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CBR Graduate Fellows Practice Engaged Public Scholarship Across Five Academic Disciplines

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Jul 2017 23:40:03 +0000

CBR Graduate Fellows Practice Engaged Public Scholarship Across Five Academic Disciplines Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 07/11/2017 - 17:40

CBR Graduate fellows: Top L-R: Erin Kaplan, Brian Lightfoot. Bottom L-R: Wayne Martin Freeman, Shae Frydenlund and Aaron Lamplugh.

CU Engage is pleased to announce our 2017-18 cohort of Community-Based Research (CBR) Graduate Fellows. This year's cohort spans five diverse academic disciplines including Ethnic Studies, Geography, Theatre, Mechanical Engineering and Education.

"We were thrilled this year to have our biggest pool of graduate student applicants, representing 10 departments across campus. The current group of Fellows proposed exciting projects that reflected long-term relationships with communities across Colorado. Their proposals articulated research projects with clear benefits to their partner organizations and with exciting implications for scholarship in their disciplines," explains CU Engage Faculty Director Ben Kirshner.

The CBR Fellows will work together as a cohort to learn methods of research that contribute to their individual doctoral research projects. Each CBR project will strive to advance CU Engage's key values of community-engaged research: equity, inclusion, public impact, democracy and the enactment of reciprocal relationships with various community partners.

Whereas emerging scholars are often forced to make a choice – to either engage in the community or do peer-reviewed research – this fellowship is designed to enable future scholars to build strong academic careers while working on public issues in partnership with community groups. "The purpose is to train a generation of scholars in the practices and principles of Community-Based Research," says Kirshner.

The 2017-18 CBR Fellows and their projects are as follows:

CBR Graduate Fellow	CBR Project	Academic Discipline
Wayne Martin Freeman	Park Jams: Community and Youth organizing in multicultural spaces	Ethnic Studies
Shae Frydenlund	Geographies of Work and Housing in Denver’s Muslim Refugee Community	Geography
Erin Kaplan	Colorado Prison Arts Collective: Theatre Workshop & Community Arts-Integration Programming	Theatre
Aaron Lamplugh	VOC Exposure Interventions in Denver Area Nail Salons	Mechanical Engineering
Brian Lightfoot	Enhancing and Evaluating the Impact of Emancipatory Curriculum and Pedagogy for the Pathways2Teaching Program in Colorado	Education

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Engineering Doctoral Students Work for Better Air Quality in Denver Communities

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 23:28:59 +0000

Engineering Doctoral Students Work for Better Air Quality in Denver Communities Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 03/09/2017 - 16:28

Jennifer Ciplet

David Pfotenhauer, a doctoral student in Mechanical Engineering, is working with the organization Taking Neighborhood Health to Heart and residents in Denver to test and improve indoor air quality. He is a member of the 2016-17 cohort of Community-Based Research Graduate Fellows, a program of CU Engage that is now accepting applications.

When David Pfotenhauer decided to pursue a PhD at CU �鶹ӰԺ, he knew that he wanted to specialize in an application-based science that would allow him get out into communities and use his knowledge to address public issues.

As a current doctoral student in Mechanical Engineering, David joined CU Engage's 2016-17 cohort of Community-Based Research (CBR) Graduate Fellows. He became the newest member of an ongoing research project, a collaboration between CU �鶹ӰԺ and the Denver-based organization Taking Neighborhood Health to Heart (TNH2H). Some of his funding is also provided in partnership with the Center for STEM learning. He began working to further the research that his colleague, CU �鶹ӰԺ CBR Fellow (2015-16) and Civil Engineering doctoral student Ashley Collier, had begun the year before in response to community concerns about air quality, contaminants and environmental health. David’s role in the project is to investigate air quality and radon levels in northeast Denver, one of the areas in which TNH2H members live.

The data collected and analyzed during the pilot study, presented by Ashley Collier at a conference of the American Geophysical Union, showed that many residents had reason to be concerned about their indoor air quality: nearly all the homes (80%) tested for radon had levels above the EPA's recommended "action level." In addition to radon, the initial study investigated the presence of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in these houses. VOCs are a broad range of different chemicals that exist in the gas phase at room temperature, some of which can be potentially hazardous to humans at sufficiently high concentrations.

