News

Don’t fear the fungi

Rachel Sauer — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 13:30:00 +0000

Don’t fear the fungi Rachel Sauer Thu, 04/17/2025 - 07:30

Bradley Worrell

��ֱ�� Boulder mycologist Alisha Quandt says there’s little reason to fear a fungi-zombie apocalypse like the one imagined in the HBO hit TV series ‘The Last of Us’

Alisha Quandt prepared herself in advance to be asked by students and others about Sunday’s season 2 premier of “The Last of Us”—the hit HBO series that imagines a post-apocalyptic future where a fungal infection on a massive scale turns the majority of humanity into zombie-like creatures seeking to infect the last pockets of civilization.

It’s not that Quandt is a super-fan of the TV show (“I’m not into zombies, honestly,” she confesses), but as a mycologist—a scientist who studies fungi—she is used to getting asked about the TV show, specifically whether the grim future it imagines is anything people need to be worried about, or whether it’s simply harmless entertainment.

“I’m happy if it gets people excited about fungi. They’re so incredible,” says Alisha Quandt, a ��ֱ�� Boulder assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology.

“Especially when the TV show first debuted, it was definitely a topic people wanted to discuss,” says Quandt, a University of ��ֱ�� Boulder Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology assistant professor.

“And it seems like the topic (of infectious fungi) comes up in popular culture every five to 10 years. When I was starting my PhD, people were fascinated by the ‘Planet Earth’ TV series by David Attenborough, where this ant infected by Ophiocordyceps unilateralis staggers around, being controlled by the fungus. Then later, the Last of Us videogame came out, which really got people excited about (zombie) fungi.”

Quandt did her PhD research studying Cordyceps-like fungi, which is the type of pestilence the TV show identifies as the culprit for turning civilization into a hellscape populated by zombies controlled by the spiky fungi tendrils sprouting from their heads. For the record, Quandt finds that scenario very unlikely, for a variety of reasons.

No need to panic

For starters, the TV show imagines a worldwide outbreak is caused by Cordyceps-contaminated food. However, Quandt says most fungal infections in humans are caused by inhaling spores or through contact with the eyes or skin—and not through the digestive tract. She notes that in many parts of the world, people have been ingesting Cordyceps fungi for decades without incident, because they believe they contain beneficial properties.

“I’ve eaten Cordyceps in Asia, in Korea and China,” says Quandt, who remains unzombified. “It’s considered a part of traditional Chinese medicine, especially certain species. Even here in the U.S., you can find Cordyceps in coffees and teas, for example. They sell them at stores in Boulder.”

Quandt says another reason not to be overly concerned about Cordyceps is that many of them are “specialists” that have a very narrow range of hosts that they infect, down to a specific family of ant or spider. While some Cordyceps can transition from infecting one type of arthropod to another, or to jump from infecting an insect to another fungus, she says making the leap to a healthy human being is remote.

What’s more, the average human body temperature of 97 to 99 degrees Fahrenheit is not an environment that’s hospitable for many fungi, although Quandt acknowledges there are exceptions. “The Last of Us” imagines a future in which global warming has raised Earth temperatures to a point where mutated Cordyceps zombie fungi could live comfortably in human hosts, but Quandt notes that ambient temperatures of even 90 degrees Fahrenheit are still cooler than the human body.

“That’s a hard path for me to follow,” she says of an environmental change that would allow Cordyceps to evolve in such a way. “There’s a lot of assumptions that would go into that trajectory.”

��ֱ�� Boulder scientist Alisha Quandt finds the scenario from "The Last of Us" in which a Cordyceps-like fungi causes worldwide zombification very unlikely, for a variety of reasons. (Photo: HBO)

Beyond those arguments, Quandt says there is an even more important one as to why humans don’t need to start doom prepping for a fungi apocalypse.

“My argument about why we shouldn’t be worried about a fungal pandemic is that our bodies, when fully immunocompetent—meaning healthy human bodies—are extremely well equipped to deal with fungal propagules (spores) that come into contact with our bodies, mostly through our lungs,” she says. “Fungi have this cell wall that is made up of stuff that our bodies do not make. So, our bodies are really good identifying and dealing with that.”

Quant says fungal infections do pose a risk to people whose immune systems are compromised—particularly if they have taken a heavy dose of antibiotics, because those can kill off good bacteria, which can lower resistance to harmful fungi.

“Once our immune system goes away, which could handle those types of (fungi), we have so few antifungal drugs to treat fungal infections compared to the myriad of antibiotics that we have to treat bacterial diseases,” she says.

For the immunocompromised, Quandt says one of the most concerning fungi—which just cropped up in recent years and has spread worldwide—is Candida auris.

“It is a really concerning human pathogen because it is what we call nosocomial, meaning it is hospital related. People get these infections in hospitals, and once it’s in a hospital, it can be almost impossible to get rid of it,” she says.

“People will use all kinds of bleach and ethanol but it’s very hard to get rid of the yeast once it gets into a hospital room. And the fully immunocompetent, like nurses and doctors who are not sick, can end up spreading it from room to room to sick, often elderly, patients. Unfortunately, there’s not a good defense on the ground, so to speak, once Candida auris takes hold.”

But while “opportunistic pathogens” like Candida auris can pose a risk to the immunocompromised, the number of fungal diseases that could be described as “primary pathogens”—meaning they can infect and potentially cause serious health issues for healthy individuals—is less than a handful, Quandt says.

One primary pathogen that can be found in the United State is Valley Fever, which is primarily located in New Mexico, Arizona and southern California. Farming, construction or other practices that disrupt the soil can release the fungi’s spores, which people can then breathe into their lungs. Once inhaled, Valley Fever can potentially cause fever, cough, tiredness, shortness of breath and, in limited cases, serious conditions such as pneumonia and meningitis.

“But those are the rarer things, and I’m still not worried about them becoming common because they’re still not being spread from person to person,” she says.

In contrast with the way “The Last of Us” portrays fungi as an existential threat, Quandt sees a type of virus that’s already well-known to the scientific community and the public alike as a much greater risk for causing a global pandemic. The World Health Organization estimates the COVID-19 pandemic killed 14.9 million people worldwide between January 2020 and December 2021.

“As we’ve recently seen, unfortunately, there are a lot of other places to look for more likely suspects for (global pandemics). Things that were predicted by a lot of great investigative journalists and epidemiologists, like coronavirus and other zoonotic diseases (which jump from animals to humans), pose a much greater threat to mankind,” she says.

“As we’ve recently seen, unfortunately, there are a lot of other places to look for more likely suspects for (global pandemics). Things that were predicted by a lot of great investigative journalists and epidemiologists, like coronavirus and other zoonotic diseases (which jump from animals to humans), pose a much greater threat to mankind.”

And now, back to the show

Even beyond the fact she’s not into zombies, Quandt says her training as a mycologist can get in the way of her enjoyment of “The Last of Us” as entertainment, based upon the few episodes she has watched.

“I’m probably a little too close to watch the show—especially the fruiting bodies,” she says. “Sometimes they would show a person who is dead up against a wall, and the fruiting structures look life shelf fungi,” she says.

“Those are related to mushrooms—they’re not related to (fungi) that are molds, like Cordyceps. The artistry was beautiful, so they did a good job visually, but it’s just completely inaccurate. So, it does take you out of it a little bit to watch as an expert; you have to really suspend belief.”

Another scene that inspired disbelief for Quandt was a flashback episode—prior to the fungal pandemic—when a mycologist in Jakarta is asked by representatives of the country’s military to provide guidance on how to proceed after a group of workers in a building are found to be infected with early cases of the Cordyceps contagion. After surveying the infected, the mycologist gives the military members a chilling one-word answer: “Bomb!” (As in, bomb the entire country to try to prevent the infection from spreading.)

“My husband was watching the show with me. He paused it there and he’s like, ‘What should they do?’ I was like, ‘Get all the antifungals that you can. Get all the major ones and then get the rare ones—and start pumping these people with IVs, or all the people that you think might be exposed and get going on it.’ But the fact she said ‘bomb!’ I almost found it funny, but I was also like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s so dramatic.’ Still, it’s a TV show, and I acknowledge that.”

