Presentation titled ‘SPEAK: Vocal Empowerment for Students and Educators’ is set for April 29

Your voice can be a path to power, a CU Boulder expert argues, and she will explain how in a public presentation this month.

Chelsea Hackett, a university research associate, will give a presentation titled “SPEAK: Vocal Empowerment for Students and Educators,” on Monday, April 29, at 3 p.m. .

Chelsea Hackett, a university research associate, will give a presentation titled “SPEAK: Vocal Empowerment for Students and Educators,” on Monday, April 29, at 3 p.m. .

The event is free and open to everyone, but registration is required at . The event is sponsored by Be Well, the College of Arts and Sciences' wellness initiative, and is part of its regular Let’s CU Well series of programs.

During the session, Hackett will explore “how to support your voice both within and outside of the classroom. This focuses on three aspects of voice: social/emotional, physical and civic.

“During this interactive hour, you will learn tangible skills to keep your voice healthy, and to practice getting comfortable being uncomfortable so that you can speak about issues that are important to you!”

Hackett is a 2010 CU Boulder theatre performance graduate and PhD graduate of New York University. She is now a research associate at CU Boulder’s Renée Crown Wellness Institute.

She is the co-founder and executive director of , a nonprofit that focuses on vocal empowerment for young women and girls. In addition, she is an interdisciplinary artist, researcher and creative consultant.

SPEAK, which Hackett founded with Beth Osnes, a CU Boulder professor of theatre, aims to “support and celebrate the voices of all young women and girls.”

The organization envisions a world in which all young women and girls are “heard, valued, and affirmed, a world that benefits from their unique contributions, one where they are safe to express themselves fully, and are free to co-author an equitable, survivable, and thrive-able future.”

   What: SPEAK: Vocal Empowerment for Students and Educators

  When: 3 p.m. Monday, April 29

  Where: , free but registration required

The nonprofit says vocal empowerment “is the ability to express yourself the way you want in any context.” The group’s approach to vocal empowerment addresses three aspects of of voice: physical, which draws from theater and voice and speech pathology; social/emotional, which uses meditations, journal activities and games to help young women and girls explore their internal voices, ideas and emotions; and civic, through which women and girls are encouraged to share their thoughts about vital issues with their communities.

“By combining theatre with voice speech pathology, Dr. Beth Osnes and I have worked to charter a new, creative and trans-disciplinary endeavor we call Vocal Empowerment that is designed for use primarily by young women to become agents of change in their communities, their nations and the world," Hackett says. "This work supports youth in speaking about issues that are important to them, such as sexual violence prevention, climate change and racial justice.”

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Let’s CU Well presentation on Dec. 14 by CU Medical Services doctors to talk about causes of concussions, diagnosis and treatments

John Breck and Tracy Casault are highly trained physicians with the University of Colorado Boulder Medical Services who have specialized expertise in sports medicine and the treatment of concussions.

As a result of that expertise, they essentially serve as “myth busters” about common misperceptions regarding concussions, specifically those suffered by CU Boulder students—and will bring that knowledge to an upcoming Let’s CU Well presentation on Dec. 14 at 9 a.m.

Just one example: The idea that concussions most commonly occur on the athletic fields. In reality, research done by Drs. Casault and Breck for a published study about four years ago showed that the majority of concussions among the general student population happened off the sports field.

At the top of the page: A man gets checked for a concussion. Above: Drs. John Breck and Tracy Casault will both speak at the upcoming Let's CU Well Presentation.

“We see all kinds of non-sports-related injuries,” Dr. Breck says of contributing causes. “Lots of what I would call standard falls—maybe down some stairs, slips on ice or slips in showers.

“Many times, it’s transportation-related accidents, so bike accidents or skateboard falls,” Dr. Casault adds. “Motor vehicle accidents also make up a percentage of that total. So, it’s not so much that they (students) were doing a sport, but they were in motion.”

Another finding from Dr. Breck and Dr. Casault’s research: That male and female CU Boulder students experience concussions in roughly equal numbers, whereas the common perception is that males tend to suffer concussions in greater numbers.

“A concussion doesn’t care if you are male or female,” Dr. Breck says. “These are actually more of a 50-50 injury, at least on our campus.”

