Undergraduate �鶹��Ժ

Scholar learns that ‘language links us all’

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 16:46:45 +0000

Scholar learns that ‘language links us all’ Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/05/2024 - 10:46

Doug McPherson

Political science undergrad Cooper Baldwin wins prestigious U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship to learn ‘one of the most critical languages for future United States policy’

Cooper Baldwin, a junior from San Antonio, Texas, majoring in political science and journalism, has been named a recipient of the 2024 Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) from the U.S. Department of State.

The scholarship allows American college and university students to learn languages that are key to America's engagement with the world.

Baldwin is the only CU Boulder student to receive the CLS in the last two years. Just 500 undergraduate and graduate students in the United States are chosen each year from an application pool of more than 5,000 students, according to the Department of State.

Cooper Baldwin, a junior majoring in political science and journalism, received a 2024 Critical Language Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State and studied Russian over the summer.

As a CLS recipient, Baldwin chose to study Russian (over Arabic and Chinese) and spent the summer learning the basics of the language online from what he calls “an awesome instructional team” based in Chișinău, Moldova. Russian was the language he’s most interested in learning, he says, and he wanted to get the basics down before he applied to go to a Russian-speaking country next summer and study the language in more detail.

“In my opinion, Russian is one of the most critical languages for future United States policy facilitators, executors and diplomats to learn,” Baldwin says. “Not only is it primarily spoken in many Eastern European countries, it’s the cornerstone of many languages and dialects worldwide. So, with such a broad reach, the choice seemed obvious to me.”

He says his initial curiosity about Russian stems, in part, from the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine: “The invasion … stoked a connection to that part of the world. To be honest, the invasion seemed entirely surreal to me, and the onset of a full, unprovoked invasion of a sovereign country rattled the conceptions I had about the relative peaceful nature of nations worldwide. I’ve never lived in a world without Russian aggression and a tense atmosphere from the Kremlin toward the United States.”

'A patriot above all'

Baldwin—who is interested in international relations, geopolitical relations, history and national security—calls himself “a patriot above all” who wants to give back to the United States.

“I believe the CLS program is the perfect way to do that. To learn a language critical to the U.S.'s national security and economic interests nationwide will allow me to pursue this commitment and philosophy fervently, which I intend to do.”

He calls his career goals “big and numerous” and says that working on political campaigns boosted his interest in politics and government.

“To those who know me, it's no secret that I’m thoroughly committed to entering the field of politics, campaigns or government when I graduate from CU. I intend on using my studies and experiences to seek a role in the federal government.”

He hopes to work in the Department of State, Homeland Security, intelligence services, civil military service or policy administration.

I want to live a life of service to the country that has given me so much. I know it is my birthright to be an American, but I see it as an incredible and awe-inspiring privilege to say I am.”

“I want to live a life of service to the country that has given me so much. I know it is my birthright to be an American, but I see it as an incredible and awe-inspiring privilege to say I am.”

Baldwin says that for as long as he can remember, he’s had a “deep interest” in language and linguistics.

“They’ve been an intellectual love of mine,” he says. “I taught myself to read at age 4 because I was so deeply invested in language and its capability for beautiful, complex expression. I find it incredibly interesting that people worldwide have such different ways of expressing themselves. Language links us all.”

He credits his middle school Spanish teacher in San Antonio for bolstering his interest in languages, and adds that she encouraged him to excel in class.

“My teacher never told me to slow down, to stay on pace with the class, to stop answering all the questions she asked,” he says. “She always gave me more material to push my studies further and took time … to give me additional practice with the language. The CLS program was the perfect opportunity to pursue language at the rapid pace I’m capable of, and it challenged me every day. I absolutely loved that.”

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Political science undergrad Cooper Baldwin wins prestigious U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship to learn ‘one of the most critical languages for future United States policy.'

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Scientists help students vanquish research-experience Catch-22

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 22:13:25 +0000

Scientists help students vanquish research-experience Catch-22 Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 06/05/2024 - 16:13

Rachel Sauer

In new publication, CU Boulder scientists detail how the SkillsCenter allows students to gain credentials in basic to advanced research skills

It’s an unfortunate truth of higher education that students are not exempt from a classic Catch-22: You need research experience to gain research experience.

“Undergraduates participating in research is a key variable for enhancing their persistence in STEM professions,” explains Zachary Hazlett, a PhD candidate in the University of Colorado Boulder Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. “But to gain access to opportunities in research is not the most straightforward. For a lot of students, these things aren’t baked into their undergraduate degree plan.”

So, students seeking research-focused internships, jobs or higher education opportunities after graduation are often inconsistently prepared with the necessary skills and experience. Hence, the SkillsCenter.

Zachary Hazlett, a PhD candidate in the University of Colorado Boulder Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, is a lead TA on the SkillsCenter proctor team and first author on a paper newly publish in Cell detailing the organizing philosophy, structure and goals of SkillsCenter.

As detailed in a paper newly published in the journal Cell, the SkillsCenter is a modular research skills training course that allows students to “gain training and micro-credentials in the laboratory skills of their choosing.”

In other words, Hazlett says, “what if there was a bridge, something between the classroom and these research spaces that can allow students to gain that necessary experience? That can help equip them to enter those spaces both confidently and competently?”

Module-based curriculum

The SkillsCenter, which is open to students of every major, emerged, in part, from a recognition that undergraduate students have often gained research experiences “by cold-calling faculty members and saying, ‘I’d like to work in research, are there any opportunities in your lab?’” Hazlett says.

Understandably, faculty often ask what their previous experience is, and if a student doesn’t have any, they have to hope they’ll get lucky and find a faculty member willing to teach them.

So, faculty and graduate students in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, led by Professor Michael Stowell, began researching and discussing alternative means by which undergraduate students could gain the training and experience they need to gain these critical professional development opportunities.

Based on the principle of “learning by doing,” they designed a module-based curriculum in which modules are scaled by skill level, with appropriate prerequisites, and students can learn at their own self-directed pace. In fall 2021, the first 10 students enrolled in the for-credit SkillsCenter course, working through skills such as lab safety, pipette operation and calibration, centrifugation, buffers and stocks preparation, autoclave sterilization and more.

Today, the course offers training in the laboratory basics as well as advanced training techniques such as polymerase chain reaction, protein expression and purification and various forms of microscopy.

“The course has been designed very carefully,” Hazlett says. “We’ve done our best to build a laboratory space that mimics a traditional research space. �鶹��Ժ working in the SkillsCenter gain the experience of what it would be like to be a member of a laboratory research group—in charge of maintaining their space, scheduling equipment, restocking materials, etc. The training modules themselves mimic something a trainee would encounter, with resources to help them and guide them in their conceptual understanding and procedural competence.”

Lab proctors—who are the course instructor, graduate students in the department and a number of undergraduate students who previously took the course—provide on- and off-site guidance for students and assess their work.

What if there was a bridge, something between the classroom and these research spaces that can allow students to gain that necessary experience? That can help equip them to enter those spaces both confidently and competently?"