While Quandt may opt not to watch more episodes of “The Last of Us,” she says if the TV show raises public awareness about fungi—even if the details in the show are not entirely correct—she is all for it.

“I’m happy if it gets people excited about fungi,” she says. “They’re so incredible.”

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about ecology and evolutionary biology? Show your support.

��ֱ�� Boulder mycologist Alisha Quandt says there’s little reason to fear a fungi-zombie apocalypse like the one imagined in the HBO hit TV series ‘The Last of Us.'

Traditional

White

Top image: HBO

College of Arts and Sciences names 2025 Van Ek Scholars

Kylie Clarke — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 21:38:02 +0000

College of Arts and Sciences names 2025 Van Ek Scholars Kylie Clarke Wed, 04/16/2025 - 15:38

Seventeen students receive one of the college’s most prestigious honors, recognized for their exemplary academic achievement and meaningful contributions to the campus and broader community

The College of Arts and Sciences has awarded the Jacob Van Ek Scholarship—one of the college’s highest honors—to 17 outstanding undergraduates.

Named in honor of Jacob Van Ek (1896–1999), the award commemorates his remarkable contributions to the university. Van Ek joined ��ֱ�� Boulder in 1925 as a young assistant professor shortly after earning his doctorate from what is now Iowa State University. Within three years, he rose to the rank of full professor and, by 1929, was appointed dean of the College of Liberal Arts—a role he held until 1959.

Students walking across campus.

The following students are this year’s Jakob Van Ek Scholar Award recipients:

Danya Al Nazal, Neuroscience/Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology
Amaneet Brar, Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology
Michaela De Oliveria Olsen, Integrative Physiology
Rachel Suter, Neuroscience/Art Practices
Nikolaas Steele, Integrative Physiology
Ivory Carpenter, Environmental Studies
Karis Lowe, Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences
Natalie Sesselmann, Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences/Psychology
Brooklyn Phillips, Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences
Kalen Sieja, Political Science/Evolutionary Biology
Katie Mikell, Evolutionary Biology
Kalvyn Adams, Astrophysics and Planetary Sciences/Physics
Adriana Ripley, Psychology/French/Musical Theatre
Xavier Cisneros, Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology/Sociology
Marina Levine, Economics/Psychology
Devayani Ravuri, Physics
Abby Schaller, Political Science

Seventeen students receive one of the college’s most prestigious honors, recognized for their exemplary academic achievement and meaningful contributions to the campus and broader community.

Traditional

White

Voices of the Andes: Sharing Quechua stories and culture through modern media

Rachel Sauer — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 14:21:08 +0000

Voices of the Andes: Sharing Quechua stories and culture through modern media Rachel Sauer Wed, 04/16/2025 - 08:21

Cody DeBos

In new audio storytelling project, ��ֱ�� Boulder scholar Doris Loayza works to preserve the traditional tales and lore of the Peruvian highlands

In the highlands of Peru, Andean cultures have thrived for millennia. There, Quechua, the most widely spoken indigenous language in the Western Hemisphere, is more than just a means of communication—it’s a medium of cultural heritage, stories and traditions.

As a predominantly oral language, Quechua has historically been underrepresented in modern media. To bridge this gap, Doris Loayza, a teaching assistant professor in the University of ��ֱ�� Boulder Latin American and Latinx Studies Center, is on a mission to preserve and revitalize Quechua storytelling. Her project, “Producing and Distributing Audio Stories in Central Quechua of Peru,” aims to capture the voices of Quechua speakers and share their stories with a broader audience.

Doris Loayza (center, brown jacket), a teaching assistant professor in the University of ��ֱ�� Boulder Latin American and Latinx Studies Center, is leading a project to preserve and revitalize Quechua storytelling.

By recording these stories in audio form, Loayza and her team aren’t just connecting with millions of native speakers; they’re also honoring the oral traditions that have kept Quechua alive for centuries.

“We have so much to share and contribute in our own language, because our languages are the repository of our knowledge and our ways of relating with the world,” she says.

Connecting heritage and modern media

Across the Andes—primarily in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, with smaller pockets in Columbia, Argentina and even the United States—some 8 to 10 million people speak Quechua. For Loayza, Quechua is more than just a language; it’s a connection to her heritage.

Preserving Quechua stories and traditions is deeply personal for her. Growing up in the central Andes of Peru, she learned the Central Quechua variety from her mother.

“I always loved hearing and telling stories in Quechua,” she recalls. “Growing up, we always listened to the radio, especially the local radio. Today, I still love radio, and now podcasts.”

While earning a master’s degree in Latin American Studies at NYU, Loayza focused her research on Quechua radio in the Andes and learned the Southern Quechua variety. After graduating, she discovered the Colectivo Quechua Central, a volunteer group of native Quechua speakers who publish an online newspaper to promote reading and writing in Central Quechua.

“I reached out and proposed the idea to make audio versions of their newspaper stories, focusing on local cultural topics like food and identity, and then sharing them in a podcast format to distribute to radio stations in the central Peruvian Andes and on social media,” she explains.

Grant supports language education

Doris Loayza, teaching assistant professor at the Latin American and Latinx Studies Center and affiliated faculty of the Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies, along with co-project directors Joe Bryan, Leila Gomez and Ambrocio Gutierrez Lorenzo, has won a two-year, $149,925 National Endowment for the Humanities grant to develop course modules and educational resources about Quechua and Zapotec language and culture as part of efforts to expand and strengthen the Latin American Indigenous Languages and Cultures program.

“The group welcomed the idea, and thanks to support from ��ֱ�� Boulder’s Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies, we recorded the first episode this summer in Peru.”

The challenges and joys of storytelling

The lengthy process of recording and distributing audio stories in Central Quechua began with a discussion of where to perform interviews—and what to talk about. For the pilot episode, Loayza and the Colectivo settled on stories about tuqush, the Quechua word for “fermentation.” Tuqush also is an important traditional food in the central Andes, prepared from potato pulp or maize.

“We started in Lima, where thousands of migrants from the central Andes speak the language and are fervent consumers of tuqush,” she explains, “which is known as the penicillin of the Andes because it is a natural antibiotic.

“We got off to a great start because, during our first interview, we were eating tuqush while we were recording, which made the interview really intimate and enjoyable.”

She later traveled to Chavín de Huántar in Peru’s Ancash region, the site of one of the most ancient cultures of the Andes, to reconnect with members of the Colectivo and record nearly 20 more interviews.

“We have so much to share and contribute in our own language, because our languages are the repository of our knowledge and our ways of relating with the world,” says Doris Loayza of her "Producing and Distributing Audio Stories in Central Quechua of Peru" project. (Photo: Doris Loayza)

“One big challenge was finding time to get together because the members of the Colectivo have their own jobs and commitments where they live,” Loayza says.

The team also ran into some pleasant “trouble” when their arrival in Chavín coincided with the first day of a weeklong fiesta.

“I had just started an interview in Chavín when the brass band arrived,” she recalls. “Of course, we had to stop and dance with them at the entrance of the town.”

That wouldn’t be the only memorable moment of the trip. In her hometown of Llamellin, Loyaza interviewed the couple who rent her parent’s farm in the highlands.

“He told me that he still makes tuqush there, but that it was hidden because people used to steal it. He gave me instructions on how to find the site of a stream where potatoes were buried in a hole beneath the water,” she says. “I was excited to find this place on a hot sunny day in the highlands because it was on my father’s land. It meant a lot to me personally.”

After completing the interviews, Loayza and members of the Colectivo began editing the recordings and distributing them to local listeners.

“I learned so much about food, vocabulary and their storytelling style,” Loayza says. “The Andean people, especially Quechua women, are great storytellers. They are so proud to tell their stories.”

Sharing Quechua with everyone

With the successful launch of their pilot episode, Loayza and the Colectivo aim to continue editing and distributing the recorded stories, making them accessible to a wider audience of Quechua speakers.

