In 1968, Sandy Hildner (A&S’67) was among CU’s first woman Olympians after training with the men’s ski team under coach Bob Beattie. In 1967, she won the Roch Cup downhill in Aspen, Colorado (pictured), and was the U.S. National Giant Slalom Champion before racing in the Olympic women’s downhill event in Grenoble, France, the next year.

Hildner died in January 2019. On Aug. 27, 2023, she was inducted into the in Vail, Colorado.

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Photo courtesy Hildner family

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A Few Courses:

• Art and Environment
• Forest and Fire Ecology
• Field Ornithology
• Field Methods in Vegetation Ecology

Research Examples:

• Microplastics in Mountain Ecosystems of the Colorado Front Range
• Temporal dynamics of plant-pollinator networks
• Scaling the consequences of extended summers to arthropod communities at Niwot Ridge
• Causes for the hybridization of black-capped and mountain chickadees in areas disturbed by humans
• Spectroscopic measurements of chemical composition of organic aerosol particles collected at urban and rural locations

Just over eight miles north of Nederland, Colorado, and nestled off the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway lies a serene area dotted with tiny cabins, peaceful walking trails and ample forest land. And while the setting is very different from the bustle of CU Boulder’s main campus, the amount of groundbreaking work happening there is the same.

CU Boulder’s Mountain Research Station, located 25 miles from campus, is an interdisciplinary facility associated with the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, which serves students and scientists interested in mountain-based study. The scope of projects is wide — ranging from arthropods to microplastics to weather — and as many as 80 people can be studying at the station at once.

“The Mountain Research Station is a place where,for over 100 years, scientists, students and the public have come together to advance our understanding and appreciation for mountains, which are inspiring, formidable and increasingly at risk,” said Scott Taylor, director of the station.

1920

Mountain Research Station established in its current location 

1945

Five professors taught 80 students.

1953

Former director John Marr founded the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), now the oldest institute at CU Boulder. 

1980

National Science Foundation starts its Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network, which funded the Niwot Ridge LTER. 

Located at 9,500 feet 

3

short interpretive trails open to the public 

25–45

students conducting research, depending on the summer

110

largest amount fed in the dining hall at once 

33

seasonal cabins 

75

students in courses over a year 

6

labs on the property

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Photos courtesy Mountain Research Station and William Bowman (mountains) 

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LOOK: CU vs. Nebraska 

On Saturday, Sept. 9, the CU Buffs celebrated a over the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The game launched the with 53,241 fans, the highest game attendance in 15 years. Enthusiastic students, including the Buffs Going Bananas club (pictured), came in droves to support the team — many as early as two hours prior to the 10 a.m. kickoff. 

After the game, thousands of fans flooded the field in celebration.

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Photos by Glenn Asakawa and Casey A. Cass

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In the summers of 1958 and 1960, CU Boulder’s first curator of

• This skull was found near Kit Carson.
• The remains from about 200 bison were found in a dry arroyo bed.
• These bison lived about 10,000 years ago.
• More than a dozen well-preserved skulls were found at the site.
• 3D scanning helps reconstruct broken specimens. 

 anthropology, Joe Ben Wheat, excavated the Olsen-Chubbuck site, an area near Kit Carson, Colorado, that contained remains of bison dating to 8200 B.C.

The site gave insight into techniques Native hunters used to kill the approximately 200 bison more than 10,000 years ago, which would have provided them with about 60,000 pounds of meat.

“Wheat’s detailed analysis of the bison remains helped researchers under-stand the sophistication of ancient bison hunting tactics; reconstruct how and why they were processed, butchered and prepared; and demonstrated the importance of the bison and buffalo in the lives of the earliest people of Colorado and the Front Range,” said William Taylor, assistant professor and archaeology curator at the CU Museum of Natural History.

Now, with the help of a grant from the History Colorado’s State Historical Fund, Taylor’s team is working to preserve these bison artifacts for the

 future, including making 3D scans of the fossils, such as the one pictured here. The team is also rethinking the ways they care for the animal remains in the museum collections, said Taylor, who also teaches and conducts research in archaeozoology, the study of ancient animal remains.

“We are working with tribal partners to develop culturally informed practices and policies that will restore respect, transparency and care of these resources to the communities they belong to,” he said.

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Photo © University of Colorado Museum of Natural History

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Sepp Kuss (Advert’17), center, won the Vuelta a España, one of professional cycling’s three European Grand Tours.He is the first .

“At some point, I felt it was possible. I was getting stronger and more confident every day,” Kuss said after the race.“This is an achievement I will remember for the rest of my life.”

Kuss is from Durango, Colorado, and was a bike racer at CU Boulder as a student.