Learning the scientific process

Through six semesters, SkillsCenter has grown and evolved from the original 10 students to nearly 100 per semester. The lab space is now open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday thanks to increased staffing, and students can work on their modules when their schedule allows.

“It is very important that we have trained lab proctors, and that we instruct our students very carefully on how to engage in this course,” Hazlett says. “�鶹��Ժ are instructed that they are responsible for seeking out the resources and guidance they need, and we make sure they know how to access the supports they need.”

Each module requires a certain number of tasks that students complete and submit to proctors for review. Proctors monitor students’ work through each module, give feedback and assess their progress through the scientific process—from hypothesis through notes and observations to interpretation of results.

After completing a module and passing all its required tasks, students receive a certificate for each skill, “so they can collect these certificates and put those skills on their resumes,” Hazlett says, adding that he and his colleagues are working with ORCiD and digital badge organizations to create digital credentials that students can display to future employers. “We also want to embed students’ raw data into those badges, so if an employer wants proof of their skills, they have direct evidence of students’ technical proficiencies.”

Hazlett and his colleagues also are building a network of industry and academic research lab partners to “create an ecosystem for training STEM students. Many students often excitedly explain to me how they have convinced faculty researchers to let them join their labs because of the experiences they have gained in the SkillsCenter.”

Researchers Beiyi Xu, Jennifer Knight, Michael Klymkowsky and Michael Stowell also contributed to the Cell publication.

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In new publication, CU Boulder scientists detail how the SkillsCenter allows students to gain credentials in basic to advanced research skills.

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CU Boulder student took a long, winding road to graduation

Anonymous — Thu, 02 May 2024 18:10:49 +0000

CU Boulder student took a long, winding road to graduation Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 05/02/2024 - 12:10

Bradley Worrell

Student who was just a few credits shy of graduating in 1997 will walk in May commencement ceremony thanks to Finish What You Started program

Marcos Castillo is a big believer in second chances.

Part of that comes from his years of experience working for Catholic Charities of Denver, where he has provided assistance to the Mile High City’s homeless populations and Colorado’s immigrant communities.

Perhaps just as importantly, Castillo knows the value of second chances in his own life and career, which has not followed a straight path.

So close to finishing

Marcos Castillo credits a return to his Catholic faith with getting his life back on track, including a renewed focus on completing college. He will walk with other graduating seniors on May 9 during ceremonies at Folsom Field on the CU Boulder campus.

In 1997, Castillo was on a trajectory to success. He was a senior at the University of Colorado Boulder, finishing his degree in political science and international business. Fate seemed to further smile on him when he was selected for an internship with the Colorado International Trade Office, which was then in the early stages of establishing trade relationships with chambers of commerce in Mexico. That internship led to an offer of full-time employment working as a contract trade consultant in Mexico and the United States.

“When the job opened, I took it, thinking I was almost done with school, and I could use the money. Plus, I just didn’t want to pass up the opportunity,” he says.

Castillo worked in that job for about 10 years, and by all accounts he was successful at it, before ultimately deciding to return home to Denver. Finishing college was never far from his mind, he says, so he enrolled again. Unfortunately, at that same time he was struggling with depression and battling alcohol addiction.

It was a particularly dark period in his life, he admits.

“I bounced around from job to job for several years,” he says. “I didn’t have a sense of direction, quite honestly.”

Things started to change for Castillo not long after he took a job with Catholic Charities.

“It called out to me because, yes, I’m Catholic, and I wanted to return to my faith. And with these personal struggles, I hadn’t been able to find a way to overcome them on my own, until I decided to take my faith seriously. Once I committed to that, it allowed me to focus on my work, and, later on, school.”

An opportunity with ‘Finish What You Started’

While working to help others in his job with Catholic Charities, Castillo in 2022 received some positive news about his own longstanding goal to finish college. That was the year that the CU Boulder Division of Continuing Education contacted Castillo to let him know he was eligible for assistance in completing his degree through the Finish What You Started program (see related story below).

Castillo embraces his calling with Catholic Charities work

With the passage of time, Marcos Castillo says he has come to look at his work for Catholic Charities as a calling.

“I’m committed to working for Catholic Charities and doing whatever I can to help those in need,” he says. “Whether it was helping the homeless population, like I did in the beginning, or now working with migrants, it’s something I know how to do and it’s something I’m good at.”

In his current role at Catholic Charities, Castillo spearheads the Temporary Protective Status and Employment Authorization workshops for qualified migrants, potentially allowing them to obtain temporary protective status and a work permit.

Castillo’s job with Catholic Charities is deeply personal. He was born in Mexico City and emigrated to Denver with his parents when he was just 8 and did not speak English. He says he sees his work as important and meaningful.

“I enjoy going to work every day. It’s hard work. Some days it can be emotionally taxing. There is always a lot going on, but I can’t see myself doing anything else,” he says. “This is where I need to be and this is what I need to be doing. So, that’s what my calling means for me.”

Castillo says he was excited about the prospect of returning to college, but also a bit nervous after being away for so long.

In retrospect, he didn’t need to worry.

“Ann Herrmann with Finish What You Started was amazing to work with, from the beginning until the end,” Castillo says. “She explained what forms I had to fill out, she helped explain the assistance I was eligible for, and she helped me narrow down which classes I needed to finish up my degree. Plus, she would just check in with me during the semester to ask how things were going. So, I felt really supported all the way through.”

That ended up being fortuitous, Castillo says, because he struggled in his first attempt to take an online biology course—an option that didn’t even exist during his first time in college. After he expressed his misgivings to Herrmann, she suggested he take the course as an evening class on the CU Boulder campus—and everything clicked.

“She gave me the encouragement to try again and get it done,” Castillo says. “Had it not been for that, I don’t know that I would have tried again, because I was really frustrated with myself at the time.”

With that first college class under his belt, Castillo then took an anthropology class called The Human Animal and an Introduction to Western Philosophy class, both of which he says he enjoyed and successfully passed. He was the oldest student in those classes, but both the instructors and the students made him feel welcome, he says.

Officially, Castillo finished his classes in December, but he’ll walk with other seniors during the May 9 commencement at Folsom Field on the CU Boulder campus. One regret is that the timing of the event will prevent his mom and younger brother, Tony, from attending, because they already had plans to be in Mexico at the time.

“It’s kind of sad. My mom, more than anyone, really pushed me to finish college,” he says. Still, Castillo says he has already promised to take selfies and livestream part of the event for absent family members.

The long road to finishing college

Even before re-enrolling at CU Boulder, one of the biggest turning points in his life, Castillo’s quest to earn a college degree took a number of twists and turns over the years.

A graduate of Denver East High School, he first enrolled at the University of the Americas Puebla, near Puebla, Mexico, where he studied psychology. All of the coursework was in Spanish, which Castillo says was actually a bit of a challenge because he didn’t learn formal Spanish growing up, so there was a learning curve.

After spending about a year and a half at the university in Puebla, where Castillo admits he struggled academically, he decided to return home to Denver. He enrolled at Community College of Denver, then transferred to University of Colorado Denver, where several of his high school friends were studying.

Marcos Castillo (left) with his dad, Juan, his mom, Victoria, and his younger brother, Tony. Castillo says his parents strongly supported his efforts to finish college.

