On April 10, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) Director and Geography Professor Waleed Abdalati, along with Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) Director Dan Baker met with staff members of Colorado congressional delegation to discuss the impacts of science reductions in the President’s 2025 budget request to the interests of the State of Colorado, its educational institutions, and businesses.  They met with staff from the offices of Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and Congressmen Neguse and Pettersen.  While the primary focus was on risks to Earth and Space Science at NOAA and NASA, the impacts of the broader reductions were discussed as well. During that same visit to Washington DC, Abdalati, along with several directors from other NOAA-funded cooperative institutes met with staff from the House Science Committee to also discuss the implications of federal budget challenges on the interests of the institutes, our universities, and the nation.  

Picture: From the visit. Waleed Abdalati (left) and Dan Baker (right). The photo was taken by Heather Bené in CU Government Relations

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Back in December, CIRES Director and Geography professor Waleed Abdalati testified before the Subcommittee on Space and Science in a hearing titled “Landsat at 50 & the Future of U.S. Satellite-based Earth Observation.” The subcommittee hearing, convened by Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO), highlighted critical Earth observation satellite data, the rise of commercial satellite providers, and the value this data adds to agriculture, city planning, water management, wildfire prevention and detection, and disaster response. 

“The 50-year record of  highlights the value of space-based observations in understanding how our Earth is changing, and how those observations benefit the lives of people,” said Abdalati, “The view from space offered by Landsat and the many other Earth-observing satellites, provides a context, scale, and perspective of change critical to predicting weather, managing hazards, meeting the challenges of climate change, and so much more. They are an indispensable tool in effectively navigating and managing our changing environment.” 

Abdalati, who was the former chief scientist at NASA from 2011-2012, joined current NASA chief scientist Kate Calvin as well as leadership from NOAA, Maxar Technologies, and USGS at the hearing.  

Abdalati and U.S. Senator from Colorado, John Hickenlooper

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I was recently invited to take a river rafting trip on the Colorado River with Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Mitt Romney (R-UT), among others, and to provide a scientific perspective on climate change and its impacts on the western United States. The purpose of the trip was to draw attention, in a bipartisan way, to some of the challenges that climate change is bringing to the way we live, and to discuss approaches to meeting those challenges.  One of the most impactful ways climate change is affecting the western U.S. is in the form of drought and water stress – a sense that was made clear by the very low and slow-moving Colorado River. On the bank of the river, before we put into the water, each of the senators made statements about the challenges we face with diminishing water availability, which affects livelihoods, economic interests, human health, ecosystems, recreation, and so much more. Both spoke eloquently about the importance of understanding and effectively managing climate change. After they spoke, I provided a summary of what the science and data are telling us about the changes we are seeing, what the future is projected to look like, and the challenges that we in the west, as well as our fellow citizens across the nation and world, are likely to face.  

As I spoke, I was struck by the way in which these two men, as well as the other members of the trip — with a range of backgrounds and political perspectives — nodded in affirmation at what I was telling them.  While I was the scientist, summarizing findings and providing the latest scientific information, some, such as the ranchers, were actually living with these climate stresses. Some, like the senators, have the responsibility to try to enact policies that seek to limit and manage those stresses. One, a tribal chairman, lamented the change to the lands that were sacred to his people, that they had found harmony with and that nourished them for many generations. A water manager described the unenviable task of trying to ensure optimal use and distribution — within political, moral, and legal constraints — of this dwindling resource that so many of us take for granted. Each was nodding with a shared, yet distinct, familiarity borne from their own experiences and perspectives. 

The senators spoke of the need to understand these changes and the implications for water resources in their states. They spoke of the need for research and the need to adopt effective practices to manage not just what is certainly coming, but in many ways is already here.  And as was the intent of the trip, and is often the case when we speak face-to-face, partisan lines were absent. Our attention was focused on the beauty of our surroundings and the imperative to meet the challenges that lie ahead. 

We shared a gentle raft-ride down the beautiful Colorado River; we shared stories of how we experience the land and water and how climate change threatens those ways. And most of all, we shared time and purpose – different people from different backgrounds brought together for one beautiful and meaningful day. And on that day, we weren’t different; we were the same.

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Waleed Abdalati testified to Congress for the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. 

Waleed Abdalati

On April 15, 2021, Professor Abdalati testified in a hearing held by the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. The hearing was titled “Making the Case for Climate Action: The Growing Risks and Costs of Inaction.”

