NASA spacecraft: ‘It’s like what you see in the movies’

Wendy Turnbull — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 14:45:00 +0000

Students operate $214M NASA spacecraft: ‘It’s like what you see in the movies’ Wendy Turnbull Tue, 10/11/2022 - 08:45

Daniel Strain

Over the next two years, CU ��«��Ƶ undergraduates working as flight controllers at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) will help manage the day-to-day mission operations of NASA’s Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft. From CU ��«��Ƶ’s East Campus, they’ll send commands, tell the $214 million satellite where to point, and monitor its health and safety.

Each year LASP recruits about 10 students, who spend the summer learning about spacecraft operations—from how engineers keep components warm in space to how satellites turn using thrusters and spinning motors. In all, 23 students work in operations at the institute. Mary Wells, a senior studying physics and an IXPE command controller, has certainly caught the space bug. “It’s like what you see in movies,” Wells said. “There’s a real feeling of being involved in something bigger.”

An artist’s rendition of NASA’s Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) mission. Illustration: NASA

Principals
CU ��«��Ƶ undergraduate students; LASP Mission Operations Center Funding National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Funding
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collaboration + support
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP); Ball Aerospace; NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center; Italian Space Agency An artist’s rendition of NASA’s Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) mission, which LASP students and staff are operating. Illustration: NASA

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Students operate $214M spacecraft. ‘It’s like what you see in the movies.’

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