Ashley and now David continue to carry out air quality research in residents' homes, conduct surveys and other data collection, and provide fact sheets about how to reduce the risks of toxic air pollutants. TNH2H helps set up the home visits.

"The goal of this initiative is not only to investigate air quality concerns within these neighborhoods, but also to generate awareness and knowledge about air quality and other environmental concerns that might exist or arise among the affected communities," David explains.

"The sampling project this year is focused on VOCs," David says. "Last year, the study looked specifically for a VOC known as Perchloroethylene, which is commonly associated with dry cleaning chemicals and can often seep into groundwater, then leak into people’s homes,” he states.

Since perchloroethylene is just one of the many hazardous VOCs that is commonly found in residences, the team’s sampling this year has investigated a wider array of known dangerous VOCs as well as radon levels.

“Common VOC sources can include household products such as cleaning chemicals, painting supplies, and various cosmetics,” David explains. When it comes to these dangerous chemicals, knowledge is power. “Sometimes remedying high concentrations [of toxic chemicals] can be as simple as storing household products in safer, more contained locations," he contends.

David says that the cohort model of learning offered through the CBR Fellowship has been useful to his understanding of how to apply mechanical engineering to the real world problems facing communities.

"It's been such an honor to work with people from entirely different fields. I’m the only person in my CBR Fellows cohort doing hard sciences, so to have other graduate students from the humanities, sociology, and the education department is great, ” David reflects.

“It's been great to step out of the engineering world and think about the social world, which is so important for figuring out how to solve today’s problems," he says.

The CBR Fellowship has also provided David with practical learning that will help him receive his degree. He will be using the same data analysis techniques in his thesis that he is learning to do in his CBR Fellowship project. Initially, when David met with his partners at TNH2H, they discussed the mutual benefits that both of them hoped to receive from the collaboration. David expressed that he wanted to learn how to analyze VOC's and that this has been a big learning process for him.

Members of the Denver-based community organization Taking Neighborhood Health to Heart.

In addition to learning new research methods, one of David's favorite parts of the collaboration is "the community members themselves," he relates. "The questions I get are very genuine and curious questions. People are incredibly concerned about the environment they live in,” David says.

One of the most important parts of the project, however, is generating awareness and knowledge about these indoor air pollutants, and what can be done to mitigate them. David and TNH2H have organized a series of presentations that explain the risks of indoor air pollutants such as radon and VOCs. The presentations include information regarding the sources of toxic pollutants, the related health risks associated with them, and most importantly, how to test for and protect against them. Residents can ask questions and raise specific concerns.

“One of the biggest dangers with indoor air pollutants simply comes from not being aware of their existence. By offering outreach events like this, and working closely with our goal of 40 participants for the sampling portion of the project, we hope to continue improving public awareness towards risks such as these, and inspire a confidence among communities to investigate and ultimately ensure that people are living in healthy and safe environments,” David says.

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From military service to INVST, CU �鶹ӰԺ student broadens horizon

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 23:41:30 +0000

From military service to INVST, CU �鶹ӰԺ student broadens horizon Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 02/07/2017 - 16:41

Jennifer Ciplet , CU Engage Director of Communications

Josh Edelmann finished his six years of service with the U.S. Air Force and enrolled as an undergraduate student at CU �鶹ӰԺ last fall. He wanted to find a sense of camaraderie with his peers at the university that felt similar to what he experienced during his years in the military.

Edelmann, a political science major in the College of Arts and Sciences, decided to join INVST Community Studies, a leadership training program for young people who are passionate about social and environmental justice.

“When I was deployed overseas with the Air Force, a friend of mine sent me a link to INVST and suggested I look into it. I read the homepage and it was something I knew absolutely nothing about,” explains Edelmann. “I saw INVST as an opportunity to broaden my horizons and become educated on environmental and social justice issues. From my personal experience, these things had never been taught to me or discussed.”

At first, Edelmann admits, he felt nervous among his new INVST community. He was unsure of what to expect, and it had been six years since he had been in school. But he quickly felt at home with the other students in his INVST cohort.

Each summer, an incoming cohort of INVST students participates in a Climate Justice Summer program and travels throughout the southwestern U.S., including parts of Colorado, to learn about climate change, environmental sustainability, energy and power. During that trip, Edelmann says, the students in his cohort really got to know each other.

