Fall/Winter 2009
Natural Sciences & Mathematics
www.nsm.du.edu
303-871-2693
Welcome new NSM Faculty!
Bud Research With a Global Reach
When first-year biology students signed up for
Professor Buck Sanford’s newest class, they
really signed up for something bigger: a reallife probe into global warming.
A warm welcome to the talented new NSM faculty members who
joined the University of Denver community this September.
Professor Buck Sanford and students measure
tree buds as part of Project Budburst, a real-life
probe into global warming.
Letter from the Dean
Welcome to our third newsletter! This edition focuses on the third
strategic initiative in the division, namely the environment and
sustainability.
We have created a sustainability minor open to anyone on campus. It
starts with a course on sustainability and then gives students a choice
of courses in environmental sustainability, economic sustainability, and
social equity. Finally, it culminates with a capstone course taught in
Geography. We are very excited and know that students are equally
eager for the minor to begin this fall.
We also have hired Martin Quigley as the Kurtz endowed chair and
director of the Alter arboretum. He has lots of ideas and is ready to
have a lasting impact on the campus. At the same time, the university
is highlighting the arboretum by constructing the Chester Alter pavilion
near the ‘Chancellor’s Tree’, a large oak, at the northwest corner of
Cherrington Hall.
And, since it is the beginning of the academic year, we have hired three
more outstanding faculty, in addition to Martin Quigley, received more
research grants, and saw our faculty, students, and staff receive awards
and recognition. For instance, Andrei Kutateladze from Chemistry and
Biochemistry is the newest of the Evans professors, Barry Zink from
Physics and Astronomy received an NSF Career Award-- only the third
person to be awarded one at DU-- and, Buck Sanford is a visiting
program director at NSF.
Do visit our Web site, www.nsm.edu, for more on the exciting
developments in the sciences and mathematics at DU.
Best wishes,
L. Alayne Parson, Dean
Beyhan Maybach, Lecturer, Biological Sciences
Dr. Maybach received her PhD in Biology in 2005 from the University
of Denver, where she studied soil phosphate and fire history across
an elevation gradient of old growth rainforest that ranged from the
Continental Divide to sea-level in Costa Rica. She has previous experience
as a lecturer in DU’s natural sciences foundations program, and more
recently she has served as an environmental consultant for projects along
the Colorado Front Range.
Scott Pegan, Assistant Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Prof. Pegan’s goal is to gain a greater understanding of the mammalian
innate immune response and how it is modulated. Through his research,
a better understanding of the role that various proteins play in cellular
regulation of the innate anti-viral immune response will occur. This
insight will allow the development of treatments for viral infections as
well as autoimmune and cancer disorders.
For their class lab work, students measured
tree buds as leaves emerged this spring
and uploaded their data into global databases.
Scientists around the world will study the
records of bud development to see if global
Dinah Loerke, Assistant Professor, Physics and Astronomy
Prof. Loerke earned her PhD on “Molecular dynamics of clathrin
proteins at endocytic sites studied with evanescent-wave microscopy”
in the department of Prof. Erwin Neher in the Max-Planck Institute for
Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen, Germany. Afterwards, she joined
the Laboratory for Computational Cell Biology at The Scripps Research
Institute in La Jolla, California, as a post-doc to study the molecular
dynamics of actin.
Kyle Pula, PhD student in the mathematics
department, has been awarded two prestigious
academic honors that will allow him to study
mathematics in Australia.
Pula was awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student
Scholarship and found out he has been accepted
into the National Science Foundation’s East Asia
and Pacific Summer Institutes program.
Pula will study the mathematical concept of Latin
squares and work with professors at Monash
University, the University of Queensland, and
Australian National University. Latin squares
have been studied since at least the late 1700s
and have been implemented in numerous realworld applications ranging from the design of
experiments to optimal crop rotations to secure
and efficient digital communication.
“Australia has a rich heritage of expertise in
mathematics,” says Pula. “This experience
will direct my course for long-term success as
a teacher-scholar as I learn from world class
researchers.”
The Fulbright Program is designed to “increase
mutual understanding between the people
“These grants confirm what we already suspect:
that Mr. Pula is well on his way to establishing
both a national and an international reputation
in the field of mathematics,” says Carol
Helstosky, DU Fulbright adviser. “The fact that
his work has attracted the interest of leading
scholars in the field of Latin squares means that
they see incredible potential in his work and
scholarship.”
The research process in the field
Every tree on campus is tagged with a number,
so students in future generations can find the
exact same tree today’s students are studying.
Each student in Sanford’s class selected a bud
on a tree and tagged the area so the same
bud could be revisited. Then, for five weeks,
students measured their selected bud three
times a week and charted its growth as a leaf
emerged and started to grow.
The students then logged on a Web site and
uploaded their weekly findings. Scientists
worldwide can access the database and analyze
the measurements for decades to come to look
for trends in bud growth over time.
