Climate & Environment

Why remembering the Big Thompson Flood of 1976 matters today

Megan M Rogers — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 14:04:15 +0000

Why remembering the Big Thompson Flood of 1976 matters today Megan M Rogers Thu, 07/30/2026 - 08:04

�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder Natural Hazards Center Director Lori Peek says there are still lessons to be learned from the devastating flash flood, 50 years later.

Traditional

White

Wildfires are moving faster. Here's what that means for Colorado

Yvaine Ye — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 15:52:02 +0000

Wildfires are moving faster. Here's what that means for Colorado Yvaine Ye Thu, 07/23/2026 - 09:52

An aerial view of the Ferris Fire in western Colorado on June 28. (Credit: Wikimedia)

Yvaine Ye

Wildfires in Colorado have scorched more than 242,000 acres of land, more than twice the size of Denver, as of late July, surpassing the state’s average annual burn area of 237,000 acres.

The fires, including three of the largest in Colorado history, have already destroyed hundreds of properties and killed four firefighters. Fire ecologists warn that the damage is likely to grow.

“Fires are here to stay,” said Virginia Iglesias, director of Earth Lab at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder.

“If we keep doing what we've been doing—if we don't take action on climate change and reduce fuel accumulation, and we continue developing in fire-prone areas, people in Colorado will face an increased risk of losing their homes to wildfires in the future.”

Virginia Iglesias

Iglesias and her team have found that wildfires in the western United States are spreading faster in recent decades, making them more destructive and dangerous.

With 22 active wildfires burning across Colorado, and dozens more ravaging communities across the western United States and Canada, �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder Today sat down with her to talk about this fire season. She explained why wildfires have been particularly severe this year, whether relief may be on the horizon and what people can do to protect themselves and their property.

What’s driving this year’s intense wildfires?

For a fire to start and spread, first we need fuel, which includes trees, grasses and shrubs, but also our homes. We've been working on suppressing fires in the wild for decades, so there is a lot of vegetation accumulated across the landscape, and it is ready to burn.

Second, this vegetation is very, very dry. We’ve been in a prolonged drought in the western United States, partly as a result of climate change. This past winter, Colorado had very little snow. The dry condition makes fuel more likely to catch on fire and spread.

The third factor is ignition, which can come from lightning or people. As cities continue to expand, we’ve been developing homes and bringing ignition sources like cars, recreation and power lines into areas that are fire-prone.

This year, all three factors have come together to create a particularly challenging wildfire season.

Are wildfires becoming more destructive across the American West?

Our research published last year showed that the speed at which a wildfire spreads is a major factor in how destructive it becomes. We found that fast-moving fires were responsible for 88% of homes destroyed by wildfires between 2001 and 2020, even though they accounted for just 2.7% of all recorded blazes.

Fires that spread rapidly are much harder to fight, because emergency resources cannot be deployed quickly enough, and firefighters cannot quickly contain the fire. They also make evacuations much more challenging, posing a greater threat to lives.

And wildfires are spreading faster across the American West. There's growing evidence that climate change is responsible for a large share of the area burned each year, and it also makes fires more intense. We're now leading a new project called the Fast Fire Network to better understand what drives these fast-moving fires and why some communities are more vulnerable to them than others.

A map of current wildfires in Colorado as of July 23. (Credit: Western Fire Chiefs)

Are we expecting some relief soon?

The rainfall that could really help us out right now would come from the North American monsoon, when moisture flows from the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of California northward and produces afternoon thunderstorms across the American Southwest.

Typically, the monsoon starts to develop in Mexico in June and reaches our area in July. But this year, it’s a little delayed. We are expecting some moisture to arrive in early August. Those rains should help reduce fire risks.

That said, thunderstorms also bring lightning and strong wind gusts that may start new fires or help existing ones spread.

What can people do to protect their homes from wildfires?

Our upcoming research shows that without meaningful action, the risk of losing a home to wildfire could rise rapidly over the coming decades.

Much of that increase in risk comes from expanding urban development into the wildland-urban interface, where homes are built very close to flammable vegetation.

Fortunately, there are things we could do, such as using fire-resilient roofing materials, which many homes in Colorado are already equipped with. Another strategy is creating "defensible space" around homes. The first 5 feet surrounding a house should contain nothing that can burn.

Organizations like Wildfire Partners and the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety provide great guidelines for homeowners on measures that can reduce the probability of a fire reaching our homes.

What are some immediate actions individuals can take to adapt to this new era of fire?

Fuel is already present, and drought cannot be reversed in the short term. The one factor we can immediately influence is ignition.

Avoiding activities that can throw sparks on hot, dry, windy days, such as lawnmowers and chainsaws; and being careful with campfires, following fire restrictions and disposing of cigarettes safely can all help limit wildfire risk.

As wildfires move faster, it's important to remember we now have less time to react. If an evacuation order is issued, act immediately. Fires can spread much more quickly than they did in the past.

�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder Today regularly publishes Q&As on news topics through the lens of scholarly expertise and research/creative work. The responses here reflect the knowledge and interpretations of the expert and should not be considered the university position on the issue. All publication content is subject to edits for clarity, brevity and university style guidelines.

As dozens of wildfires continue to burn across Colorado and the American West, a �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder fire ecologist shares her insight on what's to come.

Traditional

An aerial view of the Ferris Fire in western Colorado on June 28. (Credit: Wikimedia)

White

An aerial view of the Ferris Fire in western Colorado on June 28. (Credit: Wikimedia)

Can leaderless societies get stuff done? Ask the honeybees

Lisa Marshall — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 19:24:17 +0000

Can leaderless societies get stuff done? Ask the honeybees Lisa Marshall Tue, 07/21/2026 - 13:24

Lisa Marshall

Do organizations do better when they have a central leader who calls the shots or a decentralized group of individuals who sort out their own division of labor?

The question has intrigued philosophers, biologists, political scientists and business leaders for centuries.