“After the first day or two my nervousness subsided,” Edelmann says. “It was nice to go from one tight group of people in the military to another here at CU �鶹ӰԺ,” he reflects. “Now, that tight group is INVST for me.”

Edelmann also believes that the INVST Climate Justice Summer program helped prepare him academically for the year ahead. “The conversations I had on the summer trip helped prepare me for the lectures I have in my classes. The summer trip really helped me develop my critical thinking skills. It helped me think outside the box and pushed me to learn new things,” he says.

During INVST’s Climate Justice Summer program, students meet with many different people, including community organizations, coal miners, farmers on the western slopes of Colorado, and representatives from the Oil and Gas Association. For Edelmann, hearing directly from so many different people about environmental, climate and energy issues was revelatory.

“We got to hear all of these different perspectives, and they really impacted me on a personal level. All the people we spoke with, they each live different lives and they are all affected by the policy decisions that other people make. I could really see how a coal mine or a fracking operation upstream could really damage a farmer’s farm downstream. Or how the construction of a coal mine in a rural town can disturb the population and the farm animals. Experiencing all of these perspectives has made me more able to use critical thinking skills in my classes at CU,” he states.

Edelmann credits his years overseas in the Air Force with planting the seed that led him to be curious about human rights and environmental justice. “My travels in the Air Force really opened my eyes to the injustices that people face in society, and I wanted to know more about that. I wanted to learn more about the inequalities and human rights issues I saw abroad, and this led me down the path to where I am now,” he says.

Edelmann, a North Carolina native, enlisted with the U.S. Air Force in November of 2009, right after he graduated from high school. He trained in San Antonio, TX and then served in Japan for 2 years before being deployed to Qatar where he provided basic law enforcement and base security. He then worked in Cheyenne, WY protecting nuclear weapons sites. In April 2014, Edelmann was transferred to Aurora, CO where he trained to work as a military dog handler. Edelmann was paired up with his dog Chico, and together their main goal was working on detection of drugs or explosives. Edelmann and Chico were deployed back to Quatar for a year, where they served providing law enforcement and working to detect bombs and explosive odors. When Edelmann’s commitment with the Air Force ended in 2016, he was living near Denver and decided to enroll at CU �鶹ӰԺ.

When asked whether he would recommend the INVST Community Studies program to other students with military experience, Edelmann says: “Absolutely!”

“During my time with INVST, I’ve learned about developing facilitation skills. I didn’t even realize when I was in the military that this could be taught. I have been learning about nonviolent communication and thinking about how this could be applied in a military setting. I was a supervisor in the military and it would have been so helpful for me to have known how to use nonviolent communication, and for my supervisor, and for his. That’s just one example, but it’s such a great tool to know,” Edelmann explains.

The way Edelmann sees it, his time at CU �鶹ӰԺ is a time to experience new things, to get out of his comfort zone, and to learn about ways of seeing the world that he’s never considered before.

“In INVST, everyone’s here to learn. There’s definitely space in the program to challenge what’s being taught, and you might have a different perspective from somebody but you can voice that,” he explains.

“The way I see it,” Edelmann says, “You’re at CU �鶹ӰԺ to learn. So why stay in your bubble? Why do something you’re familiar with when you’re here to grow?”

INVST, a program of CU Engage, is now accepting applications.

INVST’s two-year program combines classes with skills training and community-based action in a unique, small-group setting. In the INVST Community Leadership Program, undergrads can find their community at CU, in small classes; meet others who are committed to making a positive difference; and learn practical skills through internships with local non-profits. Plus, INVST offers two summer travel opportunities, a Climate Justice Summer and an Economic Justice Summer, which expose learners first-hand to two of the most complex challenges facing us -- immigration and climate change.

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Students Teach English to CU Employees through the SWAP program

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 18:00:00 +0000

Students Teach English to CU Employees through the SWAP program Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 09/16/2016 - 12:00

As a new student arriving at CU �鶹ӰԺ last fall, Nitin Beri discovered the SWAP program during the Be Involved fair. He thought it would be a good way to feel more connected to the campus. Beri, originally from Portland, OR, decided to get involved and attend a SWAP training, where he learned how to teach English to a CU employee.