Project BudBurst
Sanford’s students are part of a campaign called
of the United States and the people of other
countries.” The scholarship is awarded to
people based on academic or professional
achievement and potential for leadership. Pula
is one of more than 1,450 U.S. students who
will travel abroad under the program this year. The National Science Foundation’s East Asia and
Pacific Summer Institutes provide U.S. graduate
students in science and engineering with
first-hand research experiences in Australia,
China, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore
or Taiwan. The primary goals of EAPSI are to
introduce students to East Asia and Pacific
science and engineering and to help students
initiate scientific relationships that will enable
collaboration with foreign counterparts.
“These measurements really do matter,”
Sanford warned his students as they prepared
for their first day of data collection. “The
data you collect will be studied by a global
community of scientists, a community that you
are now part of.”
First-year student Larisa Clark collects
measurements to add to the Project Budburst
database. Math PhD student scores academic feat
Boettcher West 228
2050 E. Iliff Avenue
Denver, CO 80208
Dear Friends of NSM,
Martin Quigley, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences
Prof. Quigley joins the University in the dual position of the Edna Biggs
Kurtz Endowed Chair in Botany and the director of the Chester M. Alter
Arboretum. Prof. Quigley comes to DU from the University of Central
Florida where he was on the faculty for several years. His research focuses
on urban forestry and native restoration projects, including the structure
of deciduous forest communities and long effects of human and natural
disturbance.
warming is affecting how early tree leaves
emerge.
Project BudBurst, led by Sandra Henderson, a
science educator at the University Corporation
for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Office of
Education and Outreach in Boulder, Colo.
BudBurst gathers data in a scientific field called
phenology, the study of the influence of climate
on annual natural events, such as plant budding
and bird migration.
First-year student Aaron Hogan, who’s working
toward a degree in ecology, says he enjoys
getting out in the field and doing real research.
Hogan says he hopes his study of life and
biodiversity will help him in his career. “I think
it’s good that our work will help others and add
to the information that’s out there.”
Sanford says his class isn’t pushing any one
theory of global warming. Rather, it’s testing
the hypothesis that something is altering the
life cycle of plants around the world.
Alter pavilion aims to put arboretum on the map
The grassy knoll behind the Mary Reed Building
that is a favorite spot for outdoor classes will be
getting a lovely canopy roof by summer’s end.
The roof will cover the Alter Arboretum Pavilion,
a welcoming station for visitors and a device
for identifying notable foliage, class gifts and
important buildings on campus.
Upon his return to DU in 2010, Pula will
complete his dissertation and begin applying for
academic positions. Pula is the 25th Fulbright
Scholar from DU since 1993.
“Kyle is one of the best advanced graduate
students we have in the mathematics
department,” says Michael Kinyon, DU
associate professor of mathematics. “These
two prestigious awards give an excellent jump
start on his research, and position him well for
future academic positions.”
The pavilion is also to honor Chester Alter,
chancellor at DU from 1953–66, in whose name
the Chester M Alter Arboretum was designated
in 1999 as one of a handful of university
arboretums in the West. Alter spearheaded DU
efforts to beautify the campus with trees, and
he completed construction in 1965 of the Mary
Reece Harper Humanities Garden, whose lily
ponds enrich the west side of Mary Reed.
The pavilion will sit in the shadow of the
“Chancellor’s Tree,” a huge English oak that
Alter favored and which still towers over
the walkway at the northeast corner of
Cherrington Hall.
“[The pavilion] is meant to be a point where
you can pause, take a moment to take in the
campus and learn,” says University Architect
Mark Rodgers.
To that end, the structure will include two maps
designed for easy updating as the landscape
changes. One map will point out significant
trees and foliage in the arboretum; another
will identify outdoor gifts that are visible from
the site.
“The idea is to look out across campus to
perceive its core, the entry point to the
arboretum and tour routes that might be of
interest [to visitors],” Rodgers says.
The pavilion will include outdoor benches,
painted metal or stone-clad columns, and
interior lighting powered by solar panels on
the canopy roof. A bust of Alter is also planned,
though not yet commissioned. The arboretum
pavilion will be partially funded by an $18,000
gift from the DU Class of 2006.
Fall/Winter 2009
Natural Sciences & Mathematics
www.nsm.du.edu
303-871-2693
Welcome new NSM Faculty!
Bud Research With a Global Reach
When first-year biology students signed up for
Professor Buck Sanford’s newest class, they
really signed up for something bigger: a reallife probe into global warming.
A warm welcome to the talented new NSM faculty members who
joined the University of Denver community this September.
Professor Buck Sanford and students measure
tree buds as part of Project Budburst, a real-life
probe into global warming.
Letter from the Dean
Welcome to our third newsletter! This edition focuses on the third
strategic initiative in the division, namely the environment and
sustainability.
We have created a sustainability minor open to anyone on campus. It
starts with a course on sustainability and then gives students a choice
of courses in environmental sustainability, economic sustainability, and
social equity. Finally, it culminates with a capstone course taught in
Geography. We are very excited and know that students are equally
eager for the minor to begin this fall.
