Alumni News

Assistant professor and Alum outline the beginnings of "A Bipartisan Climate Playbook is Emerging"

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 23:18:38 +0000

Assistant professor and Alum outline the beginnings of "A Bipartisan Climate Playbook is Emerging" Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 09/16/2022 - 17:18

ENVS assistant professor, Matthew Burgess, and ENVS alum Renae Marshall (current PhD student at the Bren School at UCSB) recently released an op-ed on bipartisan climate progress that discusses an "emerging bipartisan climate playbook wherein both parties tame their political vices."

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ENVS Prof and Alum host the CIRES panel on Bipartisan Climate Solutions

Anonymous — Sun, 28 Aug 2022 03:27:18 +0000

ENVS Prof and Alum host the CIRES panel on Bipartisan Climate Solutions Anonymous (not verified) Sat, 08/27/2022 - 21:27

CIRES is hosting the Bipartisan Climate Solutions panel, moderated by Professor Matt Burgess and ENVS alum Renae Marshall. The panel will feature Rep. Joe Neguse and Rep. John Curtis. The panel will discuss where consensus lies on climate change policy.

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A Successful Inaugural Patricia Sheffels Visiting Scholar Keynote Speaker

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 23:05:50 +0000

A Successful Inaugural Patricia Sheffels Visiting Scholar Keynote Speaker Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 03/15/2022 - 17:05

Diana Dorman

“Migwetch,” the Potawatomi word for thank you, was uttered confidently and humbly by Professor Kyle Powys Whyte as he closed the inaugural Patricia Sheffels Visiting Scholar Keynote Speaker talk ‘Against Crisis Science: Research Futures for Climate and Energy Justice.’ This word not only queued the crowd of over 100 people to applaud, but is a distillation of the insightful themes considered. Professor Whyte, an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and Professor at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability, discussed the crisis of climate change from his perspective as an indigenous person, “for me, the climate change crisis is better understood as a kinship crisis.” Professor Whyte reframed the climate crisis as a crisis of relationships, urging the audience to reconsider the roots of climate change.

A new addition to the Department of Environmental Studies (ENVS), the Patricia Sheffels Visiting Scholar Keynote Speaker series was made possible through the generosity of Patricia Sheffels and her family. A graduate of the Geography Department at �鶹ӰԺ (class of ’58), Patricia started the speaker series motivated by love of her family and the environment. The Patricia Sheffels Speaker series will bring top interdisciplinary environmental scholars to ENVS to discuss the world’s most pressing environmental challenges and how we may solve them. Professor Whyte’s expertise and personal perspective made him the perfect scholar to give the inaugural speech.

Mrs. Sheffels, who attended the lecture with her family, explained, “We all know that there is not one answer to solving climate change. I hoped for a visiting scholar who would not only show us some of the problems and solutions, but also to inspire the CU community to search for the answers. Kyle Whyte was available to students, the lecture attendees, and the community and he did an admirable job. I couldn’t have been more pleased with the inaugural event and the speaker.”

The daughter of a former dean in the California university system, who became a teacher as her first career, Pat has a lifelong relationship with education. Her love of the environment also started at a young age, hiking and skiing as much as possible throughout her time at CU �鶹ӰԺ. After graduating from CU, Pat moved to Montana with her husband where they ranched and raised a family.

Pat moved to Seattle once her children were grown and put her CU Geography degree to work as a Bellevue City Planner. Now retired, she has made donating her time, expertise, and resources an integral part of her life, working with many organizations and causes near to her heart, including the working with the hearing impaired, her church and helping disadvantaged people in developing countries. The Department of Environmental Studies is grateful for her support, and is excited for the next Visiting Scholar Keynote in 2023!

If you want to learn more about how you can support students and programs in ENVS now and in the future, contact the Department of Environmental Studies Chair, Max Boykoff, or donate now.

(Pictured from left to right: Professor Kyle Powys Whyte, Patricia Sheffels, and Chair Max Boykoff)

The ENVS Department hosted a successful inaugural Patricia Sheffels Visiting Scholar Keynote Speaker talk by Professor Kyle Powys Whyte (left). The lecture titled ‘Against Crisis Science: Research Futures for Climate and Energy Justice’, inspired the crowd, which included donor Patricia Sheffels (middle) and Chair Max Boykoff (right), to think of our climate crisis through the lens of indigenous peoples.