While Dr. Abdalati spoke to the underlying physical mechanisms of climate change, their current expressions, and future implications, other witnesses included the city manager for Tybee Island in Coastal Georgia, who talked about the challenges they face in confronting sea level rise; a lawyer from Mississippi, who spoke to the ethnic and racial inequities associated with climate change; and an economist, who spoke to the social costs of climate change. 

Dr. Abdalati remarked, "hearing these different perspectives on climate change really drove home the geographic dimensions of climate change in a very powerful way, as well as the critical role that geography serves in meeting these challenges.”

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Holly Barnard

Holly Barnard Awarded Boulder Faculty Excellence in Leadership & Service Award for 2020-2021

Chosen from amongst many excellent nominees, Professor Holly Barnard was selected as a recipient of the BFA Faculty Excellence in Leadership and Service Award this year. 

She was jointly nominated by the Department of Geography and the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) for her leadership in advancing justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in both units, across the CU campus, and beyond. In addition, Professor Barnard has also taken on numerous leadership roles in the discipline, through the American Geophysical Union and through her past service as Lead Program Manager for the Hydrological Sciences Program at NSF. 

Additionally, Dr. Barnard was also recently honored for her efforts to promote diversity by the Arts & Sciences Council of the College of A&S.

Emily Yeh Winner of the 2020-2021 Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award

Emily Yeh

Yaffa Truelove

Yaffa Truelove Wins Best Urban Studies Article 2020

The Urban Studies Best Article is awarded by the editors to the authors of the most innovative and agenda-setting article published in a given year. Eleven articles were shortlisted by the editors from those published in print copy in 2020.  is an international journal for research in urban and regional studies.

Dr. Truelove's article, Disambiguating the southern urban critique: Propositions, pathways and possibilities for a more global urban studies, has been voted by the editors as the Urban Studies Best Article for 2020. In agreement with the publisher, SAGE, they will be allowing Open Access to the article on the journal’s website.

Katherine Lininger

Katherine Lininger

Professor Katherine Lininger was part of a team given a CU Outreach Award for the outreach proposal, “CU Restoration Ecology Experimental Learning Program”, by the CU Boulder Outreach Awards Committee. The effort was led by Tim Seastedt, professor emeritus of INSTAAR and EBIO, and also included Professor Sharon Collinge from the Department of Environmental Studies.  The project builds on three years of work, partnering with the non-profit Wildlands Restoration Volunteers (WRV). WRV uses service-learning and education programs to help local youth build relationships with nature. Over 70% of the youth engaged in the program come from low-income, minority, or at risk populations. As a result, underserved youth will have access to the many benefits of a connection to nature and will be able to explore potential careers in environmental sciences and see their own capacity to make a positive impact.

Their team was selected from amongst a very competitive pool of 40 applications. 

Morteza Karimzadeh

Morteza Karimzadeh awarded RIO Seed Grant

Morteza Karimzadeh and Terra McKinnish were awarded the CU RIO Seed Grant for the project entitled  “Recovering from a Pandemic: Unraveling Neighborhood Geographic Disparities in Consumer and Business Behavior in 2021”.

They will use foot-traffic data to identify business patrons’ residence neighborhoods and the level of recovery in consumption by residents living in those neighborhoods as characterized by different sociodemographic, political and economic conditions.

The 2021 Research & Innovation Seed Grant program resulted in 16 new grants with approximately $700,000 being awarded to CU Boulder faculty across disciplines, with each grant providing up to $50,000 in funding.

Heide Bruckner

MeatOut Day: Heide Bruckner Interviewed on Colorado Public Radio

In February, word started to get out that Gov. Jared Polis has proclaimed the 20th as MeatOut Day. The day, , is meant to encourage non-vegetarians to consider moving toward a plant-based diet.

Heide Bruckner's research involves the intersections of food and identity. “Meat has always been politicized and meat-eating tied to a lot of perceptions of American identity and masculinity, especially here in the American West,” she said.

Dr. Bruckner favors the idea of a MeatOut Day, as a way to introduce people to the idea that they can reduce the amount of meat in their diet without becoming a full vegetarian.

“There is a large area in between that all-or-nothing approach that we really should explore,” she said. “Realistically, one day isn’t going to radically shift perception, change behaviors or reduce meat consumption. But I do believe it can provide an opening for some to consider the role that meat plays in their diet.”