We also have hired Martin Quigley as the Kurtz endowed chair and
director of the Alter arboretum. He has lots of ideas and is ready to
have a lasting impact on the campus. At the same time, the university
is highlighting the arboretum by constructing the Chester Alter pavilion
near the ‘Chancellor’s Tree’, a large oak, at the northwest corner of
Cherrington Hall.
And, since it is the beginning of the academic year, we have hired three
more outstanding faculty, in addition to Martin Quigley, received more
research grants, and saw our faculty, students, and staff receive awards
and recognition. For instance, Andrei Kutateladze from Chemistry and
Biochemistry is the newest of the Evans professors, Barry Zink from
Physics and Astronomy received an NSF Career Award-- only the third
person to be awarded one at DU-- and, Buck Sanford is a visiting
program director at NSF.
Do visit our Web site, www.nsm.edu, for more on the exciting
developments in the sciences and mathematics at DU.
Best wishes,
L. Alayne Parson, Dean
Beyhan Maybach, Lecturer, Biological Sciences
Dr. Maybach received her PhD in Biology in 2005 from the University
of Denver, where she studied soil phosphate and fire history across
an elevation gradient of old growth rainforest that ranged from the
Continental Divide to sea-level in Costa Rica. She has previous experience
as a lecturer in DU’s natural sciences foundations program, and more
recently she has served as an environmental consultant for projects along
the Colorado Front Range.
Scott Pegan, Assistant Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Prof. Pegan’s goal is to gain a greater understanding of the mammalian
innate immune response and how it is modulated. Through his research,
a better understanding of the role that various proteins play in cellular
regulation of the innate anti-viral immune response will occur. This
insight will allow the development of treatments for viral infections as
well as autoimmune and cancer disorders.
For their class lab work, students measured
tree buds as leaves emerged this spring
and uploaded their data into global databases.
Scientists around the world will study the
records of bud development to see if global
Dinah Loerke, Assistant Professor, Physics and Astronomy
Prof. Loerke earned her PhD on “Molecular dynamics of clathrin
proteins at endocytic sites studied with evanescent-wave microscopy”
in the department of Prof. Erwin Neher in the Max-Planck Institute for
Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen, Germany. Afterwards, she joined
the Laboratory for Computational Cell Biology at The Scripps Research
Institute in La Jolla, California, as a post-doc to study the molecular
dynamics of actin.
Kyle Pula, PhD student in the mathematics
department, has been awarded two prestigious
academic honors that will allow him to study
mathematics in Australia.
Pula was awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student
Scholarship and found out he has been accepted
into the National Science Foundation’s East Asia
and Pacific Summer Institutes program.
Pula will study the mathematical concept of Latin
squares and work with professors at Monash
University, the University of Queensland, and
Australian National University. Latin squares
have been studied since at least the late 1700s
and have been implemented in numerous realworld applications ranging from the design of
experiments to optimal crop rotations to secure
and efficient digital communication.
“Australia has a rich heritage of expertise in
mathematics,” says Pula. “This experience
will direct my course for long-term success as
a teacher-scholar as I learn from world class
researchers.”
The Fulbright Program is designed to “increase
mutual understanding between the people
“These grants confirm what we already suspect:
that Mr. Pula is well on his way to establishing
both a national and an international reputation
in the field of mathematics,” says Carol
Helstosky, DU Fulbright adviser. “The fact that
his work has attracted the interest of leading
scholars in the field of Latin squares means that
they see incredible potential in his work and
scholarship.”
The research process in the field
Every tree on campus is tagged with a number,
so students in future generations can find the
exact same tree today’s students are studying.
Each student in Sanford’s class selected a bud
on a tree and tagged the area so the same
bud could be revisited. Then, for five weeks,
students measured their selected bud three
times a week and charted its growth as a leaf
emerged and started to grow.
The students then logged on a Web site and
uploaded their weekly findings. Scientists
worldwide can access the database and analyze
the measurements for decades to come to look
for trends in bud growth over time.
Project BudBurst
Sanford’s students are part of a campaign called
of the United States and the people of other
countries.” The scholarship is awarded to
people based on academic or professional
achievement and potential for leadership. Pula
is one of more than 1,450 U.S. students who
will travel abroad under the program this year. The National Science Foundation’s East Asia and
Pacific Summer Institutes provide U.S. graduate
students in science and engineering with
first-hand research experiences in Australia,
China, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore
or Taiwan. The primary goals of EAPSI are to
introduce students to East Asia and Pacific
science and engineering and to help students
initiate scientific relationships that will enable
collaboration with foreign counterparts.
“These measurements really do matter,”
Sanford warned his students as they prepared
for their first day of data collection. “The
data you collect will be studied by a global
community of scientists, a community that you
are now part of.”