A new honeybee-inspired study, published in the journal PNAS, offers answers. It suggests that while both kinds of organizations can survive and thrive, leaderless groups may have an edge—as long as communication is good and there’s just the right mix of risk-takers and cautious followers.

“We found that decentralized strategies of decision making are at least as good as centrally coordinated ones and, in many ways, may be more robust and resilient,” said corresponding author Zachary Kilpatrick, a professor of applied mathematics who studies how animals, including insects and humans, make decisions.

Using math to understand decision making

Peek at a bee colony and you’ll find tens of thousands of individuals toiling away, each with their own unique role in supporting the hive. Some explore surrounding meadows, foraging for nectar and pollen and scouting for information to bring back to the group. Others hang back, cleaning the hive and feeding the larvae. While the queen lays eggs and chemically signals her presence, she doesn’t determine who does what.

Elephant troops follow the lead of the matriarch while baboons and schools of fish tend to collectively decide which way to move. Credit: Adobe Stock photos

Ants and termites operate similarly, without a central authority.

Other animals are more hierarchical.

In a herd of elephants, the oldest female makes the call on where to find water and when to flee, when survival is at stake. Wolf breeding pairs direct where the group hunts and rests.

Wild baboons are a mix of hierarchy and egalitarianism, living in ranked groups but deciding democratically where to go when it’s time to move.

To get at which system works best under what circumstances, and how leaderless societies manage to accomplish so much, Kilpatrick and his colleagues—Hyunjoong Kim of the University of Cincinnati and Krešimir Josić of the University of Houston—developed a mathematical model informed by research on real animals in the wild.

The model simulated life in a bee colony under different scenarios with varying numbers of bees; good and bad environmental conditions; and a central coordinator vs no central coordinator.

Surprisingly, the study found no difference in outcome between scenarios where a central coordinator determined who does what and scenarios where individuals acted based on their own risk tolerance.

“Turns out those models behave identically,” said Kilpatrick.

And in some ways, the leaderless group was more resilient, the model suggested.

“If one individual is making the decisions for an entire group, and that individual dies, gets removed or can’t communicate with the group it leaves it really vulnerable,” Kilpatrick said. “In a decentralized group if you knock out one communication pathway, there are others.”

Another question at the core of the experiment, and in day-to-day life in a hive: How many risk-takers, or scouts, should be sent out to forage and how many should cautiously wait?

The study found that the larger the group, the smaller the proportion of risk-takers it required. That’s because each brave bee that puts its life on the line to leave the hive adds proportionally less new information to the colony upon return.

“If you send too many foragers out, you’re going to waste a bunch of energy for little additional benefit,” he said. “The same scaling logic may hold for human groups, where a small team may need half its members exploring while a large field needs only a handful.”

Notably, the study found that the more challenging the situation, in terms of weather and resources, the more critical it was for this division of labor to be dialed in.

Zachary Kilpatrick

Lessons for humans

Kilpatrick said the findings could help inform development of artificial neural networks (computing systems modeled after the human brain) and multi-agent systems (think drone swarms working collectively toward a common goal).

“One of the best ways to design efficient systems and technologies is to look at what nature has done.”

But the study also yields other lessons for humans.

Research has shown that our ancestral default, from living in small hunter-gatherer bands, is to make decisions collectively. Some small organizations, like kibbutzim or co-ops, still do this. But as organizations grow larger, humans tend to build centralized hierarchies and install powerful leaders to control them.

“That flexibility is one of our most distinctive traits as a species,” Kilpatrick said.

Yet much human advancement can be attributed to moments when, without direction from above, risk-taking individuals break out to make scientific discoveries, launch startups, explore new territories or create avant-garde art—nudging the more cautious to follow them when the time is right.

As new, more complex challenges arise, humans might want to take a cue from the bees, said Kilpatrick.

“Our research suggests that there can be a real benefit to having decentralized, individuated exploration that ultimately gets shared back with the community.”

A new honeybee-inspired analysis suggests that central control isn't necessary for group success, as long as there's good communication and just the right mix of risk-takers and cautious followers.

Traditional

White

New �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder residency turns alpine research into creative practice

Emma Holst — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

New �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder residency turns alpine research into creative practice Emma Holst Tue, 07/21/2026 - 05:00

NEST-MRS residents and researchers observe the landscape. (Credit: Scott Taylor)

�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder's NEST (Nature, Environment, Science and Technology) Studio for the Arts and the Mountain Research Station (MRS) have launched the NEST-MRS Arts and Sciences Residency, a new program bringing eco-oriented artists into one of �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder’s long-standing sites for environmental research and learning. From June 5 to 21, six artists in residency spent time at the MRS, attending the summer seminar series and shadowing scientists conducting field research in the Front Range.

The partnership marks the first time NEST and MRS have worked together to bring artists to the research station, where collaboration centers on sustainability, water ecology and a landscape in visible transformation. The result is a residency that treats interdisciplinarity as daily practice: artists observing scientists at work, researchers seeing familiar questions through new creative lenses, and both groups considering how environmental change can be witnessed, documented and shared.

For Scott Taylor, director of MRS, the timing for this new endeavor felt natural. “It has always been a goal of mine to support art-science initiatives at the MRS,” he said, adding that he is “always looking for ways to collaborate with folks on campus—the more interdisciplinary connections between the MRS and campus, the better.”

For Joanne Marras Tate, assistant director of NEST Studio for the Arts, the collaboration builds on years of interest. She sees the station as “an inspirational place for arts and science,” where those who enter and stay can deeply engage with the landscape, learn from one another and connect.

Witnessing a landscape in transformation

At MRS, artists encountered a seasonal threshold as researchers continue to document change in alpine ecosystems. Taylor described the field station itself as a landscape in constant transformation, where the shift from dormancy to growth unfolds alongside the scientific work of tracking change.

The arts and sciences are not separate pursuits but mutually reinforcing ways of understanding and sharing the world.”

The residency is not only about translating these scientific findings into art; it's also about creating the conditions for artists and scientists to notice differently, understand the landscape through a new lens and ask questions across disciplines.