“And then some of us just decided, ‘Let’s go to CU Boulder.’ We transferred over and moved up to Boulder. It was as simple as that,” he says. “My friends finished college, and I got through my senior year. I was so fortunate to have a good group of friends who helped me by serving as an example of how to do this. Had I not had those examples, I don’t know what I would have done.”

Reflecting on his quest to complete his degree, Castillo says, “I’ve done everything in a zig zag; I’ve never done it straight. I’ve taken the most random routes to attend and finish college.

“It’s funny, when I talk with my brother, he’s like, ‘You’ve been doing this for 25 years. You start, then stop, then start again.’ It’s true. When I stop and think about it, school has been a part of my entire adult life.”

Looking to the future

As for what his own future holds, Castillo, who recently turned 50, isn’t sure what comes next. However, after successfully earning his bachelor’s degree, he says he would love to pursue an advanced degree.

“There’s so many things that interest me. I’ve just started to consider what’s possible,” he says. “Religious studies is something I would be interested in. Obviously, something in the liberal arts—something where I could still be helping people. There’s just so much out there you can study.”

For this moment, though, as he prepares for commencement ceremonies next week, Castillo is happy to reflect on the hard work it took to finish his degree and to celebrate his success.

“I’m proud of being a senior graduate,” he says. “And I’m proud of being a part of the community here. I came to Denver when I was really young. I’ve lived here and in Mexico, but I consider Denver my home. And Boulder’s a big part of me, too. And so, I’m proud of staying in Colorado and being a part of the community here. I definitely couldn’t see myself doing this anywhere else.”

As for advice he would have for others contemplating finishing their degree, Castillo says, “There’s a lot of ups and downs, but it’s not impossible. And once you get it done, that feeling of accomplishment is unbelievable; it’s something that can’t be taken away.

“And this is from a normal guy who took a long time and finally found his place. I think that if I can do it, a lot of other people can do it, too. So, I think it would be cool if my story could help someone else.”

‘Finish What You Started’ helps former CU students complete their degrees

Since its inception in spring 2022, the University of Colorado Boulder Finish What You Started program has helped 52 students who were a few credits, or even semesters, shy of finishing their undergraduate degree to graduate—with still more students graduating this May.

“It’s rewarding and fulfilling work, for sure,” says Ann Herrmann, program manager and advisor for the grant-funded Finish What You Started (FWYS), which is administered by the Division of Continuing Education.

To be eligible for FWYS, an applicant must be a Colorado resident, must have missed at least two semesters and must be working on their first degree. Applicants also must answer questions about income, must attest that they were negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and they must be able to complete their degree by spring 2025, when the grant period ends.

The $3.1 million grant funding was part of a larger pool of money provided to all state colleges by the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative, which is supported by the American Rescue Plan, a $30 billion federal aid package intended to address the devastation of COVID-19.

FWYS offers students mix of advising and financial assistance. Eligible students have access to semester-over-semester scholarships starting at $1,500, as well as other sources of financial support, depending on individual student need.

“Our goal is to limit out-of-pocket expenses and college loans, if at all possible,” Herrmann says. “Our goal is to maximize the use of this grant money to help them finish their degrees without any additional financial burdens.”

Student support services include one-on-one academic advising and coaching, enrollment support and career advising to help students transition to the workforce after graduation, according to Michelle Pagnani, senior academic coach and lead program specialist for the FWYS program.

“Service offered include a combination of academic skill building and life coaching. Really, life coaching is sort of pulling from a model of positive psychology and motivational interviewing, as well as asking open-ended questions, so students can process their academic experience in light of other things going on in their lives and careers,” Pagnani says. “Lots of conversations are focused on time management and stress management.”

�鶹��Ժ enrolled in FWYS program run the gamut in ages, from 20-somethings to those in their 40s, 50s and older. One student who graduated last year was 76 years old.

The Division of Continuing Education hosts a graduation celebration for Finish What You Started graduates on commencement day, and Pagnani and Herrmann say that event highlights how meaningful the program is.

“It’s the most emotionally impactful event I’ve probably ever attended in my career,” Pagnani says.

“For some of these students, we’re their main source of support, so it’s super gratifying to celebrate with them,” Herrmann says. “Many students have said they don’t think they would have finished if not for Michelle’s help.”

Individuals interested in learning more about Finish What You Started can visit the program page or contact a program advisor at fwys@colorado.edu or 303-492-9671.

Student who was just a few credits shy of graduating in 1997 will walk in May commencement ceremony thanks to Finish What You Started program.

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A Nobel laureate walks into a first-year physics class…

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 18:57:11 +0000

A Nobel laureate walks into a first-year physics class… Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 04/19/2024 - 12:57

Rachel Sauer

General Physics for Majors course designed by CU Boulder Professors Eric Cornell and Paul Beale shows students that the furthest reaches of science are built on fundamental concepts

The Nobel laureate was not feeling happy about his minus signs.

He stood back from the blackboard—yes, an actual blackboard on which he wrote with actual chalk—and considered the calculus he’d jokingly hyped just moments before with, “This is some of that real calculus sensation. This is why you sat through that whole calculus class: for this moment.”

His team teacher, a noted scientist who this year is marking 40 years teaching physics at the University of Colorado Boulder, called from the back of the classroom, “That’s right, Eric.”

Professors Paul Beale (left) and Eric Cornell prepare for a Tuesday morning PHYS 1125 class. (Photos: Rachel Sauer)

Advanced math is not always easy with an audience watching—in this case, about 85 first-year physics, astrophysics and engineering physics students in PHYS 1125, General Physics 2 for Majors.

It’s a class for students who know they want to pursue a field of physics and are newly starting out in it. And it’s taught by a Nobel laureate.

“I harken back to freshman physics every day of my life,” explains Eric Cornell, a CU Boulder professor adjoint of physics and 2001 Nobel Prize winner in physics for his work with Bose-Einstein condensates. “I’m in a Facebook group with people I met my freshman year in physics.”

In other words, there’s absolutely no reason a Nobel laureate shouldn’t teach first-year physics.

Basic, foundational concepts

Cornell and Paul Beale, a CU Boulder professor of physics, created the course six years ago, in part to help students interested in pursuing physics to find community and support among like-minded peers. While other introductory physics courses are open to all majors, this one is specifically for physics, astrophysics and engineering physics majors. Steven Pollock, a professor of physics, and Yuan Shi, an assistant professor of physics, in the fall taught the first half of the course, PHYS 1115, which was created by Professors Chuck Rogers and Shijie Zhong.

“We start from ground zero,” Beale says. “Most (of the students) have had some physics in high school, most have seen these ideas before—they know that same charges repel. But even students who have had really good high school physics classes, maybe even AP classes, we say, ‘That’s great! Take our class.’

“Being with other physics majors helps them relax and get immersed in the field. Everybody in there really wants to be in there.”

Professor Eric Cornell (center, striped shirt) answers student questions in the physics help room.