Drs. Casault and Breck will offer additional insights related to student concussion diagnoses and treatment during their upcoming seminar, “Concussions on Campus.”

This event is scheduled as a Zoom presentation starting at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 14. The event is free, but registration is required.

The event is part of the Let’s CU Well speaker series for CU staff, students and interested community members. The series is an offshoot of Be Well, a wellness initiative launched by the College of Arts and Sciences.

Drs. Breck and Casault say misconceptions about concussions are not surprising given that this type of injury has historically been misunderstood and in many cases went undiagnosed. Currently, universities nationwide are not required to track concussions among the general student populations, so there is no way to compare CU Boulder to other colleges. Even at CU Boulder—where Casault says CU Medical Services has made a priority to diagnose and treat concussions suffered by students—exact numbers are still difficult to ascertain.

A big part of the challenge is that symptoms for concussions don’t typically present in a standardized way for an easy diagnosis, and there is not an easy blood test that can quickly identify an injury as a concussion, according to Drs. Casault and Breck.

“We have a saying for this type of care: When you’ve seen one concussion—you’ve seen one concussion,” Dr. Casault says. “Every patient presents slightly differently. Even though the majority of the time there is going to be a headache associated with the injury, even that is not 100%. So there is a lot of clinical diagnosis involved, where we gather information on the reported injury, evaluate any symptoms and attempt to piece everything together.”

“One thing to point out with this injury is that there isn’t an easy test, like a blood test, that we can use to say, ‘this person has a concussion,’” Dr. Breck adds.

Likewise, treatment must be individualized for each person suffering from a concussion, they say.

Other points Drs. Casault and Breck say they plan to talk about include mechanisms by which concussions happen, common symptoms that faculty or staff might want to watch for in students, how medical providers on campus collaborate on diagnosis and treatment, and just a bit about treatment options.

For context, Dr. Breck says he and Dr. Casault will present national figures on concussions, which have increased in recent years. At first glance, an increase in reported concussions might seem concerning, but Dr. Breck says the increase may have as much to do with the public’s growing awareness about concussions, which is a positive development, as it does with any increase in incidence.

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Let’s CU Well presentation on Nov. 10 reflects on the challenge and opportunity of equity and inclusion in the natural resource management and conservation field

Environmental issues are a growing concern for many, but so are issues about equity and inclusivity.

Karen Bailey, an environmental social scientist and a Be Well expert of the month, aims to tie the two together with her expertise on natural resource management (the management of how people interact with resources like land, water and animals) and conservation. 

Bailey will cover equitable ways of thinking about the environment and people in her upcoming virtual presentation, “The environment belongs to everyone: Equity and Inclusion in natural resource management and conservation,” on Thursday, Nov. 10, at 1 p.m. The event is a part of the University of Colorado Boulder’s Let’s CU Well speaker series. The event is free and open to the public, and registration can be completed at this link.

Bailey, an assistant professor in the environmental studies program, earned her bachelor’s degree in ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton University. She then went to the University of Florida and earned a master’s degree in wildlife ecology and conservation and a doctoral degree in interdisciplinary ecology.

Bailey researches climate change, human-environment interactions and sustainable landscape. She uses data gathered from her social science, environmental and ecological work to better understand, as she notes, how “our health and well-being is directly influenced by the state of the environment.”

[video:https://youtu.be/4BRva1JHCeI]

There are three such research projects that Bailey will draw from in her presentation.

First, she will focus on the experiences of people of color in the natural resource field. This will cover issues of inclusion among people affected by conservation and natural resource management, as well as people who are practitioners.

Then, she says that she will apply an equity lens to climate adaptation (a field focusing on the best way to reduce climate change’s negative effects) by encouraging consideration of how equity should be at the center of decisions made in the field. This case will highlight the importance of considering accessibility, economics and enfranchisement in the context of natural resource management and conservation, she says.

Finally, Bailey will speak on a “sense of place.” Here, she will discuss how significant changes to the landscape have influenced people’s perceptions of the environment. This will mainly draw from her research on drought in the West. This ongoing research involves interviewing people from reservoir communities in Wyoming, Utah and Colorado to better grasp how people think the environment should be further managed after experiencing record low water levels.