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Photo Courtesy Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

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THEN 
2020 

In 2020, cornet player and composer Ron Miles (MMus’89) released his last album, . A fixture in the Denver music scene, Miles’ warm jazz melodies dazzled audiences. He last served as director of jazz studies at Metropolitan State University of Denver, where he taught for more than 30 years. Miles , from complications from a blood disorder. 

“If you played a Ron Miles song right, in the best of moods you'd be crying,” pianist Jason Moran told NPR in March 2022. 

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Photo by Elliot Ross

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LOOK: Commencement 

From Wednesday, May 10, to Friday, May 12, a soaker of a storm drenched Boulder with about 2.3 inches of rain. On average, Boulder receives 3.2 inches of rain during the month of May. 

The weather didn’t stop CU Boulder’s commencement ceremony from happening the morning of Thursday, May 11. The university conferred more than 9,700 degrees in front of an estimated 22,000 supporters. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis served as commencement speaker. 

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Photos by Glenn Asakawa, Patrick Campbell, Casey A. Cass

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As a college sophomore in late 2020, Carter Snelson (Fin, RealEst’23) using the city’s zoning map. After 2.5 years, and less than two weeks till he graduated from CU Boulder, he completed the task on April 28, 2023. On his final day of walking, Snelson also achieved another personal goal: walking 100,000 steps — 52 miles — in one day. 

“This had been the longest commitment I’ve ever had, and having it come to an end was very emotional and incredibly fulfilling,” said Snelson. “Even though I cannot say I remember exactly every one of the 165 walks I’ve done, I will never forget this journey.” 

Read more about Snelson’s feat. 

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Photo courtesy Cliff Grassmick/Daily Camera

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The American people created the Constitution, which has been in operation since March 1789,  because they wanted individual protections from the government. In June 1789, U.S. House of Representatives member James Madison drafted a list of amendments to the Constitution. The House approved 17 of the amendments, and the Senate 12. In October 1789, President George Washington sent the amendments to the states for approval. Two years later, on Dec. 15, 1791, three-fourths of the states ratified 10 of the amendments, which became known as the Bill of Rights. The first of these amendments protected individual opinions, ideas and communication. 

“The five freedoms protected by the First Amendment are fundamental to modern democracy,” said political science professor Steven Vanderheiden, director of CU Boulder’s Keller Center, which focuses on the First Amendment. “They protect the right of members of the public to meaningfully participate in processes of self-governance and provide a vital check on state power.”

The First Amendment

The five freedoms the First Amendment guarantees:

Religion

Speech

Press

Assembly

Petition

The First Amendment Applies to:

Federal Government

State Government

Local Government

1789

Drafted by James Madison

1791

Ratified as part of the Bill of Rights

Famous court cases related to First Amendment:

A free speech case that involved wartime criticism of the draft, and which gave us the "clear and present danger" test (Ex: An individual can’t yell “Fire!” in a crowded theater)

Found the reading of a nondenominational prayer in a public school to be an unconstitutional establishment of religion 

Gave us the incitement test (Ex: Speech can only be restricted if an individual is likely and imminently planning to carry out something unlawful)

Involved the publication of the Pentagon Papers by the media without government censorship

Exempted Amish children from mandatory school attendance on free exercise grounds

LeRoy Keller Center for the Study of the First Amendment: 

1. Endowed in 1993 by LeRoy “Lee” Keller (Econ’29), who worked in journalism for more than four decades
2. Housed within CU Boulder’s political science department
3. Supports teaching, research and community outreach on First Amendment rights and liberties
4. Informs the public about First Amendment rights and current threats to them
5. Current director is political science professor Steven Vanderheiden 

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Icon art by The NounProject, banner image credit Adam Szuscik

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As birds migrate every spring and fall, CU Boulder’s campus makes for a fruitful stopping point for some, pictured above. Last November, four south-migrating warblers — birds not typically spotted in Colorado — were spotted in beech, oak and pine trees near the Regent Building. 

“Two of the four (the Northern Parula and the Prothonotary Warbler) stayed for almost two weeks,” said teaching associate professor Nathan Pipelow, faculty sponsor of the CU birding club. “The other two (the Pine Warbler and the Nashville Warbler) were only seen for a single day each.” 

Terri Kurtz (ChemEngr’93) picked up birding and photography during the pandemic. Rare bird sightings bring her particular excitement. 

“This year in Boulder, I have been lucky enough to find a Blue-Winged Warbler, a Varied Thrush and a juvenile Pacific Loon,” she said. “Once a rare bird is seen, word goes out and the birders ‘flock’ to chase it!”

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