For Erika Torii-Karch, a double major in art and integrated design engineering, that kind of attention begins with what might otherwise be missed: “Appreciate the mundane, and you’ll find beauty everywhere you look.”

That perspective surfaces across the cohort. Annaleise Kealiher, who is pursuing a master’s in creative technology and design, frames sustainability as a matter of attention, noting, “The biggest threat to sustainability is apathy.”

Together, those approaches push the residency beyond observation alone toward larger questions of how people understand and respond to environmental change.

NEST-MRS residents and researchers observe the landscape. (Credit: Scott Taylor)

Creative practices grounded in research

Those questions take shape in many forms across the artists’ projects. The flora and fauna Kealiher is studying will be depicted in a ceramic tea ceremony that explores how organisms adapt in shifting conditions.

Josephine Graczyk, an environmental design and music double major, is crafting a paper installation that explores sustainability, prompting reflection on the fragile relationship between natural and built environments.

Similarly, Lucy Derrick, who is pursuing a master’s of the environment, is utilizing material to make invisible environmental conditions tangible. Her project uses smoke-exposed wool, cotton and nylon filters to photograph landscapes, drawing air quality and its public health implications into view.

Nadia Alhassani, an ecology and environmental biology doctoral student, is filming a documentary that widens the lens, following the transition from winter to summer through snowmelt and changing mountain phenology.

Torii-Karch brings the focus back to environmental minutiae. Her large paintings center commonly overlooked alpine details, like lichen and bark, encouraging viewers to value their everyday environment.

Ayesha Rawal, who is pursuing a master’s in creative technology and design, is building an immersive landscape of her own. Her installation uses felted and sewn sculptures of native plants and wildlife to show how human presence can reshape the environment.

Art as environmental communication

Together, the projects point to art’s role in making environmental research more accessible, especially when scientific work can feel hidden behind specialized language or data. Alhassani sees that accessibility as essential, saying, “Nature is for everyone, and we should all be able to understand how our planet behaves.”

That sentiment resonates throughout the cohort, as Derrick and Rawal describe art as a way to “make invisible threats visible” and “inspire curiosity, joy and wonder about the world around us.” Across perspectives and media, the artists treat creative practice as a way to lower barriers, invite curiosity and connect audiences to environmental change in immediate ways.

That emphasis on communication aligns with Marras Tate’s goals for the residency. She hopes the artists and scientists “learn new ways to tell their stories—and to tell new stories as they engage with one another.” The arts and sciences, she noted, are not separate pursuits but mutually reinforcing ways of understanding and sharing the world.

(Credit: Erin Espelie)

(Credit: Scott Taylor)

(Credit: Erin Espelie)

A foundation for what comes next

As a newly established program, the NEST-MRS Arts and Science Residency offers a clear model for interdisciplinary exchange at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder. Graczyk sees the exchange as an invitation to “slow down and engage thoughtfully.”

For Taylor, its success lies in real connections among artists and scientists, and in broader recognition of MRS as a “place of interdisciplinary work, an open community of scientists, scholars and artists.”

At a field station where environmental change is studied in real time, the residency offers another way to witness transformation and to share what is at stake. It also creates a foundation for future relationships among colleges, departments and disciplines, offering what Marras Tate described as “a table with seats for the arts and science” where future collaboration can continue to grow.

A new partnership between �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder's NEST Studio for the Arts and the Mountain Research Station makes interdisciplinarity a daily practice, bringing artists and scientists together to witness environmental change from new perspectives.

Traditional

White

The mile-high city is short on shade

Yvaine Ye — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 15:02:23 +0000

The mile-high city is short on shade Yvaine Ye Fri, 07/17/2026 - 09:02

A park in the Central Park (previously known as Stapleton) neighborhood. (Credit: Nico Goda/�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder)

Yvaine Ye

In a city that sits a mile closer to the sun, where thinner air allows more ultraviolet (UV) radiation to reach the ground, finding shade can be surprisingly difficult.

An ongoing study by a �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder researcher has revealed that many of Denver’s public spaces, from playgrounds to bus stops, don't provide enough shade to protect people from potentially cancer-causing UV exposure and heat. Lower-income neighborhoods, communities of color and areas with a history of disinvestment bear the greatest burden.

“Currently, most of our cities have very minimal shade guidelines,” said Sara Tabatabaie, an associate teaching professor of environmental design who is leading the study. “As our population ages, planning for shade in public spaces is no longer a luxury but essential infrastructure. Providing adequate shade helps protect older adults, who are more susceptible to heat and UV exposure, and whose physical and mental well-being depends on safe access to outdoor public spaces.”

Excessive UV radiation can damage DNA in skin cells and lead to skin cancer, the most common cancer in the United States. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, one in five Americans will develop skin cancer by age 70.

Because of Denver’s high elevation, the city’s summer UV levels could easily reach the “very high” to “extreme” range on the UV index, which measures the intensity of the sun's radiation.

A playground with minimal shade in Denver's City Park. (Credit: Sara Tabatabaie/�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder)

Funded by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), Sara Tabatabaie and her team have surveyed six Denver neighborhoods representing a range of demographic and socioeconomic backgrounds to evaluate their sun exposure and shade availability between 2023 and 2024.

The team first conducted area assessments of shade availability and where people are most likely to be active outdoors in these neighborhoods. They then used a geographic information system, a computer model, to simulate shade from trees and buildings across the city, using the field observations to calibrate and validate the analysis.

Taking these factors into consideration, the team developed a “sun risk index” that identifies how great a risk of sun exposure each neighborhood has. They then expanded the model to all 78 neighborhoods across the city.

The results show that about a quarter of Denver neighborhoods are categorized among “high” or “very high” sun risk, many of them located in historically redlined areas. After the Great Depression, the U.S. government implemented a racist and discriminatory policy that designated neighborhoods with racial and ethnic minority residents as high-risk for mortgage lenders, often outlining them in red, or redlining them, on maps.