A cynic might ask, however, why a Nobel laureate would be teaching a first-year class. Shouldn’t they be, you know, spending their time in the furthest, most esoteric reaches of physics? Doing the kind of science only a handful of people on the planet can understand?

“I want to push back on that idea that the basic, foundational concepts of physics don’t have considerable charm of their own,” Cornell says. “This is really fun stuff, and one of the things I like about this course is it gets into really interesting things right away.”

“It’s also a hard class,” Beale adds. “The concepts are difficult, so the challenge for us is to do everything we can to make them approachable. (The students) have got to get them right even though they’re hard, because everything else in physics builds on what they learn here.”

Cornell and Beale designed the class not only with beginning physics students in mind, but learning assistants and graduate students as well.

“In a lot of schools, grad students—who might be just one year past undergrad—are thrown in the classroom and told, ‘Here, go teach,’” Cornell says. In this course, however, graduate students assist with weekly tutorials but meet with Beale and Colin West, an associate teaching professor of physics, before each one, because the skills of teaching need to be taught. The same is true for class learning assistants, who are undergraduate students who took the course the previous year.

Cornell and Beale also spend time in the physics help room each week, which is a space where students can drop by for help with anything physics related.

“I would say that we are a very good teaching department, and not just our graduate program,” Beale says. “This is your introduction to physics, and you’re either going to like it or not, so we put a lot of effort into the first years.”

“We’re always asking, ‘How do we do better teaching?’” Cornell adds. “People like Paul and me have the advantage of people in this department who have studied teaching and have tried approaches like using clickers, using a conversational approach, using hands-on demonstrations. There are ongoing discussions about how we can be teaching better.”

Physics with a purple crayon

Sometimes, better teaching means an apology: “It’s my sorry duty to apologize for all the sins of physicists who went before me, and electrical engineers. And Ben Franklin,” Cornell said, writing “sorry!!” on the blackboard and underlining it twice. “I’m here to apologize for this thing called ‘potential.’ The whole rest of your life you’re going to be thinking about electric potential. It’s unavoidable. Your intuition will overwhelm your minus-sign errors.

Professor Paul Beale (standing, blue sweater) walks around the classroom during PHYS 1125 to help students and answer questions.

“It’s a ‘sorry, but...’ though, which is another way to say, ‘Suck it up.’”

While Cornell pivoted to voltage, “a happier, friendlier term (than electric potential),” Beale walked slowly among the rows of seats, stopping to sit by students who had questions and prompt them toward their response on class-wide clicker questions.

Pranay Raj Poosa, a freshman majoring in astrophysics who hopes to study black holes and neutron stars, cites Cornell’s and Beale’s enthusiasm for physics and their personal, conversational approach to teaching as two of the reasons he likes the class: “The fun they generate makes my understanding crystal clear,” he said. “The first day of class, (Cornell) made a joke about himself, which I personally felt was clap-worthy.”

Poosa added that he was in “utter disbelief” when his advisor mentioned a Nobel laureate would be teaching the class.

For Min Wang, a sophomore majoring in physics and interested in theoretical neuroscience and writing science fiction, Cornell and Beale have shown her that “great minds are not the ones who are walking in front of others all the time. They always slow down and let the young generation be on their shoulders.

“Even though what Professor Cornell taught us is just a tiny piece of knowledge in his mind, he shows amazing patience to every student and shows us how profound even a little, tiny bit in physics can be. And since I have time conflicts with all the office hours, Professor Beale gives me a special office hour time according to my school schedule. It is after class and work time on Friday! They make me feel welcome in the world of physics.”

Wang noted that while learning physics is not without its pains, she doesn’t feel alone in tackling them because she is part of a “lovely and supportive physics community created by the professors.”

Which is good, because it was time to do “a very modest amount of algebra, the kind you could do with a purple crayon if you’ve got one,” Cornell said, explaining how they could figure capacitance between two metal plates and then telling the students, “I’m going to show you something which I think is very neat. It’s kind of an advanced idea, giving you a taste of physics to come.”

The key thing to remember? “The whole idea of physics is zooming all the way into what does matter and ignoring what doesn’t.”

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General Physics for Majors course designed by CU Boulder Professors Eric Cornell and Paul Beale shows students that the furthest reaches of science are built on fundamental concepts.

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College of Arts and Sciences names 2024 Van Ek Scholars

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 22:16:08 +0000

College of Arts and Sciences names 2024 Van Ek Scholars Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 04/17/2024 - 16:16

Twenty-three students receive one of college's highest honors, recognized for academic achievement and depth of service

The College of Arts and Sciences has awarded the Jacob Van Ek Scholarship—one of the college’s highest honors—to 23 exceptional undergraduates.

The award is named for Jacob Van Ek (1896-1999), who arrived at CU as a young assistant professor shortly after earning his doctorate in 1925 at what is now known as Iowa State University. Within three years, he was a full professor and, by 1929, he was dean of the College of Liberal Arts, serving until 1959.

The following students are this year’s Jakob Van Ek Scholar Award recipients:

Emily Aguirre, English/Spanish
Simon Bantugan, Geology
Seleny Banuelas, BFA Ceramics/BA Spanish
Aaron Barrios, Physics/Astronomy/Math
Mariana Bastias, English/Psychology and Neuroscience
Auburn Berry, Integrative Physiology
Blanca Cerda, Neuroscience
Rachel Coppock, Anthropology
Sarah Coronna, Anthropology
Adriana Espinoza, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
Samantha Haygood, Philosophy and Sociology
Lucas Hendricks, Chinese
Taylor Johnson, Philosophy
Emma Judge, Biochemistry
Samantha Lane, Sociology
Isabella (Bella) Malherbe, Art History
Grant Mannino, Psychology and Neuroscience
Miles Moore, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Rumi Natanzi, Ethnic Studies
Callie Noar, Integrative Physiology
Alexandra Plocki, Physics
Hayley Thomas, International Affairs
Grace Tuzizila, Integrative Physiology

Twenty-three students receive one of college's highest honors, recognized for academic achievement and depth of service.

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But seriously, folks, climate change is a laughing matter

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 18:30:24 +0000

But seriously, folks, climate change is a laughing matter Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 04/05/2024 - 12:30

Rachel Sauer

‘Stand Up for Climate Comedy’ unites CU Boulder student performers and professional comedians in a show that encourages the audience to laugh together and then work together

The Green Bachelor was not impressed with Oceana Sea and her 2 million followers—despite her name, she hates the water and doesn’t know how to swim. Nor was he impressed with Petrolina Exxon and her daddy’s helicopter. They clearly weren’t there for the right reasons.

Not to spoil the true-eco-love ending, but the Green Bachelor, a marine biologist, was smitten with the contestant who rode her bike to the Green Bachelor mansion and knows the flow of her local watershed.

Pause scene.

"Stand Up for Climate Comedy" is at 7 p.m. April 15 at Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. Admission is free.

“I think we should say, ‘What is your local watershed and what are you doing to support it, hmm?’” says Elizabeth Smith, a junior majoring in environmental studies.

This followed discussion of defining Oceana as someone who obviously doesn’t know her bodies of water, and advice from Beth Osnes to remember that the sketch is “a physicality thing, so get it up on its feet as soon as you can.”