First-year student Larisa Clark collects
measurements to add to the Project Budburst
database. Math PhD student scores academic feat
Boettcher West 228
2050 E. Iliff Avenue
Denver, CO 80208
Dear Friends of NSM,
Martin Quigley, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences
Prof. Quigley joins the University in the dual position of the Edna Biggs
Kurtz Endowed Chair in Botany and the director of the Chester M. Alter
Arboretum. Prof. Quigley comes to DU from the University of Central
Florida where he was on the faculty for several years. His research focuses
on urban forestry and native restoration projects, including the structure
of deciduous forest communities and long effects of human and natural
disturbance.
warming is affecting how early tree leaves
emerge.
Project BudBurst, led by Sandra Henderson, a
science educator at the University Corporation
for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Office of
Education and Outreach in Boulder, Colo.
BudBurst gathers data in a scientific field called
phenology, the study of the influence of climate
on annual natural events, such as plant budding
and bird migration.
First-year student Aaron Hogan, who’s working
toward a degree in ecology, says he enjoys
getting out in the field and doing real research.
Hogan says he hopes his study of life and
biodiversity will help him in his career. “I think
it’s good that our work will help others and add
to the information that’s out there.”
Sanford says his class isn’t pushing any one
theory of global warming. Rather, it’s testing
the hypothesis that something is altering the
life cycle of plants around the world.
Alter pavilion aims to put arboretum on the map
The grassy knoll behind the Mary Reed Building
that is a favorite spot for outdoor classes will be
getting a lovely canopy roof by summer’s end.
The roof will cover the Alter Arboretum Pavilion,
a welcoming station for visitors and a device
for identifying notable foliage, class gifts and
important buildings on campus.
Upon his return to DU in 2010, Pula will
complete his dissertation and begin applying for
academic positions. Pula is the 25th Fulbright
Scholar from DU since 1993.
“Kyle is one of the best advanced graduate
students we have in the mathematics
department,” says Michael Kinyon, DU
associate professor of mathematics. “These
two prestigious awards give an excellent jump
start on his research, and position him well for
future academic positions.”
The pavilion is also to honor Chester Alter,
chancellor at DU from 1953–66, in whose name
the Chester M Alter Arboretum was designated
in 1999 as one of a handful of university
arboretums in the West. Alter spearheaded DU
efforts to beautify the campus with trees, and
he completed construction in 1965 of the Mary
Reece Harper Humanities Garden, whose lily
ponds enrich the west side of Mary Reed.
The pavilion will sit in the shadow of the
“Chancellor’s Tree,” a huge English oak that
Alter favored and which still towers over
the walkway at the northeast corner of
Cherrington Hall.
“[The pavilion] is meant to be a point where
you can pause, take a moment to take in the
campus and learn,” says University Architect
Mark Rodgers.
To that end, the structure will include two maps
designed for easy updating as the landscape
changes. One map will point out significant
trees and foliage in the arboretum; another
will identify outdoor gifts that are visible from
the site.
“The idea is to look out across campus to
perceive its core, the entry point to the
arboretum and tour routes that might be of
interest [to visitors],” Rodgers says.
The pavilion will include outdoor benches,
painted metal or stone-clad columns, and
interior lighting powered by solar panels on
the canopy roof. A bust of Alter is also planned,
though not yet commissioned. The arboretum
pavilion will be partially funded by an $18,000
gift from the DU Class of 2006.
Fall/Winter 2009
Natural Sciences & Mathematics
www.nsm.du.edu
303-871-2693
Welcome new NSM Faculty!
Bud Research With a Global Reach
When first-year biology students signed up for
Professor Buck Sanford’s newest class, they
really signed up for something bigger: a reallife probe into global warming.
A warm welcome to the talented new NSM faculty members who
joined the University of Denver community this September.
Professor Buck Sanford and students measure
tree buds as part of Project Budburst, a real-life
probe into global warming.
Letter from the Dean
Welcome to our third newsletter! This edition focuses on the third
strategic initiative in the division, namely the environment and
sustainability.
We have created a sustainability minor open to anyone on campus. It
starts with a course on sustainability and then gives students a choice
of courses in environmental sustainability, economic sustainability, and
social equity. Finally, it culminates with a capstone course taught in
Geography. We are very excited and know that students are equally
eager for the minor to begin this fall.
We also have hired Martin Quigley as the Kurtz endowed chair and
director of the Alter arboretum. He has lots of ideas and is ready to
have a lasting impact on the campus. At the same time, the university
is highlighting the arboretum by constructing the Chester Alter pavilion
near the ‘Chancellor’s Tree’, a large oak, at the northwest corner of
Cherrington Hall.
And, since it is the beginning of the academic year, we have hired three
more outstanding faculty, in addition to Martin Quigley, received more
research grants, and saw our faculty, students, and staff receive awards
and recognition. For instance, Andrei Kutateladze from Chemistry and
Biochemistry is the newest of the Evans professors, Barry Zink from
Physics and Astronomy received an NSF Career Award-- only the third
person to be awarded one at DU-- and, Buck Sanford is a visiting
program director at NSF.
Do visit our Web site, www.nsm.edu, for more on the exciting
developments in the sciences and mathematics at DU.