In Denver, these neighborhoods lie along the city’s two major interstate highways, I-70 and I-25, and continue to have higher proportions of residents of color. Previous �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder studies have found that residents in these historically redlined areas are also more likely to experience air pollution.

Many of the neighborhoods with the greatest sun risk, such as Ruby Hill in west Denver and Montebello in the east, also have large populations of children. For example, more than 30% of Montbello's residents are under the age of 18. Because much of the lifetime risk of melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer, is linked to episodes of sunburn and UV exposure during childhood, the lack of shade in these areas is particularly concerning, Tabatabaie said.

A sun-risk index map created by Tabatabaie and her team. Darker red colors indicate higher sun exposure risk, while larger circles represent areas with larger child populations. (Credit: Sara Tabatabaie/�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder)

“While our study didn’t examine the reasons behind differences in shade coverage, historical patterns of disinvestment likely play an important role. Neighborhoods that experienced decades of underinvestment often had fewer resources to plant and maintain trees. We also found that neighborhoods transitioning from industrial to residential or mixed-use development, such as River North, tend to have limited tree canopy, because newly planted trees need time to mature after redevelopment,” Tabatabaie said.

Drawing on public health research, Denver's UV index and observations of how residents use these spaces, the team also proposed a set of shade thresholds tailored to the activities and users of each type of public space, including playgrounds, schoolyards, bus stops, streets, plazas and urban trails. For example, they recommend that playgrounds and schoolyards should maintain at least 50% to 65% shade.

Using computer simulations and community survey feedback, the team developed shade design guidelines that combine trees and shade structures, like pergolas, to meet the recommended shade thresholds.

"People often think trees are the only way to provide shade. But for neighborhoods that are already straining for resources, combining trees with shade structures can provide immediate protection. Shade structures are also easier to maintain.” Tabatabaie said.

The team is now looking for ways to translate these shade recommendations into urban planning and policy frameworks that can guide future investments in public spaces. They are also conducting a cost-benefit analysis, comparing the cost of installing shade with the health benefits of reducing heat and UV exposure.

As Denver's temperatures climb into the upper 90s this week, Tabatabaie said the work offers cities a practical roadmap for creating public spaces that are safer and more comfortable for people of all ages.

"When we think about public infrastructure, we usually think about roads and sidewalks," Tabatabaie said. "Shade should definitely be part of that conversation because it protects people's health."

The project is a partnership between the CDPHE, and Community Engagement, Design and Research Center (CEDaR) at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder.

A new study shows widespread exposure to harmful UV radiation and heat in many of Denver's public spaces. It also offers a roadmap for designing healthier neighborhoods.

Narrow

A park in the Central Park (previously known as Stapleton) neighborhood. (Credit: Nico Goda/�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder)

White

A park in the Central Park/Stapleton neighborhood. (Credit: Nico Goda/�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder)

Seaweed-based ingredient can help turn dirt into 3D-printed walls

Yvaine Ye — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 10:44:50 +0000

Seaweed-based ingredient can help turn dirt into 3D-printed walls Yvaine Ye Mon, 06/22/2026 - 04:44

3D-printed earth-fiber objects by Lola Ben-Alon and the Natural Materials Lab were exhibited at the London Craft Week. (Credit: Dan Weill)

Yvaine Ye

An ingredient that gives ice cream a creamier texture could make natural earthen materials like clay and sand easier to 3D-print into durable structures, according to new research led by scientists at the �鶹��Ѱ��.

The discovery could help turn construction waste into building materials with lower environmental impact.

“From termite mounds to adobe buildings, humans and animals have been building with earth since the dawn of time,” said Wil Srubar, professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering. “But there hasn’t been a lot of science to how earthen builders design the materials. So, we wanted to use scientific knowledge and tools to understand it.”

In nature, termites construct towering mounds. Wasps build intricate nests, and honeycomb worms create reef-like structures along coastlines. Rather than relying on cement, these organisms use biopolymers, which are large biological molecules that act like glue, often found in saliva, to bind natural materials like soil and clay together.

Inspired by nature’s designs, Srubar and his team, including researchers at Columbia University in New York, set out to investigate which biopolymer could bind earthen materials and make them 3D-printable.

The team tested five biopolymers, including legume-derived guar gum, locust bean gum and cassia gum. These compounds are commonly found in food products like salad dressings to keep oil and water from separating. They also studied sodium alginate, derived from seaweed, and xanthan gum, produced by fermenting sugar.

The researchers found that locust bean gum could hold earthen materials tightly together by binding soil particles into a stronger network. But that same effect made the material harder to push through a 3D-printer nozzle.

Sodium alginate, often found in ice cream and used to make spherical foods like popping boba, produced the opposite effect. Instead of functioning like a glue, the polymer changed the electrical charges on clay particles, causing them to repel one another, similar to how the same poles of two magnets push each other away.

As a result, adding sodium alginate to clay and sand produced materials that allowed the particles to suspend in a stable mixture while still flowing smoothly through a 3D printer.

Left: Earthen Rituals, exhibited at the 2026 Venice Architecture Biennial, is constructed with 3D-printed earthen materials. (Credit: Alessandro Terranova); Middle: Details of the earthen bricks. (Credit: Alessandro Terranova); Right: A vertical vessel with earthen materials. (Credit: Lola Ben-Alon and the Natural Materials Lab)

Then the team searched for the best formulation. To natural earth excavated from a granite quarry near Golden, Colorado, they added just 0.12% of sodium alginate, which produced a material that was both strong and printable. It could withstand 25% more pressure than earth without the biopolymer and could be printed 33% faster.

Using the formula, the team printed an 8-millimeter-thick (0.3-inch) wall that leaned outward at dramatic angles. They found that the structure could remain stable even when tilted to 60 degrees, far steeper than the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

While the current study focuses primarily on improving the printability of earthen materials, Srubar said scientists could use the same framework to test other biopolymers for enhanced properties such as strength and durability.

“There are some good indoor environmental benefits of having earth in a building,” said Samuel Armistead, a research associate in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering. “It can regulate indoor moisture and uptake air pollutants. It can also serve as a thermal insulator, keeping things cool in the summer and warm in the winter.”