The Quechua audio stories will also play a role in educating the next generation of students at ��ֱ�� Boulder, Loayza says: “With Professor Leila Gómez, we are working on developing a new curriculum to include the Central Quechua variety of these podcasts in our classes and teach it along with the Southern variety that we currently teach.

“Being able to offer both varieties to our students will enrich and expand the cultural understanding of the Quechua culture.”

Loayza adds that she hopes these audio stories will inspire others in Peruvian highland communities to start their own recordings, further preserving the language and its cultural significance.

“It is so important to connect and learn from other indigenous languages and cultures,” she says. “We all have similarities and particularities. Everyone on this team is excited to share their knowledge, enthusiasm and time so that this project continues.”

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about Latin American and Latinx studies? Show your support.

In new audio storytelling project, ��ֱ�� Boulder scholar Doris Loayza works to preserve the traditional tales and lore of the Peruvian highlands.

Traditional

White

��ֱ�� grad Erin Macdonald makes it so

Rachel Sauer — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 22:18:50 +0000

��ֱ�� grad Erin Macdonald makes it so Rachel Sauer Tue, 04/15/2025 - 16:18

Bradley Worrell

The 2009 math and astrophysics double major has successfully transformed herself from a scientist to an educator to a storyteller sailing with the enterprise known as Star Trek

As she worked toward completing her bachelor’s degrees in astrophysics and mathematics at the University of ��ֱ�� Boulder in the late 2000s, Erin Macdonald often enjoyed watching Star Trek: The Next Generation with her college friends. Today, she is a science advisor for the entire Star Trek franchise.

“I don’t think I could have ever conceived it, that being able to work in television and movies was a real thing that people could actually do,” Macdonald says in retrospect. “And if you told me that I would see my name in TV credits—not to mention in the Star Trek font with the Star Trek theme playing—it’s almost unbelievable.”

It’s been a remarkable journey from academia to Hollywood, Macdonald acknowledges. Still, she is quick to add that in a multiverse of possibilities, the outcome was never assured, and it did not happen at warp speed.

��ֱ�� Boulder alumnus Erin Macdonald, who double majored in mathematics and astrophysics, is a science advisor for the Star Trek franchise and author of Star Trek: My First Book of Space. (Photo: Bradley Worrell)

Raised in Fort Collins, ��ֱ��, Macdonald did not grow up watching Star Trek. However, she was deeply motivated to study science after being inspired by the protagonist astronomer Ellie Arroway in the movie Contact, as well as by fictional FBI agent and medical doctor Dana Scully in the popular TV show The X-Files.

“I watched The X-Files growing up, and Dana Scully for me was just the coolest woman who ever existed. That really sparked an excitement to be a scientist,” she says. “And then when Contact came out, watching Dr. Ellie Arroway use a telescope to find aliens, and seeing her legitimately work as an astronomer was the first time I ever saw that as a career.”

Still, there were some obstacles to overcome, Macdonald says, including the fact that math did not come naturally to her.

“In high school, I had friends who were taking classes that seemed to get it. And for me, I felt like I was trudging through mud trying to understand things—but knowing that I had to get through the math,” she says. Finally, when taking a Calculus 3 course at ��ֱ�� Boulder, she says she experienced a breakthrough when she came to understand how math worked with physics, and then “everything just clicked.” It prompted her to immediately declare a double major in mathematics and astrophysics.

Gaining another role model

It also was in college that Macdonald was first exposed to Star Trek through a tightknit group of fellow students who were big fans of the TV shows.

“In the Venn diagram of physics majors and Star Trek fans, there is a big intersection,” she says with a laugh. “I was in my early 20s and (fictional) Voyager Captain Catherine Janeway became my new Scully. She was someone who had gone from being a science officer to a captain. At that point, I knew I wanted to get my PhD, but I didn’t necessarily want to be a researcher as a career. So, Janeway was a role model, how she was a leader and a problem-solver and a mentor. It was something I aspired to.”

After graduating from ��ֱ�� Boulder in May 2009, Macdonald enrolled at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, where she earned her PhD in astrophysics in 2012. Normally, a master’s degree would be the next educational step after obtaining an undergraduate degree, but Macdonald credits the quality of the education she received at ��ֱ�� Boulder—and particularly the research opportunity and mentorship of astrophysics and planetary sciences Professor Jeremy Darling—with allowing her to immediately advance to working toward a doctorate.

After obtaining her PhD, Macdonald spent two years doing post-doctoral research at Cardiff University in Wales, United Kingdom. She later moved back to ��ֱ��, where she worked as an adjunct professor in the community college system and as an educator at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science for about a year, then transitioned to work as an aerospace engineer for a contractor based in the Denver area.

“In the Venn diagram of physics majors and Star Trek fans, there is a big intersection,” says ��ֱ�� Boulder alumnus Erin Macdonald. (Photo: Bradley Worrell)

It was during her time working for the contractor, and while attending pop culture conventions for fun, that Macdonald hit upon the idea that she could combine her deep knowledge of astrophysics with her love of science fiction to give talks on the science of science fiction TV shows, movies and videogames at fan conventions.

“After a while in the private sector, I found I really missed teaching. I was already going to conventions, so I proposed giving talks,” she says, adding that event organizers were receptive to the idea. “For topics, a popular one is physics and Star Trek. I’d say, ‘I did my PhD in gravitational physics, so let me explain how (theoretically) warp drives work, because I actually know the science of how warp drives work.’”

To boldly go …

In 2017, Macdonald moved to the Los Angeles area, where she continued to work in the aerospace industry while also giving science/science fiction talks at fan conventions, or as she describes herself in that time: “rocket scientist by day, warp engineering expert by evening.” It was during that period that she began meeting actors and writers at fan events, which ultimately led to industry connections with executives at CBS, the producer of all things Star Trek.

Macdonald was initially hired to give talks at CBS-sponsored events, including Star Trek Cruises. That led to an introduction with the co-executive producer of Star Trek Discovery, who asked Macdonald to serve as a science advisor for the show as season 3 began production.

“I believe I did a good job on that season, so I think the executives saw value in hiring a science advisor to be available to all of their shows to maintain consistency across the franchise, to understand all of the made-up technologies that we have in Star Trek and to be able to communicate that to the writers as well,” she says. “That’s been going on since 2019, so almost five years now.”

Meanwhile, Macdonald has written four screenplays, and she has done voice acting for Star Trek Prodigy, an animated Star Trek show, during which she had the opportunity to work with Kate Mulgrew, the actress who played Captain Janeway on Star Trek Voyager.

“When I started working on Star Trek Prodigy, they were bringing Captain Janeway back as a teacher for young kids. I was going to help write some of her lines, and that was when I had this huge epiphany of—I’m not meant to become Captain Janeway; I’m meant to write Captain Janeway and create characters that inspire kids to become scientists,”

“When I started working on Star Trek Prodigy, they were bringing Captain Janeway back as a teacher for young kids. I was going to help write some of her lines, and that was when I had this huge epiphany of—I’m not meant to become Captain Janeway; I’m meant to write Captain Janeway and create characters that inspire kids to become scientists,” she says. “And so now, I find that storytelling lets me sort of inspire and motivate the next generation of STEM professionals, and that’s what I want to do as a career.”

Macdonald has found her voice as a storyteller in several different ways. In 2022, she published Star Trek: My First Book of Space, an illustrate children’s board book that uses Star Trek to talk about science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM), and she wrote and narrated the Audible Original “The Science of Sci-Fi” in collaboration with The Great Courses.

Additionally, in 2021, McDonald created Spacetime Productions, a film development and production company devoted to giving representation to traditionally marginalized voices, including those in the LGBTQIA+ community. The company has produced two short films including Identiteaze, released on the streaming service Nebula earlier this summer.

Reflecting on her journey from scientist to educator to storyteller, Macdonald says her success is the result of recognizing good opportunities, trusting her instincts, perseverance and, most importantly, putting in the time and work to achieve her goals.

“You know, I didn’t quit my PhD and move to LA with no plan. I took those important steps in between,” she says. “And it took me until well into my 30s for me to realize what I wanted, to be a storyteller and create those Dana Scullys and Captain Janeways, as opposed to becoming one of those characters. And that’s OK. All of those steps along the way helped inform the work I do now.”