It was a Tuesday morning in the Climate Change Communication class, and students were laughing at climate change.

Not the reality of it, of course—it’s the defining issue of their generation and there’s nothing funny about it—but in preparation for Stand Up for Climate Comedy April 15 at the Boulder Theater. The show, which is in its ninth year, will feature comedians and science communicators Chuck Nice, Rollie Williams and Kasha Patel, as well as students from the Climate Change Communication class, who write and perform either solo stand-up or group sketches that they create together with support from Osnes and Ben Stasny, a PhD candidate in theater and teaching assistant for the class.

“Comedy has always taken on serious, heavy, depressing social issues,” explains Osnes, a University of Colorado Boulder professor of theatre and dance who teaches the class. “Instead of people just yelling at each other about these issues, approaching them through comedy makes engagement with the issues not only positive, but helps us process them in a way that doesn’t feel overwhelming or hopeless.

“Comedy relies on double meaning. I think it’s easy for us to get stuck in binary thinking, things are one way or the other, and once you get locked into one thought, you’re stuck. Comedy can help us get unstuck, and the gorgeous thing about it is when it works, our response is involuntary, that burst of laughter, and all of a sudden everybody’s having that same response and we’re having it together. It’s golden. When we’re talking about climate change, we need things that are going to help us burst through our set ways of thinking and that we do together.”

Laughing together

Stand Up for Climate Comedy is the brainchild of Osnes and Max Boykoff, a CU Boulder professor of environmental studies, who also are two of the project leaders for Inside the Greenhouse, a collective effort that aims to creatively frame and tell the stories surrounding climate change through video, theatre, dance and writing.

Osnes and Boykoff figured that people might have a better time carrying or reframing the burdens of guilt and despair that shadow climate change if they were laughing together rather than shouting at each other. It’s not so much “laugh to keep from crying,” she says, but more “laugh and get moving.”

The first year of Stand Up for Climate Comedy “was basically Max and me downstairs (in the Theatre Building) with a $250 budget,” Osnes says.

Not long after, however, they were approached by representatives from the Argosy Foundation “who came to us and said, ‘We’re so sick of people screaming at each other; if we gave you $25,000, what would you do with it?’” Osnes recalls.

Beth Osnes (center) works with Lief Jordan (left), Jayden Simisky and Taylor Gutt as they prepare their stand-up comedy performances. (Photos: Rachel Sauer)

They would make the show bigger, they would organize events across the country, they would bring in luminaries of comedy who also know their science and they would integrate students as a key part of the show. That last part—student involvement—is especially key, Osnes says, because students have deep knowledge of the issues of climate change and are demanding action.

Hence the environmental hostility.

‘The seas are rising, and so are tensions!’

“My best bit is, ‘I’m sick of all this environmentally friendly shit. I’m environmentally hostile now,’” says Taylor Gutt, a senior in environmental studies.

“That’s a good bit,” says Lief Jordon, also a senior in environmental studies. “Environmental hostility is funny.”

They’re sitting with Jayden Simisky, a senior in environmental studies, and Cate Billings, a senior majoring in creative technology and design, at the top of a staircase in the Loft Theatre, workshopping the stand-up routines they’re writing.

None of them has performed stand-up before, “but why not, right?” Jordan says with a laugh. “If you’re going to go down, go down big.”

Billings is taking her stand-up in a multimedia direction, complete with a PowerPoint presentation “so it’s a little educational,” she explains. “I have a slide of coral bleaching and I say, ‘Up here on the surface we bleach our assholes, but coral is way ahead of the trend.’”

That earns an appreciative laugh from her classmates. Meanwhile, Simisky is thinking out loud about how to make carbon dioxide funny.

“The biggest thing for me with CO2 is they’re always saying, like, ‘7,000 tons of CO2,’” he says. “So, there’s this whole-ass neighborhood of carbon dioxide in the sky. Maybe something like, ‘There’s so much CO2 in the air that they’re starting to weigh it in terms of cruise ships. I’ve started to live in fear of a boat falling out of the sky.’”

Skyler Behrens (foreground) times her group's comedy sketch on a practice run-through.

That’s good, his classmates agree.

Elsewhere in the theater, Skyler Behrens, a sophomore studying engineering and education, and Claire Grossman, a junior in creative technology and design, are considering what contestants on a climate change-informed “Love Island” would say.

“What if he just says, ‘Wow, that’s hot’?” Behrens suggests.

“That’s perfect,” Grossman says, and soon Behrens is running through the sketch introduction again: “Welcome back, everyone, to the most exciting season of ‘Love Island’ yet! The seas are rising, and so are tensions!”

Nearby, Marcus Witter and Jake Mendelssohn, both seniors in environmental studies, and Austin Villarreal, a junior studying environmental design, are working with Osnes on their sketch involving three guys on a chairlift deciding who has to jump off.

“I don’t really like murder,” Osnes observes. “I think it’s funnier if an act of God knocks you off.”

Many of the students have not done this kind of performance before, and certainly not on a stage the size of Boulder Theater’s. They admit to nerves and to thinking about jokes so much that they stop being funny, but they’re excited, too.

“It helps that we’re doing it together,” notes Danielle Harris, a senior in environmental studies who plays Oceana Sea on “The Green Bachelor,” and her comedy partners nod in agreement.

Did you enjoy this article? Subcribe to our newsletter. Passionate about creative climate communication? Show your support.

‘Stand Up for Climate Comedy’ unites CU Boulder student performers and professional comedians in a show that encourages the audience to laugh together and then work together.

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Counting to three and then flying

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Jan 2024 21:14:31 +0000

Counting to three and then flying Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/02/2024 - 14:14

Neuroscience and art practices major Rachel Suter joins The Ampersand podcast to discuss asking ‘Why not?’ and stepping into the unknown

Listen to The Ampersand

Rachel Suter steps to the precipice and looks over the edge. Below her, a glowing aqua pool that’s 30 feet down. As many times as she’s pushed off the edge, she still feels a little zing.

She dives into a pool at the newly renovated Casa Bonita restaurant in Denver. The way the water blends in and out of sapphire blue reminds her of her newest painting, exploring neurological degeneration, which reminds her, in turn, to finish her neuroscience homework before she can get to her next student body government meeting.

Amid the noise of the restaurant, the sweet fried scent of sopapillas, her fellow performer in a gorilla costume, she takes a breath, counts back from three and soars.

Rachel is a lot of things, not just a woman who flies. She crafts visual art based on scientific systems and principles she explores in her neuroscience coursework. She guides the College of Arts and Sciences student body as vice president. She's a model, she dives, she approaches new opportunities asking, “Why not?”

At the top of the page: Rachel Suter works on her art. Photo by Kylie Clarke. Above: "Vibrant" by Rachel Suter.

She recently joined host Erika Randall, associate dean for student success in the College of Arts and Sciences, on "The Ampersand,” the college podcast. Randall—who also is a dancer, professor, mother, filmmaker and writer—joins guests in exploring stories about “ANDing” as a “full sensory verb” that describes experience and possibility.