The governor’s office notes that Polis issues numerous proclamations each year celebrating the state’s agricultural sector, including Colorado Ag Day, Farm Bureau Day, and Rocky Ford Cantaloupe Day. But that has not stopped the criticism. After word of the proclamation got out, several state Senators spoke out against MeatOut Day on the chamber floor.

John O'Loughlin: Ukrainian Resident’s Divided Views on the Donbas Conflict

John O’Loughlin

On February 12, 2015 the Minsk II accords left the Donbas region territorially divided with the Ukrainian government controlling the western side and two separatist entities controlling the eastern side. O’Loughlin and his research team conducted a survey on both sides and they found drastically different opinions regarding the war in Donbas.

On the eastern side, they found trust in the authorities to be higher among residents; however, on the western side, they found trust in the authorities to be much lower among residents. Their survey also shows that residents disagree on the future status of Donbas as an autonomous region. 

The team also made a research presentation on the results at George Washington University’s  in February; the video of the talk is available on . 

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About Waleed: His research interests integrate satellite and airborne remote sensing techniques with in situ observations and modeling to understand how and why the Earth's ice cover is changing, and what those changes mean for life on Earth. After receiving his doctorate from CU-Geography, he worked as a NASA scientist for 12 years where he was heavily involved in development of NASA's Ice Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) and its successor, ICESat-II. He served for two years as NASA’s Chief Scientist, working as principal adviser to the NASA Administrator on science programs, strategic planning, and the evaluation of related investments before returning to CU and joining CIRES (the Cooperative Institute for Research on Environmental Sciences) which he now directs.

• Ridge Zackary, "Affordable Housing in Boulder"
• Nick Lewis, "Exploring the Utility of DOD Missile Warning Satellites for Sea Ice Detection"
• Martha Morrissey, "Crowdsourced Data and Cycling"
• Sam Smith, "Spaces and Identities in Three State History Museums"
• Caitlin Ryan, "Re-imagining Central Asian Geography: Moving Beyond Ethnicity and Conflict"
• Alice Hill, "Will the Aral Sea Dry Up? Clarifying Central Asia’s Mountain Water Supplies in a Warming Climate"

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The context, perspective, and scale provided by remote sensing observations have made them an invaluable source of data for understanding the Earth System. In the prerequisite introductory course, Remote Sensing of the Environment (GEOG/GEOL 4093/5093), students learned some of the basic physical principals underlying remote sensing and were introduced to some of the key remote sensing capabilities and how they work. This class is designed to build on that foundation by delving deeper into the physics of remote sensing and examining image analysis techniques for extracting the maximum amount of information from remotely sensed imagery. 

This course will enable in-depth examination of environmental issues and parameters that are generally local in nature, but global in significance.

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"Encompassing South American wildfires, Arctic sea-ice retreat, post-Soviet politics, climate change in Tibet and GIS, CU Boulder geographers keep their fingers on the pulse of a changing world"

A new article titled  by CU's Clint Talbott featuring the Geography Department has been published in the Colorado Arts and Sciences magazine. The article presents an overview of the breadth of research undertaken by several faculty members and aims to redefine "Geography" by discussing the nature of our work. 

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The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Domestic Policy Council invited Department of Geography professor Waleed Abdalati to deliver a keynote at a citizen science forum, “Open Science and Innovation: Of the People, For the People, By the People”, on Wednesday, September 30, 2015. The forum is scheduled to take place in Washington, DC on the White House complex.

In the 2013 Second Open Government National Action Plan, President Obama called on agencies to harness the ingenuity of the public by accelerating and scaling the use of open innovation methods such as citizen science and crowdsourcing. Through this Plan, the Administration committed to expand its use of crowdsourcing and citizen science programs to further engage the public in problem solving and, as part of the 2015 White House Science Fair, made a commitment to hold a Citizen Science Forum.

This forum will bring together citizen science professionals, researchers, and stakeholders from local, state, Federal, and Tribal governments; academia; non-profits; and the private sector to celebrate the contributions of crowdsourcing and citizen science to enhancing agencies’ missions, and scientific and societal outcomes. It will also enable cross-sector discussions to spur bigger, better, and bolder citizen science and crowdsourcing utilization across a number of important challenges facing the Nation, such as the preservation of pollinators, monitoring drought conditions, recovering from coastal flooding, and low cost instrumentation for health.

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