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about astrophysical and planetary sciences? Show your support.

The 2009 math and astrophysics double major has successfully transformed herself from a scientist to an educator to a storyteller sailing with the enterprise known as 'Star Trek.'

Traditional

White

Abby Hickcox wins 2025 Cogswell Award for Inspirational Instruction

Rachel Sauer — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 20:08:09 +0000

Abby Hickcox wins 2025 Cogswell Award for Inspirational Instruction Rachel Sauer Tue, 04/15/2025 - 14:08

Hickcox, a ��ֱ�� Boulder teaching associate professor of geography, is recognized for empowering students to think of themselves as creators of knowledge

Abby Hickcox, a teaching associate professor of geography and associate director of the Arts and Sciences Honors Program, has been named the 2025 Cogswell Award for Inspirational Instruction winner.

Supported by a generous donation from Craig Cogswell, a three-time alumnus of ��ֱ�� Boulder, the award recognizes outstanding instruction in the college, honoring individuals for their inspirational qualities and teaching abilities.

Hickcox, who also is co-principal investigator of the ��ֱ�� Boulder Affordable Housing Research Initiative, earned a BA in peace and global studies from Earlham College in 2000. In 2006, she received an MS from the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Her master’s research investigated the privatization of common property (the Mexican ejido) in a national protected area in western Mexico. She earned her PhD in geography from the University of ��ֱ�� in 2012 and joined the honors faculty that year.

Abby Hickcox (second from right, with faculty colleagues in the Arts and Sciences Honors Program) has won the 2025 Cogswell Award for Inspirational Instruction.

“I am so honored to be selected for the Cogswell Award!” Hickcox says. “Teaching is what I love most about my role in the Honors Program. To be selected for the Cogswell Award, which recognizes inspirational instruction, is heartwarming and affirming. I am honored that my colleagues and peers took the time to nominate me, and I am so grateful for the community I have at ��ֱ��, especially my students.”

In nominating Hickcox for the award, her colleagues and students noted her innovative teaching practices, interdisciplinary focus and genuine care for students.

“(Hickcox) excels at creating an inclusive classroom where students feel safe to share their thoughts, ideas and opinions,” noted Amy Palmer, a professor of biochemistry and the 2024 Cogswell Award winner. “She challenges students to take ownership of their own learning and empowers them to think of themselves as creators of knowledge.”

A former student who took Hickcox’s Environment Society Geography class as a freshman detailed how Hickcox combines an “irresistible passion for geography and learning with an unparalleled care and respect for students and their experiences.”

The student added, “From the first day, Dr. Hickcox had us questioning what can even define the line between nature and the human world, and from this philosophical beginning we extrapolated from questions into frameworks into analysis of lawns and wolves. It rocked.

“Dr. Hickcox’s excitement permeates through the classroom with geographical jokes and contagious interest in people and places. She almost got me; I almost considered changing my major—I might still add a minor. One thing will stick with me forever: a deeper appreciation of our interaction as humans with the world.”

Focusing on human geography

"From the first day, Dr. Hickcox had us questioning what can even define the line between nature and the human world, and from this philosophical beginning we extrapolated from questions into frameworks into analysis of lawns and wolves. It rocked."

Hickcox also is faculty advisor for the Honors Journal, an interdisciplinary, student-run journal published annually by the Arts and Sciences Honors Program. A student who worked on the journal praised the community that Hickcox helped them cultivate as they worked on the journal—“the friendships, memories, creativity and mutual respect that was intentional and significant,” the student noted.

“There is one moment that will last with me for a long time: Towards the end of the semester, we had finished the stressful process of planning the release event for the journal. After we had finished tasks for the day, Dr. Hickcox told us that she wanted to take a moment to talk about what she had observed this semester and what she valued in each of us. I have not felt the same depth of honesty and genuine thoughtfulness from a professor before or since.”

Hickcox teaches five honors courses per year—both lower division and upper division—which include Sustainable Futures (GEOG 1972); Place, Power and Contemporary Culture (GEOG 3742); Environmental Justice (HONR 4075); and Racism in American Culture (HONR 4000). She recently overhauled the Honors Diversity Seminar (HONR 1810) and created a new Advanced Writing Seminar—Honors Journal Section (HONR 3220).

Her research expertise is in human geography and focuses on the relationship between people and the environment. Her areas of research include parks and protected areas, environmentalism, environmental justice, racism, racialization, white racial privilege and the politics of belonging and exclusion. Specifically, through examination of historical and contemporary data, her research addresses the complicated overlap between environmentalism, progressive politics and racism in Boulder.

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about geography? Show your support.

Hickcox, a ��ֱ�� Boulder teaching associate professor of geography, is recognized for empowering students to think of themselves as creators of knowledge.

Traditional

White

In the archaeological record, size does matter

Rachel Sauer — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 15:24:57 +0000

In the archaeological record, size does matter Rachel Sauer Mon, 04/14/2025 - 09:24

Rachel Sauer

��ֱ�� Boulder archaeologist Scott Ortman and colleagues around the world explore relationships between housing size and inequality in PNAS Special Feature

If the archaeological record has been correctly interpreted, stone alignments in Tanzania’s Olduvai Gorge are remnants of shelters built 1.7 million years ago by Homo habilis, an extinct species representing one of the earliest branches of humanity’s family tree.

Archaeological evidence that is unambiguously housing dates to more than 20,000 years ago—a time when large swaths of North America, Europe and Asia were covered in ice and humans had only recently begun living in settlements.

Between that time and the dawn of industrialization, the archaeological record is rich not only with evidence of settled life represented by housing, but also with evidence of inequality.

��ֱ�� Boulder archaeologist Scott Ortman partnered with colleagues Amy Bogaard of the University of Oxford and Timothy Kohler of the University of Florida on a PNAS Special Feature focused on housing size in the archaeological record and inequality.

In a Special Feature published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), scholars from around the world draw from a groundbreaking archaeological database that collects more than 55,000 housing floor area measurements from sites spanning the globe—data that support research demonstrating various correlations between housing size and inequality.

“Archaeologists have been interested in the study of inequality for a long time,” explains Scott Ortman, a University of ��ֱ�� Boulder associate professor of anthropology who partnered with colleagues Amy Bogaard of the University of Oxford and Timothy Kohler of Washington State University to bring together the PNAS Special Feature. (Special Features in PNAS are curated collections of articles that delve into important topics.)

“For a long time, studies have focused on the emergence of inequality in the past, and while some of the papers in the special feature address those issues, others also consider the dynamics of inequality in more general terms.”

Kohler notes that "we use this information to identify the fundamental drivers of economic inequality using a different way of thinking about the archaeological record—more thinking about it as a compendium of human experience. It’s a new approach to doing archaeology.”

Patterns of inequality

Ortman, Bogaard and Kohler also are co-principal investigators on the Global Dynamics of Inequality (GINI) Project funded by the National Science Foundation and housed in the ��ֱ�� Boulder Center for Collaborative Synthesis in Archaeology in the Institute of Behavioral Science to create the database of housing floor area measurements from sites around the world.

Scholars then examined patterns of inequality shown in the data and studied them in the context of other measures of economic productivity, social stability and conflict to illuminate basic social consequences of inequality in human society, Ortman explains.

“What we did was we crowdsourced, in a sense,” Ortman says. “We put out a request for information from archaeologists working around the world, who knew about the archaeological record of housing in different parts of world and got them together to design a database to capture what was available from ancient houses in societies all over world.”

Undergraduate and graduate research assistants also helped create the database, which contains 55,000 housing units and counting from sites as renowned as Pompeii and Herculaneum, to sites across North and South America, Asia, Europe and Africa. “By no stretch of the imagination is it all of the data that archaeologists have ever collected, but we really did make an effort to sample the world and pull together most of the readily available information from excavations, from remote sensing, from LiDAR,” Ortman says.

The housing represented in the data spans non-industrial society from about 12,000 years ago to the recent past, generally ending with industrialization. The collected data then served as a foundation for 10 papers in the PNAS Special Feature, which focus on the archaeology of inequality as evidenced in housing.