Construction projects often generate large amounts of excavated soil when workers dig foundations, basements, or parking structures. Much of that material ends up in landfills.

“Our study suggests that there are ways to reuse waste earth material onsite, and that could largely reduce the environmental footprint of construction,” Armistead said.

Because clay and sand are widely available, Srubar said the team's findings could help builders around the world to tap into local resources.

“Clay and sand are among the most abundant building materials on Earth,” Srubar said. “The science and engineering we're developing can be applied almost anywhere in the world.”

Rebecca Mikofsky at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder, and Columbia University scientists Yierfan Maierdan, Olga Carcassi, Shiho Kawashima and Lola Ben-Alon also contributed to the work.

By studying how nature builds with dirt, �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder researchers found a way to turn excavated soil into stronger and 3D printable building materials.

Traditional

3D-printed earth-fiber objects by Lola Ben-Alon and the Natural Materials Lab were exhibited at the London Craft Week. (Credit: Dan Weill)

White

3D-printed earth-fiber objects by Lola Ben-Alon and the Natural Materials Lab were exhibited at the London Craft Week. (Credit: Dan Weill)

Herbicide spraying for cheatgrass not always necessary, new research shows

Yvaine Ye — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 19:31:34 +0000

Herbicide spraying for cheatgrass not always necessary, new research shows Yvaine Ye Wed, 06/10/2026 - 13:31

Dried cheatgrass. (Credit: Jennifer Strickland/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Yvaine Ye

In recent decades, ecologists and land managers across the American West have treated cheatgrass as a threat.

On lands where the scraggly plant, which produces seeds that burrow into socks and shoelaces, thrives, native plants seem to suffer. When the organism wilts and dries up in summer, it can become ready fuel for wildfires in parts of the country already struggling with destructive blazes.

But a new review paper published in Restoration Ecology by researchers at the �鶹��Ѱ�� suggests that on Colorado’s Front Range, cheatgrass may not be invasive after all. The authors contend that large-scale herbicide spraying is unnecessary and could cause more harm than the weed itself.

Tim Seastedt at Spruce Gulch. (Credit: Gabe Allen/�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder)

The study comes as Boulder County land managers prepare to use drones to spray cheatgrass on open space.

“We found that managing cheatgrass is more complex than we once thought,” said Tim Seastedt, an emeritus professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, as he pointed to the small patches of cheatgrass at the Spruce Gulch Wildlife and Research Reserve just outside of Boulder. “The traits that make the plant successful in some climates aren't nearly as effective in places like ours. Our data suggests that the Front Range can cure itself with regard to cheatgrass.”

Seastedt is the director of the Spruce Gulch reserve, a 476-acre natural area managed by �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR). Before 2006, ranching and grazing activity on the land removed a substaintial percentage of its native plants. Cheatgrass, a fast-growing species introduced from Europe in the 1800s, seized the opportunity and spread rapidly.

Scientists have estimated that cheatgrass accounted for 60% of the vegetation cover at Spruce Gulch in 2011.

Front Range vs. the Great Basin

Unlike most native plants in the western United States, which can live for many years, cheatgrass is an annual plant. It germinates in late fall to early spring, and by summer has dried up, dropping new seeds onto the ground. This rapid lifecycle allows the organism to outcompete native grasses for resources, especially in disturbed ecosystems.

In the Great Basin, a 200,000-square-mile region spanning much of Nevada and the surrounding states to the west of Colorado, research has shown that invasive annual grasses, particularly cheatgrass, have significantly displaced native plants, and their extent has reportedly tripled since the 1990s.

In recent years, land managers across the West have been using an herbicide known as indaziflam to control cheatgrass. The chemical works by preventing grass seeds from germinating and can remain active in soil for up to four years.

On May 21, officials in Boulder County approved a plan to spray the herbicide across roughly 800 acres of open space in the county west of U.S. 36 this fall or winter using drones. County authorities had paused the plan last December following strong public backlash over concerns about the herbicide’s environmental effects, but are now moving forward after adjusting the treatment area to avoid endangered wildlife habitats and water basins. Jefferson County has also applied indaziflam on its open space lands.

Seastedt and the review’s co-author, Robert Brakenridge, a senior research associate at INSTAAR, argue that cheatgrass does not appear to behave like an invasive species on the Front Range.

“Much of what we understand about cheatgrass and the decisions we make to control it is based on studies in the Great Basin region,” Seastedt said. “In their story, cheatgrass is the villain. But that may not be the case here.”

Brakenridge and Seastedt reviewed all available research, roughly 30 studies in total, on Front Range cheatgrass ecology, as well as on indaziflam’s ecological and safety impacts,

They found that while cheatgrass can dominate overgrazed land in Colorado temporarily, much as it did in the Great Basin, it fails to outcompete native plants and spread uncontrollably in healthy grassland here.

For instance, at Spruce Gulch, the team estimated that cheatgrass cover has fallen from 60% to about 10% over the past 15 years without any chemical treatment. They simply let the land recover from overgrazing and ranching.

The literature also suggested that cheatgrass might not increase fire risk on the Front Range in the same way it did in the Great Basin.

For instance, while the grass is highly flammable after it dries up in the summer, the Front Range receives about half of its precipitation in spring and summer, meaning much of the surrounding vegetation remains green. These live plants limit cheatgrass’ ability to carry fires across the landscape, unlike more arid regions in the west.

“Cheatgrass doesn’t behave like an invasive species here in Colorado in the same way it does in the Great Basin,” Seastedt said. “I’d call it an obnoxious species rather than a noxious one.”

Left: Cheatgrass (in red) accounted for over half of the vegetation cover at Spruce Gulch around 2012. Middle: Cheatgrass cover has fallen to 20% in 2025. Right: While much of the cheatgrass has not yet dried up and turned red, researchers estimated that its cover has declined to less than 10% this year.(Credit: Tim Seastedt/�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder)

The risks of herbicide

On the other hand, past studies the team reviewed have found that indaziflam can kill seeds broadly, harming native plants, especially when applied aerially by drone.

