Published: Feb. 10, 2000

University of Colorado at Boulder Professor Susan Avery will give the third in a series of four lectures for the spring ChancellorÂ’s Community Lecture Series.

Titled "Women in the Field," the series features four distinguished women faculty from CU-Boulder, each speaking on their areas of expertise.

Professor AveryÂ’s lecture, "Catch a Falling Star and Put it to Work," is on Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 7:30 p.m. in the chapel of The Academy at 970 Aurora Ave. in Boulder.

Avery, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), will talk about her research using meteors to trace motion in the upper atmosphere.

"The basic tool I use for this research is what is known as a ‘meteor radar,’" Avery said. "I will talk a little about this tool and the history and evolution of this research field and my experiences in field work."

Avery said she hopes to give people some insight into how and why the atmosphere is probed, and a little bit about being a scientist.

As director of CIRES, Avery works with faculty and research scientists at CU and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in forming research partnerships that address Earth-system sciences.

Avery is the author of more than 60 publications and her annual research funding is about $500,000.

The remaining lecture in the spring series is:

* Political science Professor Anne Costain presenting "Media Portrayal of Feminist Protest," a look at the mediaÂ’s influence on the womenÂ’s movement, on Feb. 29.

All lectures are co-sponsored by The Academy and the CU-Boulder Office of Community Relations and are free and open to the public. Parking is available around The Academy on Lincoln Place, Cascade Avenue, Aurora Avenue and 10th Street.

For more information, contact the CU-Boulder Office of Community Relations at (303) 492-8384.