Although relevant to Boulder, the application of these ideas is much grander in scale.

“A lot of work is happening to sustainably use and manage natural resources,” says Bailey. “One of the challenges is that all of these efforts can introduce or exacerbate inequity.”

Bailey’s conclusion is that “the only way to prevent that from happening is to think about equity as we’re developing climate solutions and conservation.”

Community participation is encouraged in the upcoming event as Bailey hopes to share and learn about people’s experiences, thoughts and perspectives.

“All this work is exciting,” says Bailey. “It very intentionally thinks about humans and their place in the environment. And it thinks about that from a perspective of those who have historically been left out of the conversation surrounding the environment.”

Bailey's presentation is co-sponsored by the Office for Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. 

Photo at the top of the page: Karen Bailey talks about the human impact of climate change at the CU Night in Downtown Boulder event at Boulder Theater (Glenn Asakawa).

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Be Well’s seminar series to feature a presentation by Assistant Professor Colleen Reid on Oct. 5, where she will discuss the question and the complexity of the answer

In March 2020, institutions and businesses shut down to curb the spread of COVID-19 and social distancing became the “new normal.” While staying home aimed to keep our bodies healthy, it also coincided with declining mental health.

In an upcoming seminar, “Is green space always beneficial for health?”, Colleen Reid, an assistant professor of geography, will present research findings and lingering questions about how exposure to green spaces, which are areas of vegetation, such as parks, gardens and planted trees, can boost physical and mental health. 

Colleen Reid

Reid’s presentation is set for 11 a.m. Oct. 5 virtually. The virtual event is free and open to the public, but .

“There's all this research saying that green spaces are important for health, and (researchers have) linked it to almost everything” regarding mental and physical well-being, Reid says. “But there's a lot of nuance to it. There's tons of unanswered questions, (and) we don't know why it's beneficial.”

Reid started researching green space and its potential health benefits while studying how people’s well-being was affected by extreme heat due to climate change. Since trees absorb carbon and provide shade, green spaces populated with trees can act as a “protective (measure), or an adaptation, that can be done at the municipal level to try and cool environments in urban areas.” 

This led Reid to outline five dimensions of green space that contribute to our health: abundance, visibility, quality, access and usage. 

Abundance, Reid notes, “is what’s measured by satellites,” such as “how much photosynthesis is happening in (one) place.” 

Although important, the abundance of green space alone doesn’t decide how much a person’s well-being is improved. What also matters is visibility and quality, which are “more ground level (and) what you see, which is definitely different than what satellites are going to measure.”

There’s also access, which “could be physical proximity, but it also could be belonging. Do you feel like the park is a place you can go to and feel safe in? Or it could be about private vs. public green spaces. You could live right next to a golf course that's private.”

Finally, there’s usage: Do you actually spend time using green space? Or do you normally pass it by? According to Reid, these dimensions are important in measuring how much green spaces can affect our health. 

Along with examining these five dimensions, Reid wants to highlight how the perception of green space also can influence our well-being. 

“We think that we're the first ones to look at environmental perception (and) identity,” Reid notes about her research. “Do you consider yourself an environmentalist? Do you consider yourself an outdoors person?” These attributes can affect how one perceives their exposure to green space, Reid says. 

“Now we're trying to use that information to better understand: Is it perception or objective measures of green space that influence your health?” she says.

eid thinks many questions about green space and wellness remain unanswered. When COVID-19 emerged, she saw an opportunity to test how a major stressor such as the pandemic could be alleviated by people’s perception of green spaces. 

In a study conducted in Denver during fall 2020, Reid and her colleagues administered survey questions on stress, depression and anxiety, and found people reported more symptoms of mental illnesses during the pandemic.

The survey found that 33% of respondents reported using green space more during the pandemic than they did before.

Furthermore, respondents who indicated “higher quality of green space near where they lived had lower levels of anxiety” compared to those who reported that they did not perceive green space near their homes to be high quality.

Similarly, Reid’s study found that “people who (perceived) having more green space around, or at least (felt) they were using green space nearby, had lower depression and anxiety, particularly during this very stressful event.”