Their free-wheeling discussion addressed confronting fear, the mechanics of diving and oatmeal baths, among many other topics.

Suter: When I was younger, I always wanted to dive, but I couldn't because I have pretty bad eczema. I was a competitive gymnast, and then, following that, I did competitive dance. So, you know, just parallel sports, almost. And then senior year of high school, I just kind of decided, like, end of COVID, I'm really bored. I'm just going to give it a try, you know, just for fun?

Randall: Screw the eczema. There's oatmeal baths for that.

Suter: So true.

Randall: Yeah. (laughs) My kiddo has eczema. OK, so you're going to try it.

Suter: Yes.

Randall: You're going to go in.

Suter: Mm-hmm, and like, in the past, I had gone cliff-diving with friends just at lakes and vacations and…

Randall: See, again, you say that so casually: ‘In the past, I'd gone cliff diving.’ There isn't a world where I walk up to the edge of something and jump off of it. There was no fear for you there.

Suter: Yeah, I have two brothers, and they're the type that they see a cliff, and they will jump off of it. I just don't want to be left out of that, you know? And then, just having the gymnastics background, and the worst that could happen in gymnastics is you fall on a really hard surface, and that's really scary. But with diving, it's like you're falling on water, so there's only so much bad that could happen. And the hurt, it's going to hurt, but it won't last that long. And cliff diving, I don't go from too high, so the risk is minimal.

But I think the most important thing is when I do the one, two, three count, I have to trust myself that I'm going to go for it, you know? And it's like…

Randall: Is that what you say literally every time you get to the edge?

Suter: Yep.

Randall: OK, well, I want to hear it. Walk me through. Put me in your body.

Suter: Oh, man. Yeah, I think it's just a quick visualization of the dive. I mean, if it's a forward dive or a backflip, not too much. It's pretty simple. But if it's more of like a twisty dive, just stepping through what my arms are going to do and whatnot, and then standing on the edge, marking my place in the water. And if it's a smaller pool, just making a plan for what I'm going to do underwater because you can flip out of it either way.

So, choosing space and also choosing if I'm going to flip out of it right away or if it's safe enough to go and bounce off the bottom almost, which I can do at pools like Casa Bonita, but I can't at cliff diving spots like Paradise Cove. So, yeah, just making a plan, going through it, and then just counting off, like one, two, three, go, and just trusting that on three, I would go.

Randall: Life lessons with Rachel Suter, making a plan, trusting it. One, two, three, go. OK, so is that what took you to interview at Casa Bonita, that just one, two, three, go, let's do this?

Suter: Yeah. I mean, I didn't expect to get the job. So, it was more of a, ‘I might as well.’ That would just be so cool. I have a dance background, so I have the performance aspect.

Randall: And had you been there as a kiddo if you're from the Springs?

Suter: No, I'd heard all about it, but I had never actually been.

Randall: OK, so you heard the lore.

Suter: Yes.

Randall: But you had never been and had the terrible taco salad with the Pepto-Bismol chaser.

Suter: Never had it.

Randall: Never had it. And did you hear about how there used to be the electrical room at the bottom of the dive pool?

Suter: They fixed that.

Randall: OK. (laughs)

Suter: Yeah, so I ended up going because just so many of my friends and family had just been, like, oh, you have to. You dive. You just have to do it. I was like, OK.

Randall: So, when we think about this pattern of success, this way that you set up the visualization, all of the things, does this show up for you in other ways in your life? Because on top of being now this enigmatic Casa Bonita diver, you are also a neuroscience student. You're also a visual artist. You are on student government.

You are a leader in your community. You are one of the kindest humans I know. And, and, and, and then you tell me you model, and I just couldn't even put that part into the Rachel egg. Talk to me about if that method for getting to the edge and looking over, does that serve you in other spaces?

Suter: Yeah, it's more of like, I'm young and I know that this is the time in my life where I will most be able to try new things and pursue different things and have no consequences if it doesn't work out.

Randall: OK, wait a second. You really just have that freedom in your mind, like this is the time when I'm young. How good were your parents, or did they just never know if you were home?

Suter: (laughs) No, my parents are amazing. They’re very adventurous and pushed us, my brothers and I, all to try new things and just be confident in what we're doing.

Randall: Did they throw you into the pool when you were a little kid with all your clothes on and see if you would drown?

Suter: I don't know, but they might have.

"Too Much to Hold" by Rachel Suter

Randall: They might. They were that parenting book.

Suter: Yes. And if we had a little interest in something, they would help us and support us and provide the materials to do those, which I really appreciate and I know not everybody has. So, I think that definitely has allowed me to become a better artist and interested in sciences because they allowed me to have those resources as a kid. And so now that I have the freedom of my own time, I'm able to explore those.

Randall: Were science and art always married for you? Because when I look at your art, first of all, it's astounding to me.

Suter: Thank you.

Randall: I had seen the original piece that you shared with me with, this gesture of hands under the sternum and the heart dripping out of your cage. And then there were other things that showed up in your art, this perspective, detail, that kind of pencil sketch fury. Like, there's a quickness that also maybe is not showing how much time it takes. I mean, it's a lot of time.

Suter: Yes, quite. And a project will take probably 15 more hours. It really depends. But the more time-consuming part is the research and development portion.

Randall: Yes, and you can see that the science is in it. And the research is in the science.

Suter: Yeah, because a lot of my art does deal with scientific topics. A lot of times, I just don't even know what I want to do, and it starts with the research and just taking notes and deciding on a topic that I like and I'm passionate about. And so, I'll continue doing research and start with little one-inch by one-inch thumbnail sketches of little ideas I could do.

Randall: Kind of storyboarding?

Suter: Yes, so it starts with just a lot of research and then thumbnail sketches. And then it almost becomes a conversation on the page of, oh, I like this idea, but not this. So, it's a way to have a conversation with myself because I never know what it's going to be when I first start. And it goes through so many stages. And sometimes what I end up with is not even on the same topic as what I began with.

Click the button below to hear the entire episode.

Listen to The Ampersand

Did you enjoy this article? Subcribe to our newsletter. Passionate about arts and sciences? Show your support.

Neuroscience and art practices major Rachel Suter joins The Ampersand podcast to discuss saying ‘Why not?’ and stepping into the unknown .

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New scholarship celebrates, supports ‘ANDers’

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 17:32:01 +0000

New scholarship celebrates, supports ‘ANDers’ Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 12/21/2023 - 10:32

�鶹��Ժ who are passionate about 'ANDing' are encouraged to apply for the ANDer Scholarship by March 15

The College of Arts and Sciences uses “AND” as a verb, and new scholarship aims to support students who do, too.

“ANDing” takes the conjunction and makes it a verb, says Erika Randall, associate dean for student success and the college’s pre-eminent ANDing campaigner. “ANDing can be about cooking and mothering and evolutionary biology and race car driving—all of these things create the uniquenesses that are us,” she says, adding:

“In the College of Arts and Sciences, we want to bring attention and excitement to stories of people intentionally bringing together disparate interests, research, creativity, identities, hobbies and more. That alchemy is the creative engine stored within the ANDer Scholarship, and I'm fascinated to see what we discover about the humans who apply. I'm thrilled that the college is supporting ANDers in this way.”