Best wishes,
L. Alayne Parson, Dean
Beyhan Maybach, Lecturer, Biological Sciences
Dr. Maybach received her PhD in Biology in 2005 from the University
of Denver, where she studied soil phosphate and fire history across
an elevation gradient of old growth rainforest that ranged from the
Continental Divide to sea-level in Costa Rica. She has previous experience
as a lecturer in DU’s natural sciences foundations program, and more
recently she has served as an environmental consultant for projects along
the Colorado Front Range.
Scott Pegan, Assistant Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Prof. Pegan’s goal is to gain a greater understanding of the mammalian
innate immune response and how it is modulated. Through his research,
a better understanding of the role that various proteins play in cellular
regulation of the innate anti-viral immune response will occur. This
insight will allow the development of treatments for viral infections as
well as autoimmune and cancer disorders.
For their class lab work, students measured
tree buds as leaves emerged this spring
and uploaded their data into global databases.
Scientists around the world will study the
records of bud development to see if global
Dinah Loerke, Assistant Professor, Physics and Astronomy
Prof. Loerke earned her PhD on “Molecular dynamics of clathrin
proteins at endocytic sites studied with evanescent-wave microscopy”
in the department of Prof. Erwin Neher in the Max-Planck Institute for
Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen, Germany. Afterwards, she joined
the Laboratory for Computational Cell Biology at The Scripps Research
Institute in La Jolla, California, as a post-doc to study the molecular
dynamics of actin.
Kyle Pula, PhD student in the mathematics
department, has been awarded two prestigious
academic honors that will allow him to study
mathematics in Australia.
Pula was awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student
Scholarship and found out he has been accepted
into the National Science Foundation’s East Asia
and Pacific Summer Institutes program.
Pula will study the mathematical concept of Latin
squares and work with professors at Monash
University, the University of Queensland, and
Australian National University. Latin squares
have been studied since at least the late 1700s
and have been implemented in numerous realworld applications ranging from the design of
experiments to optimal crop rotations to secure
and efficient digital communication.
“Australia has a rich heritage of expertise in
mathematics,” says Pula. “This experience
will direct my course for long-term success as
a teacher-scholar as I learn from world class
researchers.”
The Fulbright Program is designed to “increase
mutual understanding between the people
“These grants confirm what we already suspect:
that Mr. Pula is well on his way to establishing
both a national and an international reputation
in the field of mathematics,” says Carol
Helstosky, DU Fulbright adviser. “The fact that
his work has attracted the interest of leading
scholars in the field of Latin squares means that
they see incredible potential in his work and
scholarship.”
The research process in the field
Every tree on campus is tagged with a number,
so students in future generations can find the
exact same tree today’s students are studying.
Each student in Sanford’s class selected a bud
on a tree and tagged the area so the same
bud could be revisited. Then, for five weeks,
students measured their selected bud three
times a week and charted its growth as a leaf
emerged and started to grow.
The students then logged on a Web site and
uploaded their weekly findings. Scientists
worldwide can access the database and analyze
the measurements for decades to come to look
for trends in bud growth over time.
Project BudBurst
Sanford’s students are part of a campaign called
of the United States and the people of other
countries.” The scholarship is awarded to
people based on academic or professional
achievement and potential for leadership. Pula
is one of more than 1,450 U.S. students who
will travel abroad under the program this year. The National Science Foundation’s East Asia and
Pacific Summer Institutes provide U.S. graduate
students in science and engineering with
first-hand research experiences in Australia,
China, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore
or Taiwan. The primary goals of EAPSI are to
introduce students to East Asia and Pacific
science and engineering and to help students
initiate scientific relationships that will enable
collaboration with foreign counterparts.
“These measurements really do matter,”
Sanford warned his students as they prepared
for their first day of data collection. “The
data you collect will be studied by a global
community of scientists, a community that you
are now part of.”
First-year student Larisa Clark collects
measurements to add to the Project Budburst
database. Math PhD student scores academic feat
Boettcher West 228
2050 E. Iliff Avenue
Denver, CO 80208
Dear Friends of NSM,
Martin Quigley, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences
Prof. Quigley joins the University in the dual position of the Edna Biggs
Kurtz Endowed Chair in Botany and the director of the Chester M. Alter
Arboretum. Prof. Quigley comes to DU from the University of Central
Florida where he was on the faculty for several years. His research focuses
on urban forestry and native restoration projects, including the structure
of deciduous forest communities and long effects of human and natural
disturbance.
warming is affecting how early tree leaves
emerge.
Project BudBurst, led by Sandra Henderson, a
science educator at the University Corporation
for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Office of
Education and Outreach in Boulder, Colo.
BudBurst gathers data in a scientific field called
phenology, the study of the influence of climate
on annual natural events, such as plant budding
and bird migration.
First-year student Aaron Hogan, who’s working
toward a degree in ecology, says he enjoys
getting out in the field and doing real research.
Hogan says he hopes his study of life and
biodiversity will help him in his career. “I think
it’s good that our work will help others and add
to the information that’s out there.”