When Reid presents her seminar, she hopes the Boulder community will better understand “that we need to put more green space, whether that's street trees or parks, into urban areas, particularly in areas that don't have it right now. That can be beneficial from a carbon-sequestration standpoint, as well as a mental health benefit.”

Reid’s presentation is part of the Let's CU Well seminar series, an appendage of the College of Arts and Sciences’ wellness initiative, Be Well. Be Well’s mission is to address the balance between home and school life in the Boulder community.

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Let’s CU Well presentation on Sept. 29 to cover the ins and outs of bionutrition and CU Boulder’s Clinical Translation and Research Center

As diets and nutrition become more important, so does research. That is where Kathleen Farrell enters the equation.

Farrell, a registered dietitian nutritionist at the University of Colorado Boulder, will discuss her role as a research bionutritionist in her upcoming presentation, “.” This in-person event will be held in the CASE Chancellor’s Hall Auditorium at the University of Colorado Boulder on Thursday, Sept. 29, at 11 a.m. The event is free, but .

Kathleen Farrell frames the word “diet” as a memorable acronym: “Did I Eat (mindfully) Today.”

The event is part of the Let’s CU Well speaker series. The series is part of Be Well, an initiative launched by the College of Arts and Sciences to promote healthier lifestyle choices.

As a research bionutritionist, Farrell works with scientists to develop and carry out research on nutrition. Farrell leads and participates in dietary screenings of study participants for various research studies. 

Farrell gives instructions and dietary guidance to research study participants, develops and implements research diets and manages dietary data. She employs dietary assessment tools, including food preferences for development of research diets, food records and food-frequency questionnaires. 

For example, Farrell instructs subjects on how to record their food intake. The subjects’ records then give Farrell information on each subject’s ingestion of macro and micro-nutrients, along with data about saturated fat, fiber, omega 3 fatty acids, etc. 

The food record yields detailed information on foods, beverages and possibly dietary supplements consumed during the study period. 

Farrell uses  (NDSR), which is designed for dietary analysis. The NDSR database includes about 19,500 foods, of which 8,100 are brand name products. Ingredient choices and preparation methods provide more than 160,000 food variants. 

This presentation will help people learn about the Clinical Translation and Research Center (CTRC), which facilitates human biomedical research. Farrell’s presentation will double as a discussion of the significance of nutrition research and an introduction to the CTRC at CU Boulder.

Nutrition research conducted at the center ranges from metabolism, clinical health, fitness, population health and learning more about mechanisms at the molecular/biochemical and cellular levels relevant to human nutrition.

As Nikki Leonardo, administrative manager at the CTRC, describes it, facility is a support center for faculty involved in clinical research: “We provide resources to facilitate a safe environment for human biomedical research. We are here to help investigators take their research from the bench to the bedside.” 

The CTRC provides infrastructure, resources and dedicated space to conduct clinical research, and the center’s staff includes physicians, nurses, an exercise physiologist, a biostatistician and a research-subject advocate.

Farrell and Leonardo encourage investigators and researchers who want to take a medically in-depth approach with their participants but do not have the means to do it safely to visit the CTRC. 

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Duo to discuss 'the darkest days and the season of light' from the vantage point of two disparate disciplines

Erica Ellingson (top) and Roselinde Kaiser.

The winter solstice in December marks the astronomical change of the seasons: the year’s shortest day and the beginning of the sunrise’s northward swing along the horizon. For millennia, people have identified the days around solstice as special, acknowledging their association with darkness, but also celebrating the return of light. 

Let’s CU Well will host Erica Ellingson, professor in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, and Roselinde Kaiser, associate professor in the Department  of Psychology and Neuroscience, for a conversation about the winter solstice, the challenges and stressors that are common to this time of year, and how we can use this time of transition as an opportunity for renewal and wellness.

Their presentation is titled, "December: the darkest days and the season of light."

Let’s CU Well, a series of wellness presentations, is an outgrowth of the College of Arts and Sciences’ wellness initiative, called Be Well.

Let’s CU Well aims to help the college community find balance in both home and school life with the help of presentations from the college's wellness researchers and practitioners.

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