Painted lady image

A prolonged migration of painted ladies

Oct. 20, 2017

We have been immersed in a large and prolonged migration of painted lady butterflies. On a small scale, it does not appear to be a migration, for the flight of individual butterflies appears undisciplined and erratic, unlikely to be a purposeful movement to a common destination.

Pink Flowers on Ridge

Researchers to create digital archive of Rocky Mountain plants

Sept. 13, 2017

CU Boulder researchers have been awarded $2.9 million from the NSF to create a comprehensive digital archive of native plants in the southern Rocky Mountain region.

fir

Third epidemic in a decade: fir engravers killing white fir

Sept. 8, 2017

Ouray’s amphitheater is formed by walls of rich red sandstone draped with the deep green of several species of conifers, but now, the magnificent amphitheater is sullied with the red of dying white fir, Abies concolor. Another bark beetle epidemic has begun.

fir

Coincidence of large cone crops and winds results in conifer blowdown

Sept. 5, 2017

I had chosen a dispersed camping site on the Uncompahgre Plateau for its proximity to a small reservoir and a large meadow. But when I drove into the site, I found it was littered, not with refuse, but with tops of subalpine firs.

Nambian Fairy Circle

Solving the ecological mystery of Africa’s fairy circles

Aug. 22, 2017

A team of CU Boulder scientists is working to unlock a longstanding ecological mystery: barren patches of ground in Africa's grasslands known as fairy circles.

Caterpillar

No microbes? No problem for caterpillars

Aug. 22, 2017

Caterpillars have far less bacteria and fungi inhabiting their guts than other organisms, making them an evolutionary oddity in the animal kingdom.

SMART Student

Underrepresented students excel through SMART

Aug. 9, 2017

CU Boulder program helps underserved and underrepresented students in the STEM fields gain valuable research experience for graduate school.

Research

What pikas and alpine plants tell us about climate change

July 28, 2017

This summer, undergraduate students Max Wasser and Grace Kendziorski are spending time hiking in the mountains—and trapping pikas and counting flowers. They are participating in the Research Experiences for Undergraduates program at CU Boulder.

Treehopper

Treehoppers’ environments are defined by their host species

July 21, 2017

An amplectic pair of treehoppers, Telamona monticola, was on a CU sidewalk beneath a swamp oak tree, Quercus bicolor. I surmised that they tumbled from the tree while delicately adjusting their positions. I collected the treehoppers to photograph them and 7 hours later they were still amplectic.

its

Inside the Greenhouse, climate discourse cools down

July 7, 2017

Professors in theatre, biology and environmental studies team up to focus on creatively communicating climate science through the arts and social sciences.

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