Sanford says his class isn’t pushing any one
theory of global warming. Rather, it’s testing
the hypothesis that something is altering the
life cycle of plants around the world.
Alter pavilion aims to put arboretum on the map
The grassy knoll behind the Mary Reed Building
that is a favorite spot for outdoor classes will be
getting a lovely canopy roof by summer’s end.
The roof will cover the Alter Arboretum Pavilion,
a welcoming station for visitors and a device
for identifying notable foliage, class gifts and
important buildings on campus.
Upon his return to DU in 2010, Pula will
complete his dissertation and begin applying for
academic positions. Pula is the 25th Fulbright
Scholar from DU since 1993.
“Kyle is one of the best advanced graduate
students we have in the mathematics
department,” says Michael Kinyon, DU
associate professor of mathematics. “These
two prestigious awards give an excellent jump
start on his research, and position him well for
future academic positions.”
The pavilion is also to honor Chester Alter,
chancellor at DU from 1953–66, in whose name
the Chester M Alter Arboretum was designated
in 1999 as one of a handful of university
arboretums in the West. Alter spearheaded DU
efforts to beautify the campus with trees, and
he completed construction in 1965 of the Mary
Reece Harper Humanities Garden, whose lily
ponds enrich the west side of Mary Reed.
The pavilion will sit in the shadow of the
“Chancellor’s Tree,” a huge English oak that
Alter favored and which still towers over
the walkway at the northeast corner of
Cherrington Hall.
“[The pavilion] is meant to be a point where
you can pause, take a moment to take in the
campus and learn,” says University Architect
Mark Rodgers.
To that end, the structure will include two maps
designed for easy updating as the landscape
changes. One map will point out significant
trees and foliage in the arboretum; another
will identify outdoor gifts that are visible from
the site.
“The idea is to look out across campus to
perceive its core, the entry point to the
arboretum and tour routes that might be of
interest [to visitors],” Rodgers says.
The pavilion will include outdoor benches,
painted metal or stone-clad columns, and
interior lighting powered by solar panels on
the canopy roof. A bust of Alter is also planned,
though not yet commissioned. The arboretum
pavilion will be partially funded by an $18,000
gift from the DU Class of 2006.
When Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences lecturer Lisa Dale began
studying and then teaching something called “sustainability,” she says it
was considered an educational oddity, a niche that barely registered.
A survey of the class found students majoring in chemistry, English,
business, geography, Italian and more. There were sophomores, juniors
and seniors in the mix as well.
“I used to walk into my classes and students didn’t know what
sustainability was,” she says. “Now, it’s the buzz. It’s in the papers, in the
news, everyday.”
The program is one of a handful of such offerings at campuses across
the country, says Michael Keables, a DU associate professor of geography
who helped lead the push to develop it.
Her work led to a PhD and research in environmental policy. And on
August 14, as the University of Denver campus sprang back to life at the
start of a new academic year, she opened the first course on the road to
a new minor in sustainability at DU.
Keables, a member of the DU Sustainability Council subcommittee on
curriculum and research, says creating the new minor took about a year.
Many of the courses were already offered through a variety of campus
departments, but they hadn’t been connected and brought together,
he says.
“This is Day One in the new minor,” she told 20 mostly undergraduate
students.
Just like the broad field of sustainability, the minor is designed to mean
many things to many students. The course Dale opened this month,
Sustainability and Human Society, will be paired with a project at the
end of the course of study, creating a gateway and capstone designed to
bookend courses students can select from to build on their major field of
study. The minor is expected to work with most majors, so a student in
the sciences could tailor the program differently than an English major or
a business major.
“One of the themes of sustainability is how interdisciplinary it is,” Dale
says. “You can be in any field and work in sustainability. Sustainability is
relevant in every field.”
The term “sustainability,” she explains in her syllabus, “is defined as
meeting the needs of the current generation without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
“It’s not going to be a traditional minor where everyone takes the same
five courses,” he says. “This is designed so each student can apply
sustainability to his or her own field.”
In designing the gateway course, Dale says she wanted to push students
to get out into the real world and see sustainability in action. In addition to
a heavy reading load, students will hear from a range of guest experts in
all facets of sustainability. And the course will require students to study a
real initiative or problem and create a presentation. Dale told students she
expects them to get hands-on, talk with real people and see something
concrete.
“There are a lot of ways you can go with this because sustainability can
mean lots of different things to different people,” she told them. “Get out
there in the real world and see sustainability happen. There are things out
there going on in sustainability in every corner of this city. I’m challenging
you to find them.”
Destination Mt. Evans
The Meyer-Womble Observatory is the newest of a series
of facilities and programs that the University of Denver has
been instrumental in developing on Mt. Evans over the
past 70 years. Originally established as the Inter-University
High Altitude Laboratory with the primary mission of
studying cosmic radiation, one and two-story log cabins
were completed near Echo Lake in 1946 to accommodate
In 2007, Chancellor Robert Coombe signed the American College
and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, a step that illustrated
the University of Denver’s commitment to not only eliminate its own
greenhouse gas emissions, but also to promote research and educational
efforts that could enable society to do the same.