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ENVS graduate, Rae Lewark, dives deep for water conservation awareness

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Sep 2021 20:22:13 +0000

ENVS graduate, Rae Lewark, dives deep for water conservation awareness Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 09/22/2021 - 14:22

Rae Lewark, a May graduate with a major in environmental studies and a dance minor, went to great lengths to create their honor’s thesis. Lewark combined her passions for environmental sustainability, self-expression, and the element of water to make a short film titled "The Life of Water. Becoming the Water Cycle", in which the path of the water cycle is depicted by Lewark dancing both in and under water.

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Angela Boag, ENVS Ph.D. Alum, promoted to the position of Assistant Director for Climate, Forest Health and Energy

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Jun 2021 16:04:30 +0000

Angela Boag, ENVS Ph.D. Alum, promoted to the position of Assistant Director for Climate, Forest Health and Energy Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 06/15/2021 - 10:04

As an Assistant Director Angela will help position the Department as we implement the Governor’s and State’s priorities on climate change, protecting communities from wildfires, promoting forest health and restoration, and moving forward on protecting public health and the environment while managing our state’s oil and natural gas resources.”

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Meat substitute miracle that uses 99% less water and land, and emits 99% less carbon dioxide

Anonymous — Sun, 08 Nov 2020 07:00:00 +0000

Meat substitute miracle that uses 99% less water and land, and emits 99% less carbon dioxide Anonymous (not verified) Sun, 11/08/2020 - 00:00

CU grads Tyler Huggins (Ph.D. Environmental Engineering) and Justin Whiteley have formed a successful startup known as Meati Foods in NE �鶹ӰԺ, which grows lab-cultured mycelium indoors in stainless steel tanks, similar to those used to brew beer. The process uses 99% less water and land, and emits 99% less carbon dioxide than conventionally produced animal protein. Meati Foods has already attracted $28.2 million in investment funding and cultivates a scalable protein product that is remarkably similar in texture to steak and chicken cutlets, a viable market competitor to companies like Impossible (burger) and Beyond Meat.

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Dane Dostert, ENVS Alum, Helps Make Maui Sustainable

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Sep 2019 21:04:11 +0000

Dane Dostert, ENVS Alum, Helps Make Maui Sustainable Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 09/27/2019 - 15:04

Dane Dostert (ENVS 08) Now the sustainability coordinator and head bartender for Maui Tropical Plantation, a unique business that is a mélange of restaurant and bar, coffee roaster, retail and sustainable agriculture on the western lobe of one of Hawaii’s most beloved islands. He created the plantation’s craft-cocktail program and still works two nights a week behind the bar. The rest of the time, he’s building sustainability programs and working in the field.

“I’m really thankful to CU, which game me this sort of cross-pollination and promotion of interdisciplinary skills,” he says. “I’m able to engage in these seemingly disconnected pursuits in one place. That’s kind of cool.”

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Rachael Kaspar, ENVS Alum, Researches Honeybee Hive & Behavior

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 22:06:25 +0000

Rachael Kaspar, ENVS Alum, Researches Honeybee Hive & Behavior Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/02/2018 - 16:06

ENVS undergraduates get the opportunity to do some pretty fabulous research! CU �鶹ӰԺ Today highlights ENVS alumn, Rachael Kaspar, who studied the secret lives and social behavior of honeybees. Kaspar graduated in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EBIO) and Environmental Studies (ENVS) with a minor in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (ATOC). She is the lead author of a scientific article in Animal Behavior based on her undergraduate honors thesis about honeybee behavior, which shows experienced fanner honey bees influence younger, inexperienced bees to fan their colony to cool it down.

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Joel Gratz, ENVS Alum, Creates 14er Forecast App

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 18:18:33 +0000

Joel Gratz, ENVS Alum, Creates 14er Forecast App Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 03/08/2017 - 11:18

Abigail Ahlert , CSTPR Writing Intern

Meteorologist Joel Gratz takes weather prediction off the beaten path. Gratz, founder of the skier-beloved forecast company OpenSnow and alumnus of the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research (CSTPR) at the �鶹ӰԺ, recently created a new app for iPhones that provides forecasts for hikers of Colorado’s highest peaks. Gratz graduated from CU �鶹ӰԺ in three years with both an M.S. in Environmental Studies and an MBA. His new app, OpenSummit, delivers hourly temperature, wind, precipitation and lightning forecasts for every mountain in Colorado over 14,000 feet. The app is also synced with Instagram, so users can see for themselves the recent conditions at each summit. OpenSummit launched in September 2016, so summer 2017 will be its first ever 14er season.

Read entire article at Ogmius Newsletter.

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