Randall notes that when people are passionate about their interests and pursuing self-understanding, they’re happier. “ANDing and arts and sciences make room for tolerance, humility and acceptance. When students and faculty AND, they are more well-rounded, combine disparate interests and create synergistic connections across ways of thinking.”

The ANDer Scholarship in the College of Arts and Sciences is designed for students who:

Are incoming first-year, transfer or current undergraduates enrolled full-time with a declared major in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Experience ANDing as a verb.
Complete the CU Boulder General Scholarship Application.
Submit the scholarship application by the March 15 deadline on the Academic Works scholarship site.

As the scholarship description notes, ANDing emphasizes the connections that enliven university scholarship and creative expression. By ANDing, new ideas are sparked and space for multiple paths, voices and human stories are created. For example,

“I want to study biochemistry, and I’m also really into technical theatre and community outreach.”
“I’m going to be a philosophy major, I write poetry and I want to minor in geography.”
“I’m committed to social justice and plan to double-major in Spanish and integrative physiology with a minor in women and gender studies.”

�鶹��Ժ applying for the scholarship will be asked to complete a short response to this prompt: “The ‘&’ between Arts & Sciences is a symbol that represents the many intersectional identities, disciplines and imaginations of the college. Please share with us how you embody the ampersand symbol, the ways you AND as a verb and how you enliven research and creative expression through the alchemy of ANDing.”

The scholarship award is $3,000 annually, and the College of Arts and Sciences plans to award approximately 25 in 2024.

�鶹��Ժ who are passionate about 'ANDing' are encouraged to apply for the ANDer Scholarship by March 15.

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Grad pondered death by black hole and found a life’s work

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 20:40:54 +0000

Grad pondered death by black hole and found a life’s work Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 12/18/2023 - 13:40

Rachel Sauer

College of Arts and Sciences outstanding graduate Abby Hartley embraces the complementary relationship between science and art

Some children gaze up in wonder at the boundless night sky and the universe of stars scattered in it—counting them, wishing on them, seeing shapes in them and weaving fantastical stories.

But not Abby Hartley. Abby gazed up and pondered death by black hole.

What if they (Abby uses they/them pronouns) fell into one of the massive and mysterious objects? What is the math underlying spaghettification? (Don’t ask.) (Actually, do ask: It’s the vertical stretching and horizontal compression of objects—including people—falling into black holes.) Would they be grateful for the deeper understanding of time dilation—or the phenomenon of time passing at different rates for different observers—as they were drawn farther and farther into the black hole?

Abby Hartley, the College of Arts and Sciences fall 2023 outstanding graduate, first became interested in astrophysics by pondering death by black hole.

So, Abby pursued an astronomy and astrophysics education at the University of Colorado Boulder to get answers. Named the College of Arts and Sciences outstanding graduate for the fall 2023 semester, they are graduating this week with their honors thesis, “The First Quiescent Galaxies in TNG300," already published in an academic journal.

“Abby is a brilliant, hard-working, organized and frighteningly mature young scientist,” notes Erica Nelson, a CU Boulder assistant professor of astrophysical and planetary sciences and Abby’s research mentor and thesis advisor. “They are already operating at the level of a senior graduate student. I have no doubt that Abby will be a leader in the field.”

Which is a profoundly meaningful recognition of their hard work and expression of confidence in all that they have yet to achieve, but here’s what Abby considers a crowning accomplishment from the previous three and a half years: When Abby published their first research paper—yes, first, meaning there’s more than one—their mom proofread it before publication and their dad printed it out after. And like the proud parents they are, they stuck it on the refrigerator.

“My dad even highlighted some parts,” Abby recalls with a laugh. “He said, ‘I don’t totally understand all of it, but it’s so cool.’ Just knowing that I’ve always had that support from my family and friends has been so important. It’s a big part of why I’ve been able to accomplish what I have so far.”

Wanting to know more math

Speaking of Abby’s dad, he gets a decent amount of the credit for Abby’s first steps into science. An avid fan of science himself, he shared his passion for it by passing along the books he’d read to his adolescent child. Abby was the kid in middle school clutching a copy of The Elegant Universe and wishing they knew more math.

It wasn’t all science, though. Abby also cultivated a deep love for writing and art, nurtured by a voracious appetite for science fiction, and found as much fulfillment in pens and drawing paper as they found in the depths of differential geometry and tensor calculus.

For a long time, though, Abby thought it had to be one or the other—that declaring a major in astrophysics meant relegating art to the thing they did at home if they had time.

There was no particular moment when Abby realized that art and science can exist in symbiosis—as hand in glove rather than as two parallel but untouching tracks—but studying relativity helped.

“Initially, the rules of math and physics can seem pretty rigid,” Abby says. “But when you get to relativity, things bend a little bit more. Things are a little more fluid, and that’s been really exciting to me.”

So, while studying extragalactic astronomy as a member of Erica Nelson’s research group, Abby also tapped back into their love for art, designing an astrophysics art outreach project mentored by Zachory Berta-Thompson, a professor of astrophysics. As part of their project, Abby created digital illustrations highlighting the accomplishments of women and minorities in astrophysics; several are currently featured on the digital screens in common spaces in the Duane Physics building.

Abby Hartley's art highlighting the accomplishments of women and minorities in astrophysics includes Aomawa Shields, a University of California Irvine professor and one of Abby's heroes.

“Too many times, I’ve found myself to be the only non-male audience member in a seminar or presenter at a student talk series,” Abby says. “This inequity can be disheartening, but it has never dulled my passion for science. My goal as an astrophysicist is to help humanity unravel the mathematical mysteries of the cosmos, and to show other young scientists from historically underrepresented groups that they, too, belong in this field.

“We are all multifaceted human beings, and we shouldn’t feel pressured to stifle one passion to pursue a career in another. I was a scientist when I gave talks about my research into the first galaxies to stop forming stars in a cosmological simulation, but I was also a scientist when I painted a space-themed mural on the wall of a cat cafe.”

Abby contacted some of the scientists they featured in their art, including Jessica Mink and Aomawa Shields, and heard back from them, “so I got to talk with some of my personal heroes in astrophysics, which has been pretty amazing,” Abby says.

Pursue creative outlets

For their thesis research, Abby—whose educational path has focused on theoretical astrophysics—considered their scientific progression that began with black holes, extended to extragalactic astronomy and landed in quiescent galaxies, or galaxies that stop forming stars.

“They have dust, so in theory they should be perpetually creating stars,” Abby says. “Why aren’t they?

Using simulations from the IlustrisTNG project, a suite of cosmological galaxy-formation simulations, Abby and their research colleagues predicted that the first quiescent galaxies located by the James Webb Space Telescope will host massive black holes.

Abby Hartley defended their thesis on Halloween and, to emphasize the fact that science is fun, dressed as Howl Pendragon for the occasion.

During their research, Abby contacted noted astrophysicist Lars Hernquist at Harvard University, who became a study co-author and invited them to present their paper at Harvard. Another of Abby’s favorite memories of their studies is practicing their presentation at 2 a.m. with their mom, after going to a Beyonce concert several hours earlier, then flying to Massachusetts later that morning to present at Harvard.