The timing was fortuitous.
Simultaneously, the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics had
identified “Environment and Sustainability” as one of three strategic
initiatives that its faculty and students would seek to explore and on which
it would provide leadership both at the University and also regionally.
Thus, a symbiotic relationship was born between the University’s overall
Sustainability Council and the Division’s Sustainability Initiative.
According to Rebecca Powell, Assistant Professor of Geography, who is not
only a NSM faculty member but who also has served on the Sustainability
Council since its inception, NSM is helping to coordinate the educational
aspect of the Sustainability Council’s undertaking as it also forges ahead
with its own research.
“For example, one of the big tasks before the Council is
coordinating curriculum and research across campus,”
says Powell. “I see the NSM Initiative complementing
that quite nicely.”
According to Mike Keables, Associate Dean, the Division
has already taken a leadership role in the educational
aspect of the University’s commitment.
“We worked with folks across campus to establish a
minor in sustainability,” says Keables. “It is housed in
the geography department and we use faculty from
across campus to teach because it is such a broad topic
and touches on different aspects of society.”
of groups and individuals with interests in the high altitude
environments, ecology and geology of the Colorado Front
Range. Now called the Mt. Evans Field Station, these
facilities at Echo Lake provide year round lodging for a wide
range of academic groups from within and outside our
University, for more information please visit
www.nsm.du.edu/units/evans.
Miller is using graduate and undergraduate students to test whether
this technique can destroy new environmental contaminants, such as
pharmaceuticals.
Alumni supporting students
through internships
Titled “Denver 2058” because Denver turns 200 in 2058, the overall
program seeks to “identify environmental, planning, and social challenges
facing the Denver metropolitan area over the next five decades.”
Alumni of the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics support
their alma mater in many ways. However, they may not be aware of
one significant way that they can immediately impact current students:
internships.
The various studies proposed by faculty across campus will focus on
regional climate change, population and economic growth, and planning
and sustainable resource management.
And internships are the epitome of a win/win situation because they
not only provide students with on-the-job training, but they give the
supporting organization access to the University of Denver’s cuttingedge research and emerging ideas in their industry.
“The environmental changes that are coming will affect everybody,”
says Kerwin. “And there is a lot of work that we can do to help the city
prepare. We can get students researching, work with the city’s planning
department and work with policy makers.”
Professor of Geography
Katherine O’Connor graduated with her MS in Geographic Information
Science (GIS) in 2005. Throughout the two years of her studies at DU, she
worked 20 hours a week with the City of Denver’s Office of Economic
Development (OED). The internship was funded by a federal grant to the
City, run through the NSM office, and provided O’Connor with muchneeded tuition assistance. It also led to a full-time job.
As part of this umbrella research program, Kerwin is
conducting his own research into droughts.
Down the road, Keables and Powell agree that NSM
will continue to provide both support and leadership to
the Sustainability Council as the division also pursues
its own Initiative goals.
“I’m very grateful for the path that it’s taken me on,” says O’Connor, who
adds that the City has also benefited from the relationship.
“One of the next steps is to form a master’s degree
in sustainability,” says Keables. “There are so many
departments on campus already working in this area –
business, law, education, arts and sciences. It will take
at least a year to look at what everyone is doing and
to put together a degree program.”
“I’ve heard people at the City say that they like having access to a university
environment where people have the time to think through emerging ideas
in our field.”
Heidi Peterson graduated in 2007 with an MA in Geography, having also
served two years as an intern with the City of Denver. She now also has a
full-time job with OED.
The minor launched this fall with 20 students and a class titled,
“Sustainability and Human Society.”
“The best thing about this internship is that it’s not just a three-month,
in-and-out, filing job,” she says. “You have a real job to do. You get a lot
of workplace experience.”
Closer to home, NSM faculty are busy conducting their own research
which, they hope, could provide insights and leadership into some of the
region’s most pressing environmental issues.
For example, Keith Miller, Associate Professor of Chemistry, is studying
ways to re-use wastewater.
“We can’t sustain our growing population in the U.S. or in the world
without thinking about reusing water,” he says.
Miller is working with a local entrepreneur who invented a way to re-use
agricultural wastewater.
“I like to call it ‘pressure cooking purification,’” says Miller. “If you put
a lid on something like a pot and elevate the temperature and keep
the steam in there, you can increase pressure and burn off the organic
materials in the water.”
September
Septem
Sept
Se
ptemb 2008
Giving opportunities:
Mike Kerwin, Associate Professor of Geography, has also begun a research
program which he hopes will not only include researchers from many
University departments but also the City and County of Denver.
“...one of the big
tasks before the
Council is coordinating
curriculum and
research across campus.
I see the NSM Initiative
complementing that
quite nicely.”