Housing similarities

In their introduction to the Special Feature, Ortman, Kohler and Bogaard note that “economic inequality, especially as it relates to inclusive and sustainable social development, represents a primary global challenge of our time and a key research topic for archaeology.

In the PNAS Special Feature published Monday, researchers from around the world describe evidence of inequality found in archaeological data of housing size. (Cover image: Johnny Miller/Unequal Scenes)

“It is also deeply linked to two other significant challenges. The first is climate change. This threatens to widen economic gaps within and between nations, and some evidence from prehistory associates high levels of inequality with lack of resilience to climatic perturbations. The second is stability of governance. Clear and robust evidence from two dozen democracies over the last 25 years that links high economic inequality to political polarization, distrust of institutions and weakening democratic norms. Clearly, if maintenance of democratic systems is important to us, we must care about the degree of wealth inequality in society.”

Archaeological evidence demonstrates a long prehistory of inequality in income and wealth, Ortman and his colleagues note, and allows researchers to study the fundamental drivers of those inequalities. The research in the Special Feature takes advantage of the fact “that residences dating to the same chronological period, and from the same settlements or regions, will be subject to very similar climatic, environmental, technological and cultural constraints and opportunities.”

Several papers in the Special Feature address the relationship between economic growth and inequality, Ortman says. “They’re thinking about not just the typical size of houses in a society, but the rates of change in the sizes of houses from one time step to the next.

“One thing we’ve also done (with the database) is arrange houses from many parts of the world in regional chronological sequences—how the real estate sector of past societies changed over time.”

The papers in the Special Feature focus on topics including the effects of land use and war on housing disparities and the relationship between housing disparities and how long housing sites are occupied. A study that Ortman led and conducted with colleagues from around the world found that comparisons of archaeological and contemporary real estate data show that in preindustrial societies, variation in residential building area is proportional to income inequality and provides a conservative estimator for wealth inequality.

“Our research shows that high wealth inequality could become entrenched where ecological and political conditions permitted,” Bogaard says. “The emergence of high wealth inequality wasn’t an inevitable result of farming. It also wasn’t a simple function of either environmental or institutional conditions. It emerged where land became a scarce resource that could be monopolized. At the same time, our study reveals how some societies avoided the extremes of inequality through their governance practices.”

The researchers argue that “the archaeological record also shows that the most reliable way to promote equitable economic development is through policies and institutions that reduce the covariance of current household productivity with productivity growth.”

GINI Project data, as well as the analysis program developed for them, will be available open access via the Digital Archaeological Record.

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about anthropology? Show your support.

��ֱ�� Boulder archaeologist Scott Ortman and colleagues around the world explore relationships between housing size and inequality in PNAS Special Feature.

Traditional

White

Professor John Cumalat wins 2025 Hazel Barnes Prize

Rachel Sauer — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 22:19:58 +0000

Professor John Cumalat wins 2025 Hazel Barnes Prize Rachel Sauer Fri, 04/11/2025 - 16:19

Cumalat ‘literally re-shaped our understanding of the fundamental particles making up the known universe,’ colleagues note

John Cumalat, professor of distinction in the University of ��ֱ�� Boulder Department of Physics, has been awarded the 2025 Hazel Barnes Prize.

Established in 1991 by former chancellor James Corbridge to honor the late Hazel Barnes, ��ֱ�� Boulder professor of philosophy from 1953-86, the $20,000 Hazel Barnes Prize celebrates the enriching interrelationship between teaching and research and is the largest and most prestigious award funded by the university.

“Professor Cumalat is an exemplary educator and researcher whose contributions to his students, this university and the field of physics are highly deserving of recognition,” said Chancellor Justin Schwartz. “His selection as the Hazel Barnes Prize winner reflects his dedication and ingenuity, and I am so proud of all the ways he utilizes these qualities in service to ��ֱ�� Boulder and to humanity.”

Cumalat completed his PhD in physics from the University of California Santa Barbara in 1977 and his postdoctoral work with Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois, in 1979. Since joining the ��ֱ�� Boulder physics faculty in 1981, he has garnered multiple honors, including the Best Should Teach Award in 2003, the Robert L. Stearns Award in 2010 and the BFA Excellence in Service Award in 2013. He became a professor of distinction in 2014.

“John is an educator in the broadest sense and has had a lasting impact on his students and colleagues. He leads by example, he leads from the front, and he leads with integrity and compassion.”

Best known for his research in particle physics and for his development of state-of-the-art particle-detector technology and instrumentation, Cumalat is a member of five professional organizations: Sigma Xi, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association of Physics Teachers, the American Astronomical Society and the American Physical Society.

He is also a member of the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the current principal investigator of the ��ֱ�� High Energy Physics Department of Energy Grant and the principal investigator of the Professional Research Experience Program with the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Cumalat has authored or co-authored more than 1,500 publications and has been cited nearly 200,000 times, according to INSPIRE, an online hub that collects scholarly work in the field of high-energy physics. He has also served on several dozen graduate-student committees and on approximately 150 undergraduate-student thesis committees.

In their letters supporting Cumalat’s nomination for the Hazel Barnes Prize, several of his colleagues noted the significance of his contributions to the field of physics.

“John Cumalat has literally re-shaped our understanding of the fundamental particles making up the known universe,” wrote ��ֱ�� Boulder Professor of Physics James Nagle. “His research focuses on the fundamental building blocks of matter and his leadership has led to critical advances in our understanding of quarks as well as the discovery of the Higgs boson.”

“John is one of the very best physicists that I know,” said Joel Butler, a distinguished scientist at Fermilab. “He is well-known and greatly respected throughout the U.S. and in the world. I consider it one of the most fortunate aspects of my own career that I have had this long and productive association with him.”

Other colleagues brought attention to Cumalat’s role in expanding and improving physics education at ��ֱ�� Boulder.

“John’s leadership was critical in the expansion of the number of physics degrees in the College of Arts and Sciences,” said ��ֱ�� Boulder Professor of Physics Paul D. Beale. “I believe that John’s most important and lasting contribution to teaching and learning is his leadership in expanding the number of physics students engaged in undergraduate research, especially conducting honors research projects with members of the physics faculty and other scientists and engineers.”

“John is an educator in the broadest sense and has had a lasting impact on his students and colleagues,” said Patricia Rankin, former physics professor at ��ֱ�� Boulder and current chair of the Physics Department at Arizona State University. “He leads by example, he leads from the front, and he leads with integrity and compassion.”

“I am honored to be selected by previous Hazel Barnes winners as the 2025 Hazel Barnes Prize winner,” says Cumalat. “I particularly value my colleagues in physics nominating me for the award and for soliciting external supporting letters from students and national and international colleagues. I am humbled by the entire process.”

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about physics? Show your support.

Cumalat ‘literally re-shaped our understanding of the fundamental particles making up the known universe,’ colleagues note.

Traditional

White

Initiative gives students a voice with hip-hop

Rachel Sauer — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 15:39:27 +0000

Initiative gives students a voice with hip-hop Rachel Sauer Thu, 04/10/2025 - 09:39

Cody DeBos

Founded by a collaborative including ��ֱ�� Boulder scholars, the Lyripeutics Storytelling Project aims to empower Black and Brown youth through the medium of hip-hop

A Manual High School student sits behind a microphone, headphones on. Their world outside—which sometimes holds uncertainty, systemic barriers and institutional indifference but also encompasses the rich musical and cultural heritage of Denver’s Five Points neighborhood—fades away for a moment as a beat drops. As the student leans in, the cadence of hip-hop becomes an outlet to speak their truth.

For many Black and Brown youth in the greater Denver area, the Lyripeutics Storytelling Project is more than a way to express their creativity. It’s survival.

That’s why the artists and educators behind the project are battling to keep the space alive.

Shawn O'Neal (left), an assistant teaching professor of ethnic studies, and Kalonji Nzinga (right), an assistant professor of education, are co-directors of Lyripeutics.

