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In the News
CU Boulder among top 10 institutions globally in Earth and environmental sciences
June 15th, 2018CU Boulder ranked among the top 10 institutions worldwide in producing research and Earth and environmental sciences last year. The university also placed 50th among academic institutions globally in producing high-quality science, overall.
How can we find out how much snow is in the world?
June 14th, 2018In Colorado forests, NASA scientists and a multinational team of researchers that includes INSTAARs test the limits of satellite remote sensing for measuring the water content of snow.
Sea ice loss and wave action trigger rapid ice shelf disintegrations in the Antarctic
June 14th, 2018A new study finds that when Antarctica’s massive ice shelves lack a protective buffer of sea ice, ocean swells from the north flex the shelves and can weaken their stabilizing seaward edge. Regular inundation by summer meltwater as the seaward edge breaks away can also contribute to rapid ice shelf disintegration.
Freshmen tackle data and art in first hands-on engineering project
June 8th, 2018For their first hands-on engineering project, a group of eight freshmen took on a big challenge – take air quality data and help turn it into art. Their section of the college’s First-Year Engineering Projects class (GEEN 1400) teamed with artist and CU alum Ken Bernstein to make a prototype for a large interactive sculpture he plans, which will make air quality data being collected by INSTAAR and other Colorado agencies more visual.
CU researchers hunting Boulder’s historic apple trees, varieties ‘lost in time’
June 6th, 2018Boulder Apple Tree Project, led by Katie Suding, is designed to identify, study and preserve area's historic apple trees
Cranking up the volume on wildfire
June 5th, 2018Western wildfire seasons are worse when it’s dry and fuel-rich, and the chances of ignition are high—and all three factors were pushed to their limits last year, triggering one of the largest and costliest U.S. wildfire seasons in recent decades, according to a new paper. Climate change likely helped exacerbate fuels and dryness, the paper found, and people’s behavior contributed the sparks.