Studies have also reported that the herbicide contains PFAS, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, often called “forever chemicals” for being able to stick around in the environment for a long time. While it remains unclear if PFAS from indaziflam can accumulate in and harm animals and humans, scientists have linked some PFAS to health issues like cancers and hormone disruption.

“We found that here on the Front Range, letting the land restore itself is a better way to control cheatgrass,” Seastedt said. He added that using herbicides to remove the remaining patches of cheatgrass could leave lifeless “brown holes” on the ground, effectively releasing carbon captured by these plants back into the atmosphere and contributing further to climate change.

“It’s exactly the wrong management for climate mitigation,” said Seastedt. “For Colorado, doing nothing is the right approach to cheatgrass management, ecologically and economically.”

A grass considered invasive in much of the American West is less threatening on Colorado’s Front Range, according to a new �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder review article.

Traditional

Dried cheatgrass. (Credit: Jennifer Strickland/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

White

Dried cheatgrass. (Credit: Jennifer Strickland/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Climate change is changing how and why people move

Yvaine Ye — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 19:33:26 +0000

Climate change is changing how and why people move Yvaine Ye Tue, 06/09/2026 - 13:33

Yvaine Ye

In the climate-vulnerable villages of Bangladesh, migration is a survival strategy for many rural families that rely on agriculture.

When heat waves damage crops or floods inundate communities, many people choose to leave their homes to seek better opportunities in bigger cities or even outside of the country.

But in a recent study published in Population and Development Review, �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder researchers suggested that climate change doesn’t always drive people away.

While extreme heat and storms can increase migration, having relatives and other family ties who have already migrated actually reduced the chances that people leave the country during periods of extreme weather.

“Migration is a really important way that families adapt and cope with environmental change, but there are a lot of big questions about who has the capacity to adapt in this way,” said Amanda Carrico, associate professor in the Department of Environmental Studies and the paper’s first author.

“There's been a lot of media coverage and speculation that climate change could cause tensions by driving migration, but we actually saw the inverse,” she said.

�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder Today sat down with Carrico to chat about the findings and their implications for people around the world.

The research team interviewed local residents on their families' migration history. (Credit: Amanada Carrico/�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder)

In Bangladesh, where are people moving?

Bangladesh is still a lower-middle income country, and most people rely on agriculture as their source of income. As the nation industrializes, most people who migrate are migrating domestically to large cities like Dhaka, the capital city, and to Chittagong. The country is also seeing increasing international migration, and the most common destinations are Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Indonesia. By 2019, 7.8 million Bangladeshis had moved abroad.

Most migration is driven by economics. Families often send one or more members, typically a young man, to earn income elsewhere and send remittances home.

Why focus on southwest Bangladesh?

The country’s southwest is very vulnerable to climate change. It is a coastal area, so it faces frequent storms, flooding, saltwater flowing into freshwater systems and extreme heat. Many people there depend on agriculture, making livelihoods highly sensitive to environmental stress.

How does climate change affect migration more generally?

Previous studies have shown that environmental stress can drive people to migrate, especially those whose livelihoods rely on agriculture and fishing. In Bangladesh, when extreme weather events like heatwaves and storms damage crops, families may send a member, usually a young son, to a city for other work.

Why are social networks important for migration?

Migrating is expensive and risky. People with relatives or friends who already migrated often have access to information, housing, financial help or job opportunities.

So, we wanted to know if those social connections facilitate migration and mobility among those who are experiencing environmental stress.

A big part of understanding differential impacts of climate change is understanding differential adaptive capacity.

What did you find?

We collected data about more than 11,000 people in 2,920 households in rural Bangladesh through interviews of the household heads and their spouses. During these interviews, we recorded their families’ migration history between 1989 and 2017.

We found that heatwaves and storms tended to increase domestic migration among men.

But the biggest surprise came from international migration. We found that households that have a lot of social ties to international migrants are less likely to send migrants internationally during these periods of extreme heat. This is inconsistent with the prevailing narrative, which is that climate stress pushes people out. And if you already have these social ties, you should be just that much more likely to leave in theory.

What we found might be suggesting that families with relatives already working abroad may receive enough financial support to stabilize their livelihoods during difficult years. So they may delay trips that were planned.

Did the study find differences between men and women?

In rural Bangladesh, migration for work is still heavily shaped by gender norms. Men are more likely to migrate for employment, while women’s migration is often linked to marriage.

And for women who stayed behind after their husbands migrated, they tend to be better off overall. Supported by the remittances, they have better emotional health and even physical health compared to their peers.

But in recent years, we also observed changes in these patterns. We are now seeing younger women increasingly moving for education.

Why is this finding important for those living elsewhere?

It's geopolitically significant, because there's a lot of anxiety about climate-displaced persons crossing borders.

It's possible that climate stress could actually make it harder for people to leave.

A new study of 11,000 people over two decades in Bangledesh finds that heatwaves and storms increase migration. But, surprisingly, families with strong international migrant networks may be more likely to stay put.

Traditional

White

In rural Bangladesh, many people migrate, becasue extreme weather events like heatwaves and storms damage crops. (Credit: Amanda Carrico/�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder)

'Super El Niño' coming? Climate scientists weigh in

Yvaine Ye — Thu, 14 May 2026 20:44:44 +0000

'Super El Niño' coming? Climate scientists weigh in Yvaine Ye Thu, 05/14/2026 - 14:44

Strong El Niño events may bring drought and forest fires to Southeast Asia. (Credit: toa555/Adobe Stock)

Lauren Lipuma

Editor's Note: This story was updated on June 12 to reflect the latest NOAA predictions and new research results.

On June 11, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed that El Niño has developed in the tropical Pacific. Scientists predicted that this weather condition has a 63% chance of intensifying into a “very strong” El Niño this fall and winter.