“We’re trying to provide these platforms of learning that we think Black and Brown students in particular really resonate with,” says Kalonji Nzinga, a University of ��ֱ�� Boulder assistant professor of education and Lyripeutics co-director. “In a way, we’re just building upon the history of creating learning environments based in a cultural reference point, based in our ways of knowing.”

Through storytelling and music production, young people in the Lyripeutics program gain an opportunity to share stories of their unique cultural wealth. But while the program has been a source of empowerment for many, it also faces funding struggles and systemic resistance.

What is Lyripeutics?

Founded by a collective of ��ֱ�� Boulder scholars, artists, educators and community organizers, Lyripeutics’ mission is to empower Black and Brown youth through a medium many connect with—hip-hop. The program is embedded in schools in the greater Denver area and aims to offer alternative learning environments for students who find themselves overlooked in traditional education systems.

“We don’t all learn the same, yet we have this system of education that’s been around for hundreds of years and is really geared for only one very particular type of student,” says Shawn O’Neal, an assistant teaching professor in the ��ֱ�� Boulder Department of Ethnic Studies and Lyripeutics’ founding member and co-director.

“It’s just not working for us. For many students. It hasn’t worked,” he adds.

Rather than using the traditional education system’s philosophy of rigid structure and standardization, the Lyripeutics program operates through collaboration and an evolving process in which students, teachers and artists co-create learning spaces.

“A typical day can look quite different depending on whether we have a producer leading the session or a lecturer on hip-hop history, or an actual MC helping create space for youth to do storytelling,” O’Neal says.

Students can also create and produce their own music in the state-of-the-art hip-hop studio adjacent to the Manual High School library in Denver.

“We collaborate with other hip-hop artists across the Denver area to develop the programming and to do the instruction,” Nzinga says.

At its heart, the program is about creative expression.

“We’re even working with students on exercises like field recordings of their environments and recording their neighborhoods and creating tracks and experiences out of those,” O’Neal adds.

Building confidence, one verse at a time

Through storytelling and music production, young people in the Lyripeutics program gain an opportunity to share stories of their unique cultural wealth. (Photo: iStock)

Those behind the Lyripeutics program know education isn’t just about what happens in the classroom, but what happens when students see their own voices amplified in the real world.

Recently, one group of high school students visited the ��ֱ�� Boulder campus to play original tracks on the university’s radio station.

“The folks who run the radio station were just blown away,” says O’Neal. “It was an enriching experience for everyone involved.”

“We believe that doing work related to the social context, the cultural movement that is hip-hop, allows young people to really express their story from their perspective,” adds Nzinga.

For many of the youth involved, the program is much more than an extracurricular activity; for some, it’s the first time they’ve been given tools, encouragement and a platform to tell their stories, O’Neal says.

“When we get to engage with the students, it’s normally within a place of creativity and joy. We aren’t there for a lot of the day-to-day things I know they’re going through, but we see and hear the expression of their frustrations and the various roadblocks they’re up against through their music and their performance,” O’Neal says.

Fighting to keep the mic on

For all its successes, Lyripeutics faces a current reality: Programs focused on BIPOC youth, particularly those challenging traditional educational models, are under an intense microscope.

“We are at this moment receiving so much resistance from multiple levels,” Nzinga says. “From previous and future funding situations to different regulations at the state and district level—it’s extremely frustrating.”

Despite widespread recognition of the program’s impact, Nzinga and his colleagues cite an uphill battle to secure funding. While institutions like ��ֱ�� Boulder’s Renée Crown Wellness Institute have provided crucial support, securing consistent financial backing remains a struggle.

But the pushback isn’t just about money. Nzinga and O’Neal attribute much of the resistance to a larger national trend of rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, making it harder for programs like Lyripeutics to operate freely.

“We claim we want this type of programming for students that they need, yet we have to fight tooth and nail just to get a dollar, when we see so much money funneled into things that seem to be the antithesis of community building,” O’Neal observes.

“We believe that doing work related to the social context, the cultural movement that is hip-hop, allows young people to really express their story from their perspective.”

The most devastating consequence? Students who should be at the center of the conversation lose access to much-needed programming, and their voices are silenced—sometimes literally. Despite receiving parental consent, Lyripeutics has faced institutional roadblocks when trying to bring student voices into larger discussions about the program’s success.

“We would really prefer to have those students speaking for themselves,” O’Neal says, “But we’re not even at liberty to say many of the things we want to say.”

O’Neal and Nzinga also know Lyripeutics isn’t the only program fighting this battle. It’s part of a system of community-led education that refuses to be erased.

Nzinga says, “Our program isn’t the only one facing these types of pushback.”

“A lot of times these resistance movements try to separate us. They make us feel like we’re alone in doing this work, but we aren’t,” he adds.

When asked how outsiders can support the Lyripeutics program, Nzinga and O’Neal didn’t point to a single solution. They emphasized the importance of solidarity, awareness and amplifying voices.

“I think parents and community leaders voicing their opinions about any of the positive effects our programming has had would help,” O’Neal says.

The road ahead isn’t easy. Yet, despite the challenges, Lyripeutics will be there to keep a beat playing and a mic on for its students, ensuring the next generation of storytellers and leaders will have their voices heard.

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about ethnic studies? Show your support.

Founded by a collaborative including ��ֱ�� Boulder scholars, the Lyripeutics Storytelling Project aims to empower Black and Brown youth through the medium of hip-hop.

Traditional

White

��ֱ�� alum Stephen Koehler enjoys high-flying career

Rachel Sauer — Wed, 09 Apr 2025 18:14:40 +0000

��ֱ�� alum Stephen Koehler enjoys high-flying career Rachel Sauer Wed, 04/09/2025 - 12:14

Bradley Worrell

The ROTC cadet and physics major turned naval aviator turned admiral was appointed commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet in early 2024

University of ��ֱ�� Boulder grad Stephen T. Koehler (Phys’86) has a really, really big job.

How big?

It covers an area encompassing 100 million square miles—roughly half the earth’s surface—from Antarctica to the Artic Circle and from the western U.S. coast to the Indian Ocean. The job includes oversight of about 200 ships, 1,500 aircraft and 150,000 military and civilian personnel.

��ֱ�� Boulder grad and U.S. Navy Admiral Stephen Koehler (Phys’86) was selected as the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet in April 2024, following a succession of leadership positions in the Navy.

Admiral Koehler is the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, a position he assumed in April 2024 after a series of successive leadership positions during his 40-year career in the Navy. He became the 36th commander since Admiral Chester Nimitz assumed command on Dec. 31, 1941, at Pearl Harbor.

Koehler’s ascension to a top leadership post in the Navy is perhaps even more notable given that his initial goal was modest: He wanted to fly jets like his dad, who was a Navy fighter pilot.

“Honestly, I didn’t know I would stay in the Navy this long,” he says. “But from a very young age, I watched my dad go to work to fly airplanes and I just thought he was so cool, and I remember thinking, ‘I want to do what he does.’ My dad loved being a fighter pilot. So, I knew I wanted to fly jets and land them on ships.”

After being commissioned in 1986 through the Naval Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program at ��ֱ�� Boulder, Koehler became a naval aviator in 1989 and went on to fly more than 3,900 hours in the F-14 Tomcat and F-18 Hornet, with 600 carrier landings.

Koehler subsequently served in leadership positions that included commanding a fighter squadron, serving as the captain of a nuclear aircraft carrier, commander of a carrier strike group, commander of the U.S. Third Fleet and director for strategy, plans and policy for the Joint Staff in Washington, D.C., which was his last post.

Recently, Koehler spoke with ��ֱ�� Arts and Sciences Magazine about how his time at ��ֱ�� Boulder helped him prepare for his career in the Navy, what it was like to be a naval aviator and what his job entails as commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. His responses have been lightly edited and condensed for space.

Question: Why did you decide to attend ��ֱ�� Boulder? And why did you choose to get your degree in physics?

Koehler: The main reason I ended up applying to ��ֱ�� Boulder was that the summer before my senior year in high school, I was taking a Greyhound bus around the country, rock climbing with my cousin. We stopped in Boulder for a week and we stayed with this guy who was a friend-of-a-friend type thing. We climbed nearly every day.