Because science should be fun, Abby says, and because they defended their thesis on Halloween, they dressed as Howl Pendragon from Howl’s Moving Castle to do so and invited their thesis committee members to come in costume as well (one member came in a Starfleet uniform from Star Trek).

“I think that’s probably one of the most important things I’ve learned, that science is challenging and exciting and fun,” Abby says.

Last week, Abby submitted 11 graduate school applications and hopes to begin graduate studies next fall, which the ultimate goal of becoming a university professor and researcher. In the meantime, they will continue working with Nelson as a full-time researcher studying brand-new James Webb Space Telescope data. The one bummer is, due to scheduling conflicts, needing to give up a beloved job as a part-time barista and shelter worker at Purrfect Pause cat café in Boulder. That’s where they painted the space-themed mural, which features their cat, Oreo.

So, if Abby could offer advice to anyone considering a leap into science, they would “encourage other students to pursue their creative outlets alongside their technical research, so that no one feels like they have to leave a part of themselves behind to do scientific work.”

Abby Hartley creates digital art highlighting the the accomplishments of women and minorities in astrophysics

College of Arts and Sciences outstanding graduate Abby Hartley embraces the complementary relationship between science and art.

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Form and function with a hummus appetizer

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 15:50:04 +0000

Form and function with a hummus appetizer Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 11/21/2023 - 08:50

Rachel Sauer

Hands-on project lets CU Boulder intermediate ceramics students create functional and unique pieces for Boulder’s Café Aion restaurant

A bowl is not just a bowl.

It may seem like the simplest thing in the world, but it exists at the nexus of form and function—able to live as art, but not useful in a restaurant if it can’t contain the gazpacho.

So, Kim Dickey’s intermediate ceramics students learned a particular kind of balance, meeting the needs of clients as well as their own artistic vision—and doing it in multiples of 12.

See more photos of the intermediate ceramics dishes made for Café Aion

“I enjoyed creating pieces that would actually be used for their intended purpose instead of sitting on my shelf or being dumped into a trash can,” says Dylan Xu, a senior majoring in strategic communications-advertising. “What I learned is that you will break more than half of the plates you make.”

Dickey, a professor in the University of Colorado Boulder Department of Art and Art History and associate chair for arts practices, and her intermediate ceramics students recently completed an unusual project in which they partnered with Café Aion in Boulder to create one-of-a-kind ceramic dishes for some of the restaurant’s menu items.

For the week beginning Nov. 6, Café Aion patrons enjoyed French onion soup and chocolate torte, crispy cauliflower and kale salad and shakshuka from ceramics the students custom made for the dishes and the restaurant. At the end of their meals, patrons were invited to complete comment cards, sharing their experiences of eating from handmade dishes.

CU Boulder Professor Kim Dickey and her intermediate ceramics students created hand-made ceramics in partnership with Café Aion chef and owner Dakota Soifer.

“I thoroughly enjoyed all of the unique styles of dishes!” wrote one, while another patron noted, “It was nice, and I loved looking at them.”

“It was so exciting to have the opportunity to work with a wonderful restaurant, to learn how to work with a client and meet their needs, to work to a deadline, and then experience what it means to have your art received in the real world,” Dickey says.

An artistic and practical challenge

At the beginning of the fall semester, Dickey contacted Dakota Soifer, owner and chef of Café Aion, about a possible collaboration. She was involved in a similar project at the Rhode Island School of Design, where she received her bachelor of fine arts degree, and knew how much students could learn from “developing pieces for a client and having that kind of public reception,” she explains.

Soifer, a CU Boulder graduate in architecture, was immediately on board: “I went to CU and have a sweet spot for being in school and being creative and that whole scene,” he says. “Café Aion’s a small, independent restaurant. It’s funky; it’s not super big, so we have the opportunity that a larger, more corporate restaurant can’t do if we decide we’re going to change all of our plates. Plus, I really wanted to support students and give them a chance to have this real-world experience.”

Early in the semester, Dickey and her students visited the restaurant to talk with Soifer, discuss his menu and get a feel for the restaurant’s atmosphere. Then, they each designed a prototype dish for a specific menu item based on the cuisine and Soifer’s needs. Dickey asked the students to not only create their dishes based on the menu item, but to bring in two outside influences to inform their designs.

Soifer visited the ceramics studio to offer rigorous but generous feedback, so the students adapted their designs as needed.

“We talked about how, first and foremost, it needs to be functional,” Soifer says. “If it’s going to have some sauce in it or a broth, it needs a rim on it, and we don’t want the edges to be too sharp or too angular. We want guests to be able to get that spoon in the corner and get that last bit of taste. We also have to think about how are we going to set this down without getting our fingers in customers’ food? Is it going to sit level on the table?”

The initial goal was to produce 20 plates each, “but we realized that was too many and decided to reduce it to 12 finished pieces per student,” Dickey says, adding that during each class period students were making between five and 10 dishes so that they could experiment with weight, size and finishes.

“I learned a lot about making multiples and trying to get each bowl to be the same and to be stackable,” says Micaela Del Cid, a senior double majoring in art practices and sociology. “I also learned that I don’t enjoy making things exactly the same, because I am not skilled enough and I love uniqueness. I learned that I could make it enjoyable by doing different designs on each bowl.”

Intermediate ceramics student Katie Sieker at Café Aion packing dishes she made.

Ivy Edberg, a senior studying art practices, added that she “learned a lot about the standards of restaurants when it comes to the quality of tableware.”

Bringing people together

After completing their 12 dishes, Dickey and her students took them to Café Aion, where they were used in place of some of the restaurant’s regular dishes for the week of Nov. 6.

Alicia Bolstad, a senior majoring in art, created a dish for the restaurant’s baked brie dessert, drawing inspiration from Moroccan architecture and tile motifs, and creating a plate shape that was based on a beautiful doorway. Bailey Diamond, a senior majoring in art practices and journalism, created a dish intended for the kale salad, “but they ended up being used to serve a number of dishes, which was really exciting.

“I love wheel throwing and knew from the start that I wanted to create a wide, wheel-thrown bowl,” Diamond says. “I took inspiration from the dish itself—the visual fullness of a big salad, and the comforting nature of it being shared among people.”

Dickey and her students returned to Café Aion Nov. 13 to gather their dishes and, if they wanted, leave one there as a memento of the week. Soifer says that restaurant patrons loved the project—during the week the students’ dishes were in use, each table had a small sign explaining who had made them—and that the students successfully aligned their artistic ideas with the restaurant’s needs and funky, eclectic vibe.

“I was so heart-warmed by this project,” Diamond says. “Seeing my dishes used in a restaurant was something I had dreamed about and wanted before this experience, and having that desire fulfilled was incredible. It was a beautiful experience to see how much this project brought people together.”

Top image: plates made by intermediate ceramics student Amanda Jack

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Hands-on project lets CU Boulder intermediate ceramics students create functional and unique pieces for Boulder’s Café Aion restaurant.

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