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, is a natural fluctuation in sea surface temperatures across the tropical Pacific Ocean. Every few years, heat builds up in the Pacific Ocean near the equator, creating warm conditions in the central and eastern part of the basin, a phenomenon known as El Niño. The discharge of this heat into the atmosphere results in colder conditions along the equatorial Pacific, and scientists refer to this pattern as La Niña.

Currently, the planet is shifting away from a La Niña that had been in place since last summer to an El Niño.

According to a new study by researchers at NOAA and the Cooperative Institute for Research and Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder, the likelihood of extensive wildfire developing in the Southwest and Rocky Mountain regions during the spring and summer following an El Niño in the fall would be halved.

El Niño doesn’t affect weather the same way everywhere, according to CIRES climate scientists Kris Karnauskas and Antonietta Capotondi. For Colorado, these climate patterns may not have a direct impact. It’s unclear whether the state will see relief from the drought it’s been battling since last winter, Karnauskas said.

�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder Today sat down with Karnauskas and Capotondi to break down these predictions and discuss what is likely to happen this fall and winter.

How does El Niño affect our weather?

Because the Pacific Ocean is the largest body of water on Earth, when its water gains or loses heat, like during an El Niño or a La Niña event, that can modify atmospheric circulation enough to affect weather conditions in many parts of the world. The warmer the tropical Pacific is, the stronger the El Niño and, generally, its impacts.

“ENSO tries to lock us into a weather pattern that persists for several months,” said Karnauskas, who is also an associate professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. “It starts with the ocean and has a sort of ripple effect on the weather all over the world.”

However, El Niño doesn’t affect weather the same way everywhere.

“During an El Niño event, we tend to expect a warmer western half of the United States,” Karnauskas said.

Average location of the Pacific and Polar Jet Streams and typical temperature and precipitation impacts in an El Niños winter over North America. (Credit: Fiona Martin/ NOAA Climate.gov)

The southwestern United States tend to get more precipitation, and the northeastern part of the country could see drier conditions during an El Niño.

“It's not a globally consistent effect. It is very regional,” he added.

How does an El Niño event develop and how do forecasters track it?

The two main ingredients needed to produce an El Niño event are a buildup of warm water in the tropical Pacific Ocean, and changes to winds that can allow that water to reach the typically colder eastern equatorial Pacific and warm that area (El Niño essentially weakens the tradewinds that blow east to west across the equator).

Once warm conditions are established in the eastern equatorial Pacific, they can further reinforce the original wind changes, a positive feedback loop that allows the El Niño to grow.

El Niño events tend to peak in the Northern Hemisphere’s winter. During the summer and fall, scientists track the temperature of the Pacific Ocean and the relevant wind conditions to determine whether an El Niño will develop.

Right now, we’re seeing the tropical Pacific Ocean becoming warmer, meaning we’re trending toward an El Niño, but that doesn’t necessarily guarantee an El Niño will develop.

Are the current conditions in the Pacific Ocean conducive to producing an El Niño event?

The planet has been in a La Niña state for the past few months and are now in neutral ENSO conditions, according to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. However, heat is building in the tropical Pacific Ocean, so scientists are seeing a trend toward El Niño. For the past few weeks, forecast models have been predicting that we will head into an El Niño state later this year and that it could be incredibly strong.

Capotondi pointed out that some of the key ingredients for the development of a potentially strong El Niño are in place. The heat content in the equatorial Pacific is large, and strong anomalous winds are present just north of the equator. These winds are associated with another climate fluctuation, the Pacific Meridional Mode, which is in a condition that favors the development of an El Niño. The Pacific Meridional Mode affects the tradewinds and sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean.

“At this point, we are still relatively early in the year, although we are getting toward the end of spring and things seem to be moving in that direction,” she said.

There is also a lot of noise in Earth’s climate system, Capotondi added, so there is never an absolute certainty that conditions will develop the way they are forecasted to.

Should we be concerned that some forecasts are calling for a ‘super El Niño’?

There’s no formal, scientific definition of a ‘super El Niño,’ according to Karnauskas.

“What that sounds like to me is a very strong El Niño, and we've had a lot of strong El Niños in the past,” he said.

Based on the current forecasts, this year’s El Niño could be the fifth strongest since 1982 when satellites began tracking ocean temperatures, if it continues to develop as predicted.

“So it wouldn't by any stretch be a record-breaking El Niño,” Karnauskas said. “But it would be a strong one with important implications.”

This graph shows El Niño and La Niña events since 1982. The strength of the event is related to how far the sea surface temperatures deviate from average. (Credit: Kris Karnauskas and Lauren Lipuma/CIRES/�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder)

What does all this mean?

“The fuel for a big El Niño is there,” Karnauskas said. “It's a question of whether that heat bubbles up to the surface, or if it stays lurking below the surface, out of sight.”

If El Niño continues to develop the way forecasters predict, it will likely be within the top five strongest El Niños in the past 44 years, according to Karnauskas. We should have a better idea of what the specific impacts will be over the coming months, he added.

“It looks like all the main ingredients are in place for a strong El Niño to occur,” Capotondi said. But it still could turn out weaker than expected.

"It is like baking a cake,” she added. “You need all the ingredients, but also a functioning oven for a predictable outcome. We have the main ingredients, and unless the oven breaks, we should have the cake.”

News outlets have been reporting for the past few weeks that we will see a "super El Niño" this coming winter. Two climate scientists explain how it may be too early to predict with certainty.

Traditional

Strong El Niño events may bring drought and forest fires to Southeast Asia. (Credit: toa555/Adobe Stock)

White

Strong El Niño events may bring drought and forest fires to Southeast Asia. (Credit: toa555/Adobe Stock)

CUriosity: What are Colorado's iconic birds—and how can you see them?

Yvaine Ye — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:07:45 +0000

CUriosity: What are Colorado's iconic birds—and how can you see them? Yvaine Ye Wed, 04/15/2026 - 12:07

Male greater sage grouse inflates its air sacs while trying to attract mates in spring. (Credit: Bob Wick/Bureau of Land Management)

Daniel Strain

In CUriosity, experts across the �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder campus answer questions about humans, our planet and the universe beyond.