"As a freshman, I felt really overwhelmed by how big the campus was and how many organizations there were. But with SWAP, I realized I'd not only get to meet other students, but also some of the adults who work here," Beri explains.

"Nobody really thinks to talk to the people who clean the dining hall or residence halls. It's important to reailze that these folks are all people with their own stories, and many of them are not originally from this country," Beri said.

Following his training last year, Beri, who is now a sophomore majoring in Neuroscience, was partnered with a CU Employee Guadalupe Lopez, who is a member of the CU �鶹ӰԺ custodial staff. Beri and Lopez met twice a week for one hour at a time, where Beri helped Lopez improve her English skills. Beri, who speaks some Hindi but not Lopez' native Spanish, was pleased to realize that students don't need to be bilingual to be effective at teaching English in the SWAP Program.

Guadalupe decided to participate in the SWAP program because she wanted to better communicate with her family. Her kids were born in the US and speak English, and she wanted to be able to participate better in their English speaking activities, like their schooling. But what she gained from her experience in SWAP was more than just English classes.

"It was really special to share and learn together with Nitin," says Lopez. "I taught him some things about the customs and cultures of Mexico, and he taught me things about India, where his family is from. We've become very good friends. I love him like a son."

Lopez recommends the program to other CU Employees who want to improve their English skills. "Sharing with the students is a great way to practice speaking English. And SWAP students are such great students, they're really good people. You get to talk together and learn so much from each other."

SWAP Director, CU �鶹ӰԺ student Bea Lacombe, explains how the program benefits both CU students and employees. "It's an opportunity for students to build relationships with someone on campus who we normally wouldn’t get to know. SWAP is a great way for students and employees to learn from each other across cultures," Lacombe says. She notes that CU Employees in the SWAP program are better able to participate in their communities in �鶹ӰԺ when they know more English. "The employees who have participated tell me that SWAP has helped them access more resources in �鶹ӰԺ and do other things, like help their kids with homework," reports Lacombe.

SWAP is offering several trainings in September for students interested in volunteering to teach English to CU Employees throughout the academic year. For more information, you can visit the SWAP website, the September SWAP Trainings event page on Facebook or sign up here.

SEPTEMBER 2016 SWAP TRAINING INFO FOR STUDENT VOLUNTEERS
Student volunteers must attend one of the training sessions, which are two hours long.
SWAP offers a total of four sessions.
SWAP will provide really good catered food at the trainings!
Make-up trainings will not be offered, except for special circumstances.

TRAINING DATES AND TIMES
September 21st, 6-9pm
September 24th (yes, a Saturday), 10am-1pm
September 27th, 6-9pm
September 29th, 6-9pm

RSVP today by using this link:
tinyurl.com/SWAPtraining

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First gen student, Puksta Scholar helps families navigate road to college

Anonymous — Thu, 15 Sep 2016 21:10:06 +0000

First gen student, Puksta Scholar helps families navigate road to college Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/15/2016 - 15:10

Leer el artículo en español: haga click aquí

Alondra Palomino didn’t know if she would ever go to college. The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Palomino’s family was supportive of her academic pursuits but, like many immigrant families, lacked familiarity with the U.S. college system and knowledge about the college application process.

“Parents are supposed to be the people to guide you,” she explained. “But for me, this was really hard.”

Raised by her godparents in Thornton, Palomino maintained a close relationship with her siblings and mom in Aurora. Her mom valued education for her daughter, but had stopped her own schooling after seventh grade... Continue reading the full article on CU Today, here.

Leer el artículo en español: haga click aquí

Alondra's next training:

Wednesday, October 5th
6:00 pm
Crawford Elementary School
1600 Florence St.
Aurora, CO 80010
view map

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Summer School: CU-�鶹ӰԺ INVST Students Study Sustainability Throughout the U.S. Southwest

Anonymous — Sat, 06 Aug 2016 23:05:49 +0000

Summer School: CU-�鶹ӰԺ INVST Students Study Sustainability Throughout the U.S. Southwest Anonymous (not verified) Sat, 08/06/2016 - 17:05

CU �鶹ӰԺ student Meredith Nass grew up in Durango, Colo., a region where diverging perspectives about energy, use of resources and sustainability are the norm. But growing up there, Nass didn’t know much about these issues. "I lived there for 18 years, went to public school, and volunteered in my community," she said. "But I never really knew much about the energy and sustainability issues affecting my region."