One day it rained bad enough we couldn’t climb, so we heard there was a campus in town and we decided maybe we should walk around it. I picked up an application at the UMC (University Memorial Center), where it stayed in my backpack for the rest of the summer. Later, I filled it out and sent it in, and then I got accepted.

I saw ��ֱ�� had a physics major and it had ROTC, so I said, ‘I’ll give it a go.’

Admiral Stephen Koehler (right) with his father, who was also a naval aviator, following the younger Koehler’s commissioning in 1986 during a ceremony held at Old Main on the ��ֱ�� Boulder campus.

I knew I wanted to be as competitive as I could going into Navy flight school. And initially, I thought I might want to be a test pilot—and I knew you had to have hard-science capability for that, so that’s why I majored in physics. I was not a natural physics guy, so it was a slog for me, but I did it to keep my options open.

Question: Do you feel like your time at ��ֱ�� Boulder helped prepare you for entering the Navy?

Koehler: Yes. Certainly, the ROTC piece provided an understanding of the Navy even beyond what I learned as a child of a Navy parent, and it taught me about leadership.

The physics background proved very beneficial, not only for flight school, but it led to me being selected to be a nuclear-trained officer. There is a technical degree that’s required to do that, and so, yes, my time at ��ֱ�� set me up for that.

Question: When people think of naval aviators, they likely think of the movie Top Gun. What is it like to be a naval aviator in real life?

Koehler: People who watch Top Gun think you are all tan and spend your days playing volleyball at the beach, or they watch Top Gun: Maverick and think you’re all tan and you play football on the beach (laughs). And arguably, I would love to do some of that, but being a carrier-based fighter pilot is about being steeped in professionalism.

Naval aviators train and train so that they make the extremely difficult look easy and routine when it’s not. It takes skill to land a plane on a pitching (ship) deck, day or night, and it takes dedication to be a fighter pilot, to make sure that you are better than the adversary. It’s about having a warrior mindset and making sure you are good at it, because you’ve got to be better than your opponent.

Question: What is your call sign and how did you get it?

Koehler: It’s Web. I won’t go into the whole boring story, but it’s short for Webster’s Dictionary. I received it during a very public display for a lack of spelling prowess (laughs). And I’m actually not a bad speller, but I was on that day.

I wish it (the call sign) was for something cool, like ‘spiderweb,’ or ‘he’s on the web.’ That’s probably half the reason it stuck—because it sounds cool even though it’s not (laughs). …

Now, even at this level, people call me by that name instead of my (given) name. I was sitting in the situation room in the White House in my last job and people would call me Web—not Steve or Admiral Koehler. They would be like, ‘Hey, Web, what do you think about this?’ So, that’s just what ends up happening.

Question: How does one go from being a naval aviator to a command where you are responsible for hundreds of ships and planes and tens of thousands of sailors?

Koehler: So, it’s a process. The first step of it is staying in the Navy and being promoted to the command of a squadron, which is 12 planes and about 250 people. You’re evaluated and then there’s normally two paths after that. You either go the nuclear power route, which means you learn to drive aircraft carriers, or you stay in the air wing and you’re in command of an air wing on a carrier.

The U.S. Pacific Fleet (a portion of which is pictured here) encompasses 100 million square miles from Antarctica to the Arctic circle and from the west coast of the United States into the Indian Ocean. The U.S. Pacific Fleet consists of approximately 200 ships, 1,500 aircraft and 150,000 military and civilian personnel. (Photo: U.S. Navy)

I was chosen to go the nuclear power route, so my physics degree proved useful. I went to nuclear power school and then I was the No. 2 guy on an aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson. I went on to command the USS Bataan, which is an amphibious assault ship, and then I was selected to be the captain of a nuclear aircraft carrier for two and a half years, which was the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Pending your performance and time in service, you may be selected to the rank of rear admiral (or flag rank). If you are not selected, there’s mandatory retirement at 30 years.

I was selected after my command of the aircraft carrier and have progressed through operational and staff command that yielded additional flag rank promotions. There was a decision by Naval leadership at some point to promote me to full admiral and select me to be the Pacific Fleet commander. So, it was a natural progression, and I’m very honored to be here.

Question: Can you share the scope of your duties as Pacific Fleet commander and the role the position plays in the world today?

Koehler: The scope and scale of the Pacific Fleet, of the area I’m responsible for as far as naval interests, is from the coast of California to the west coast of India, and Antarctica to the Arctic. It’s a huge area. …

The Pacific Fleet command is of vital importance to national security, resulting from the economic ties and the commerce that travels on the ocean, for which I am responsible on the Navy side to be ready to respond. There’s just a real importance to the job and there’s a lot of work to do out there. We must continue to improve our position and capability to maintain and ensure the freedom of the seas. The intent is a ‘free and open Indo-Pacific,’ with freedom of commerce, sovereign rights and the ability to sail and operate in accordance with international law, and those things the Pacific Fleet works continuously to provide.

Question: What is the best thing about being Pacific Fleet commander? And what is the most difficult thing?

Koehler: The best thing is having the opportunity to lead all of these sailors. With sailors and civilians, there is on the order of 150,000 of them working toward a common goal, which is to achieve our national objectives. The opportunity to go out and see them and lead them is the best. That also delves into the challenge, which is that it’s a large scale and scope of operations that I oversee. The challenge is to be able to get out and see them as much as I would like and revel in the success they have. They are a pretty amazing group of people who do some outstanding work.

Admiral Stephen Koehler salutes during a 2024 ceremony at Pearl Harbor. (Photo: U.S. Navy)

Question: Do you still get to fly jets?

Koehler: I wish I did. I did get to fly as an admiral when I was the carrier strike group commander and we were on deployment in 2017. I got my last carrier landing in April of 2018.

Flying is a young person’s game. Not that I wouldn’t continue to go flying … but there’s no time to maintain my currency and while it would be fun for me, I’m not sure it would be the best use of my time now.

Question: With your four decades of service in the Navy, are there a few standout moments in your career?

Koehler: That’s a really hard one. First of all, it’s been 40 years, but it doesn’t seem like it. I got to ��ֱ�� (as a freshman) in 1982, and it feels like I was just there. …

There are all sorts of things I remember. Taking command of an aircraft carrier, with 3,000 people assigned to it, and with the air wing it’s 5,000 people. That was the first huge command for me, and you have all of these sailors that you get the privilege to lead.

Certainly, the news that I was going to be Pacific Fleet commander was memorable. That was something I would never expect. It’s the honor of a lifetime to do that, and to follow in the footsteps of some amazing people, starting with Admiral Nimitz in World War II.

Another standout thing was being the demonstration pilot for the F-14 at air shows and having the opportunity to fly in front of my family at the Miramar Air Show in 1996. It was an amazing day to fly for my dad that day.

Looking back, there are many memories, and it’s been nothing but a really fun, challenging, rewarding experience. I have been able to enjoy it with my wife, Gina, who’s been with me since college, where we met in 1983 in Boulder in the Baker Hall dorm. She’s been with me the whole time, which has just been amazing.

Question: Anything else you would like to add?

Koehler: Go Buffs!

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about physics? Show your support.

The ROTC cadet and physics major turned naval aviator turned admiral was appointed commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet in early 2024.

Traditional

White

Top image: Admiral Stephen Koehler (green flight suit) was designated a naval aviator in 1989 and flew more than 3,900 hours in the F-14 Tomcat and F-18 Hornet, with 600 carrier landings.

Art and transformation are inherently connected, prof says

Rachel Sauer — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 16:02:54 +0000

Art and transformation are inherently connected, prof says Rachel Sauer Tue, 04/08/2025 - 10:02

Bradley Worrell

For artist and professor of printmaking Melanie Yazzie, making art is about much more than creating something aesthetically pleasing

For Melanie Yazzie, professor of art practices and head of printmaking in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of ��ֱ�� Boulder, art and transformation are intrinsically connected.