Scott Taylor, associate professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and director of the Mountain Research Station at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder, shares some local birds you may never have heard of.

Male greater sage grouse inflates its air sacs while trying to attract mates in spring. (Credit: Bob Wick/Bureau of Land Management)

Ah, spring. Time to plant flowers and do a little cleaning.

It’s also time for the greater sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) to strut its stuff. These birds look a little like fancy chickens, and they live across much of the American West, including in the sagebrush grassland of western Colorado.

Every spring, males engage in a bizarre display to attract females. They flex their wings, suck in as much as a gallon of air, then inflate two sacs the size and color of lemons on their breasts—letting rip a series of whistles, coos and popping noises.

“It’s a combination of vocalizations and the sound their feathers make when they rub them against their bodies,” says Scott Taylor, associate professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

Taylor is an ornithologist and director of the Mountain Research Station at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder, a high-altitude research facility near the mountain town of Nederland. He’s also the host of the podcast “Okay, … But Birds,” which debuted in December.

“Colorado is an amazing place to watch birds because of all the different habitats we have here, all the way from the high plains to the prairies and up into the alpine,” he says.

To celebrate spring, Taylor is sharing a few of the wildest, strangest and underappreciated birds in the state.

Bird watching

Turkey vulture perches on top of Macky Auditorium on the �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder campus (Casey Cass/�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder)

Brown-capped rosy finch (CC image via Wikimedia Commons)

White-tailed ptarmigan in its winter plumage (CC image via Wikimedia Commons)

Mountain chickadee (Anna Weyers Blades/USFWS)

He begins with what might be Colorado’s ultimate 14er climber, the brown-capped rosy finch (Leucosticte australis).

These small birds are brown with a blush of pink on their undersides. They live almost exclusively in the mountains of Colorado, only venturing into a small corner of New Mexico.

Previously in CUriosity

Why is K-pop so popular in the United States?

Read more CUriosity stories

Rosy finches are also the highest nesting birds in North America. They lay their eggs at elevations of up to 14,000 feet above sea level and higher and have evolved for life at these extreme altitudes. They carry a special kind of hemoglobin molecule in their red blood cells. This hemoglobin is especially adept at picking up oxygen and delivering it to tissues. It’s a useful tool when you breathe the thin air on top of a mountain.

Next up is a master of disguise, the white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura). Ptarmigans, another chicken-like bird, can usually be found running around the mountain tundra. To blend in with their surroundings, they turn brown in the summer and stark white in the winter.

“The chicks also have a pattern that looks like lichen, so it’s really good camouflage to protect themselves from predators,” Taylor says.

Experienced birders may overlook black-capped (Poecile atricapillus) and mountain (Poecile gambeli) chickadees, two species that are common visitors to bird feeders around much of the American West. But these birds can achieve feats of memory that are almost unparalleled in the animal world, Taylor says.

Every year, chickadees collect tens of thousands of seeds and store away each of them in a unique hiding place. They remember their hiding spots when winter arrives.

“With a brain that’s just a little bit bigger than a chickpea, they can remember way more than I can,” he says.

Taylor adds that not all bird species are flourishing in Colorado. Rosy finch and sage grouse populations are declining across the state because of human threats like warming temperatures, habitat loss, and oil and gas extraction.

But there’s a lot that people can do to help birds around Colorado. Taylor recommends planting native plants in your yard and keeping domestic cats indoors where they can’t hunt birds.

There’s also no better time to get into birding. Apps like Merlin Bird ID, which was developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, can help novices identify the birds they see. Local birding groups around the state also lead trips that beginners can join.

You don’t have to go farther than the �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder campus to enjoy feathered friends, either. Several pairs of red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) nest on campus. Taylor even spotted one of them scooping up a rabbit from Norlin Quad last year. Violet-green swallows (Tachycineta thalassina) just returned to Boulder last week and will soon be building their nests under the red tiles on many campus buildings.

“One of the reasons birds fascinate us is that they're everywhere,” Taylor says. “On a daily basis, you don’t see that many other forms of wildlife. But birds are around us all the time.”

To celebrate spring, ornithologist Scott Taylor shares some Colorado birds you may never have heard of.

Zebra Striped

White

Climate & Environment

Why remembering the Big Thompson Flood of 1976 matters today

Related Articles

Wildfires are moving faster. Here's what that means for Colorado

What’s driving this year’s intense wildfires?

Are wildfires becoming more destructive across the American West?

Are we expecting some relief soon?

What can people do to protect their homes from wildfires?

What are some immediate actions individuals can take to adapt to this new era of fire?

Related Articles

Can leaderless societies get stuff done? Ask the honeybees

Using math to understand decision making

Lessons for humans

Related Articles

New �鶹��Ѱ�����Boulder residency turns alpine research into creative practice

Witnessing a landscape in transformation

Creative practices grounded in research

Art as environmental communication

A foundation for what comes next

Related Articles

The mile-high city is short on shade

Related Articles

Seaweed-based ingredient can help turn dirt into 3D-printed walls

Related Articles

Herbicide spraying for cheatgrass not always necessary, new research shows

Front Range vs. the Great Basin

The risks of herbicide

Related Articles

Climate change is changing how and why people move

In Bangladesh, where are people moving?

Why focus on southwest Bangladesh?

How does climate change affect migration more generally?

Why are social networks important for migration?

What did you find?

Did the study find differences between men and women?

Why is this finding important for those living elsewhere?

Related Articles

'Super El Niño' coming? Climate scientists weigh in

How does El Niño affect our weather?

How does an El Niño event develop and how do forecasters track it?

Are the current conditions in the Pacific Ocean conducive to producing an El Niño event?

Should we be concerned that some forecasts are calling for a ‘super El Niño’?

What does all this mean?

Related Articles

CUriosity: What are Colorado's iconic birds—and how can you see them?

Related Articles

New �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder residency turns alpine research into creative practice