For Nass, that is about to change. This summer, together with nine other CU �鶹ӰԺ students from the INVST Community Leadership Program, Nass ditched her cell phone and set off for four weeks under the stars to investigate sustainability issues in Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.

"Having the chance to talk to coal miners and people who work on oil rigs, environmentalists, people on the Black Mesa Reservation who work for the water coalition, to be able to hear all these stories and perspectives during our INVST trip and bring this information back to my community, I’m just so excited for that,” she said.

...click here to read the full article

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CU �鶹ӰԺ Puksta Scholar Bridges the Digital Divide in Lafayette

Anonymous — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 20:40:13 +0000

CU �鶹ӰԺ Puksta Scholar Bridges the Digital Divide in Lafayette Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 06/24/2016 - 14:40

CU-�鶹ӰԺ undergraduate student Balkarn (Kern) Shahi is taking his knowledge of digital and information systems back to his hometown in Lafayette, Colorado, to help close the “digital divide” and other educational opportunity gaps for low-income students.

Kern's work has recently been featured in the Daily Camera, on CU �鶹ӰԺ's homepage, and in CU News.

Kern is a current Puksta Scholar, a program of CU Engage.

You can read more about Kern's work to close the opportunity gap in Lafayette here.

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Two Graduate Students Receive the 2016 Children, Youth and Environment Award

Anonymous — Fri, 20 May 2016 22:29:02 +0000

Two Graduate Students Receive the 2016 Children, Youth and Environment Award Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 05/20/2016 - 16:29

CU Engage is pleased to announce that two CU �鶹ӰԺ graduate students, Mónica Gonzalez and Danielle Garrison, have been selected to receive the 2016 Children, Youth and Environment Award.

Mónica Gonzalez, a doctoral student in Literacy Studies, will use the award to support her project with youth at a local migrant community learning center, where she has worked with immigrant and migrant youth since 2013. The project, entitled "Youth Leadership and Activism Collective," meets once a week and focuses on challenging rigid notions of leadership and engaging youth in critical conversations about the intersections of race, gender, class, citizenship and eduation.

Gonzalez explains:

This summer, these young people and I will be collaborating in a Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) project that collects testimonios, narratives of marginalization, to document the histories and knowledge of [their broader im/migrant] community. Students will analyze these testimonios to make visible and potentially address the sociopolitical issues being faced and navigated by their peers, family, and community members. The primary goal of this YPAR project is to foreground family and community knowledge and narratives as a way to think about literacy within im/migrant communities while centralizing the inquiry and research process in young people’s knowledge, experiences, and expertise. Over a six-week period, 8 young people from the collective will conduct interviews or semi-structured group conversations with each other as peers and with family. The youth will identify issues they would specifically like to learn more about and create interview protocols that focus on those topics. Young people will record, transcribe, and analyze all data. Analysis of the data will consist of identifying themes that surface from the testimonios and determine findings to present to the community. While I imagine students presenting their work and making suggestions for how to engage in sociopolitical action at a community forum, the young people will ultimately decide how they would like to showcase their findings and recommendations for social change.

For her project, Danielle Garrison will be using the CYE Award to support her outreach ballet program in with elementary school children in Denver. Garrison, a CU �鶹ӰԺ MFA Dance Candidate in the Arerial Dance Track, is an Aerialist, Dancer, Choreographer and Teacher. Her program will pair students from Johnson Elementary School in Denver -- where 97 percent of the students qualify for free and reduced lunch and where funding for afterschool dance classes is nil -- with senior citizens living at the nearby Parkview Care Center.

Garrison explains:

Each ballet student will be paired up with a Parkview resident to hear a story about a challenge that the elderly person overcame in their life. Then each student will create their own dance that tells the story of this hardship, and the overcoming of that challenge, experienced by their elderly friend. Ideally, the students will find connections between the elders’ stories and their own, creating a piece that dialogues a multi-generational connection. In conclusion, the ballet students will perform their pieces for the community. The pieces will include physical and/or audial storytelling by the students and elders, giving the youth multiple platforms for voice.

CU Engage would like to thank all of this year's applicants to the CYE Award. We had a very strong pool of applicants.

Due to insufficient funding CU Engage is not able to administer this award in 2017.

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