That’s because she describes her art as being much more than just about creating aesthetically pleasing work—it’s a medium for sharing social, cultural and political experiences shaping the lives of native peoples in the United States and beyond. Her artwork—which takes the form of paintings, printmaking, sculptures and ceramics—is shaped by her personal experiences, as well as events and symbols from her Diné (Navajo) culture.

For Melanie Yazzie, a ��ֱ�� Boulder professor of art practices and head of printmaking in the Art and Art History, art and transformation are intrinsically connected.

“I think when you’re really digging deep inside yourself and you make a work about something that’s really important, maybe it’s a certain theme you are trying to get across, when someone else sees it and gets it and is affected by it, that’s when you really see the power in artmaking,” she says. “It can transform you as the maker and also the person who sees it.”

Yazzie says her artwork follows the Diné dictum “walk in beauty”—the idea of creating beauty and harmony. “There’s always positive and negative in the world, a sort of yin and yang. In Navajo culture, walking in beauty is really about walking a balanced path and trying to stay in a positive frame of mind,” she explains.

That doesn’t mean avoiding controversial subjects in her art, but she says it does color the approach she takes.

“When I was younger and in grad school, I made artwork that was very much in your face,” Yazzie says. “And in a sense, I was preaching to the choir. People who understood what I was saying would stay and listen, but what I realized with that work was that the people I wanted to reach dismissed (my work) as just, ‘she’s an angry woman or she’s an angry person of color.’”

Today, much of her work straddles the line between abstractionism and representationalism, with recurring motifs of abstracted animal and plant forms, as well as people—notably women—who are rendered in a spectrum of colors. Yazzie says casual gallery viewers have described some of her paintings and prints with words such as “beautiful” and “whimsical” and even “silly.”

For those willing to inquire, however, there are deeper meanings to many of her works, which can tackle such serious issues as the horrible treatment of Native Americans in boarding schools run by the U.S. government from the 1880s to 1920s or the unsolved murders of indigenous women today.

“In a sense, it’s like using honey to draw people in and then educating them,” Yazzie says of her artwork today. “It’s a much slower path, but I’ve seen it over the years making bigger strides than when I was shouting ‘injustice.’”

Particularly with her earlier works, but even in some cases today, Yazzie says some people who “very rigid” in their views don’t appreciate her art. While it’s not always easy to hear, she credits her upbringing on the Navajo nation in northeastern Arizona with keeping her grounded and confident.

“Since a very young age I was brought up among Navajo people and around really strong women role models. That was my foundation,” she says. “So, when people were sometimes rude or racist, I would think back to my grandmother, who only spoke Navajo, and she would explain (their outlook) to me by saying people will sometimes act like bad children, and they don’t understand how to behave, so you have to show more patience with them and have a kind heart.”

Sharing personal experiences

Artwork has allowed Yazzie to tap into and share deeply personal experiences, such as a series of paintings she did after she was first diagnosed with Type II diabetes and was for a time at risk of losing her eyesight. Those paintings were notable for featuring small numbers in “thought bubbles” in the background of various works, capturing her blood sugar highs and lows on a given day.

Yazzie says gallery patrons who are diabetic oftentimes picked up on the hidden numbers. She has enjoyed talking with them about why her numbers were particularly high or very low in certain paintings.

“I think when you’re really digging deep inside yourself and you make a work about something that’s really important, maybe it’s a certain theme you are trying to get across, when someone else sees it and gets it and is affected by it, that’s when you really see the power in artmaking,” says Melanie Yazzie (with her sculpture "Strength from Within"). (Photo: Melanie Yazzie)

“That type of conversation is something that you can only have with someone who understands that illness. And it was beautiful, because for the people who saw the work who were diabetic, it was like a secret language between us,” she says.

She adds, “People sometimes make diabetes like it’s something shameful, but when we talked about it in a public setting, they (patrons) felt embraced and included. That artwork is about creating a space of healing and acceptance.”

And while she is proud of her Navajo cultural heritage, Yazzie says she takes pleasure in the fact that she makes art that people would not normally expect from an indigenous artist.

“I think there are stereotypes of what people—even in my own Navajo community—would classify as being Native American artwork, and I think a lot of times I go against that,” she says, noting she generally eschews paintings of pottery work, tepees or male warriors on horses. “And I think that’s one of the things that makes my work really strong is that it’s unique and different and not fulfilling stereotypes about Native American artwork.”

Through the years, Yazzie’s art has been featured in more than 500 group and solo exhibitions around the world. Her work can always be found at the Glenn Green Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Just as being an artist can bring transforming knowledge to others, Yazzie says artists need to be open to transformation in their own work and how it is presented. She learned that lesson for herself recently, when people who follow her work asked if she could make her art more accessible, which led her to a new direction as an artist.

“I’ve started doing jewelry pieces and scarves. That idea came from collectors and others who were saying, ‘I have one of your paintings or prints and I wish I could carry it with me when I’m going to see the doctor or because I’m having a hard time now,” she says. “In the Navajo tradition, jewelry is worn for protection and to bring about good things. So, this came about from people who say my work brings them hope.”

Balancing the best of both worlds

Yazzie says she’s been creating art for as long as she can remember. Still, her career path wasn’t always set in stone. Her parents, who were both educators, encouraged her in her formative years to follow their path, as they had some concerns about whether being an artist was a viable career.

“In any community, it’s really a struggle to make a living as an artist, and so I think they were just worried about that,” she says. For a time, she seriously contemplated becoming an English or Spanish teacher, but eventually decided to pursue a career in the arts, a decision she says her parents ultimately came to appreciate.

“My father would always tell me, choose something that you are really passionate about and that you love. And many people say that: that if you do something you love it never really feels like work. That was my experience. I just found that artmaking and being in the artist community really fed me in ways that other things didn’t.”

Today, as a professor at ��ֱ�� Boulder, Yazzie says she is able to combine the best of both worlds as an artist and an instructor.

“Being a professor and helping students share their stories and experiences is deeply rewarding,” she says. “I think it’s wonderful to be able to help create a strong human being who is speaking their truth through their artwork.”

Even for ��ֱ�� Boulder students who have no interest in pursuing a career in the arts, Yazzie strongly encourages them to take classes that engage their creative side.

“My advice would be: Take an art class, a writing course, a music class, or anything in the creative realm,” she says. “It opens up parts of you that help you see the world in a more well-rounded way, and I think that is the power of a liberal arts education.”

"Remembering Brittany"

"Growing Stronger"

"She's Singing"

"Simon Joe Benally is Looking for a Rich Girlfriend"

"Speak Truth"

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about art and art history? Show your support.

For artist and professor of printmaking Melanie Yazzie, making art is about much more than creating something aesthetically pleasing.

Traditional

White

News

Don’t fear the fungi

Related Articles

College of Arts and Sciences names 2025 Van Ek Scholars

Related Articles

Voices of the Andes: Sharing Quechua stories and culture through modern media

Related Articles

��ֱ�� grad Erin Macdonald makes it so

Related Articles

Abby Hickcox wins 2025 Cogswell Award for Inspirational Instruction

Related Articles

In the archaeological record, size does matter

Related Articles

Professor John Cumalat wins 2025 Hazel Barnes Prize

Related Articles

Initiative gives students a voice with hip-hop

Related Articles

��ֱ�� alum Stephen Koehler enjoys high-flying career

Related Articles

Art and transformation are inherently connected, prof says

Related Articles

News

Don’t fear the fungi

Related Articles

College of Arts and Sciences names 2025 Van Ek Scholars

Related Articles

Voices of the Andes: Sharing Quechua stories and culture through modern media

Related Articles

����ֱ�� grad Erin Macdonald makes it so

Related Articles

Abby Hickcox wins 2025 Cogswell Award for Inspirational Instruction

Related Articles

In the archaeological record, size does matter

Related Articles

Professor John Cumalat wins 2025 Hazel Barnes Prize

Related Articles

Initiative gives students a voice with hip-hop

Related Articles

����ֱ�� alum Stephen Koehler enjoys high-flying career

Related Articles

Art and transformation are inherently connected, prof says

Related Articles

��ֱ�� grad Erin Macdonald makes it so

��ֱ�� alum Stephen Koehler enjoys high-flying career