–Rebecca Powell, Assistant
researchers. Lab buildings were added over the ensuing
decades and the mission was broadened to include support
ALUMNINews
UNIVERSITY OF DENVER
stay in touch
Please take a few
minutes to visit DU’s
alumni directory at
www.alumni.
du.edu/epioneer
and become a
registered member
of the University’s
alumni network.
Having details about
your whereabouts
enables us to
inform you about
NSM events and
programs.
NSM alumnae Heidi Peterson & Katherine O’Conner and current
intern NSM graduate student, Adam Bove.
Though many interns are never hired by their internship
employer, they are able to move on to different field
because the internships provide a good foundation for
career growth.
Adam Bove graduates after this fall quarter with an MS in
GIS. He has also interned with the OED and says he’s been
given opportunities for professional growth.
“Through this internship, I was able to attend an ESRI
[Environmental Systems Research Institute] conference in
San Diego,” he says. “I get more exposure to what GIS
means as a career.”
The City of Denver is just one of many internship providers
to NSM students. If you believe your company could offer
and benefit from a relationship with the University, contact
Erin Hegel, [email protected] to share your ideas.
Continuing Connections
Alumni Symposium
The third annual symposium took place Oct. 2nd & 3rd. Five NSM faculty members participated and their
lectures covered a wide variety of topics from The Conquest of the Universe: 21st Century Astrophysics to
Alzheimer’s Therapy: The Facts and Cures. Visit our alumni page (www.nsm.du.edu/alumni) to learn more
about how alumni can continue to benefit from a DU education through similar lifelong learning events
throughout the year.
Homecoming and Family Weekend
Come back to campus for food, fun, and to make new memories with old friends, Oct. 28–Nov. 1. For more
information or to purchase tickets to the www.alumni.du.edu.
DU on the Road
Find out what your alma mater has been doing since you left. See if DU is coming to a city near you at
www.alumni.du.edu/DUontheroad.
fall/winter ‘09
DU Launches Sustainability Minor
FOCUS ON: Environment and Sustainability
www.alumni.du.edu/epioneer
Ready, Set … Sustain:
When Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences lecturer Lisa Dale began
studying and then teaching something called “sustainability,” she says it
was considered an educational oddity, a niche that barely registered.
A survey of the class found students majoring in chemistry, English,
business, geography, Italian and more. There were sophomores, juniors
and seniors in the mix as well.
“I used to walk into my classes and students didn’t know what
sustainability was,” she says. “Now, it’s the buzz. It’s in the papers, in the
news, everyday.”
The program is one of a handful of such offerings at campuses across
the country, says Michael Keables, a DU associate professor of geography
who helped lead the push to develop it.
Her work led to a PhD and research in environmental policy. And on
August 14, as the University of Denver campus sprang back to life at the
start of a new academic year, she opened the first course on the road to
a new minor in sustainability at DU.
Keables, a member of the DU Sustainability Council subcommittee on
curriculum and research, says creating the new minor took about a year.
Many of the courses were already offered through a variety of campus
departments, but they hadn’t been connected and brought together,
he says.
“This is Day One in the new minor,” she told 20 mostly undergraduate
students.
Just like the broad field of sustainability, the minor is designed to mean
many things to many students. The course Dale opened this month,
Sustainability and Human Society, will be paired with a project at the
end of the course of study, creating a gateway and capstone designed to
bookend courses students can select from to build on their major field of
study. The minor is expected to work with most majors, so a student in
the sciences could tailor the program differently than an English major or
a business major.
“One of the themes of sustainability is how interdisciplinary it is,” Dale
says. “You can be in any field and work in sustainability. Sustainability is
relevant in every field.”
The term “sustainability,” she explains in her syllabus, “is defined as
meeting the needs of the current generation without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
“It’s not going to be a traditional minor where everyone takes the same
five courses,” he says. “This is designed so each student can apply
sustainability to his or her own field.”
In designing the gateway course, Dale says she wanted to push students
to get out into the real world and see sustainability in action. In addition to
a heavy reading load, students will hear from a range of guest experts in
all facets of sustainability. And the course will require students to study a
real initiative or problem and create a presentation. Dale told students she
expects them to get hands-on, talk with real people and see something
concrete.
“There are a lot of ways you can go with this because sustainability can
mean lots of different things to different people,” she told them. “Get out
there in the real world and see sustainability happen. There are things out
there going on in sustainability in every corner of this city. I’m challenging
you to find them.”
Destination Mt. Evans
The Meyer-Womble Observatory is the newest of a series
of facilities and programs that the University of Denver has
been instrumental in developing on Mt. Evans over the
past 70 years. Originally established as the Inter-University
High Altitude Laboratory with the primary mission of
studying cosmic radiation, one and two-story log cabins
were completed near Echo Lake in 1946 to accommodate
In 2007, Chancellor Robert Coombe signed the American College
and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, a step that illustrated
the University of Denver’s commitment to not only eliminate its own
greenhouse gas emissions, but also to promote research and educational
efforts that could enable society to do the same.
The timing was fortuitous.
Simultaneously, the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics had
identified “Environment and Sustainability” as one of three strategic
initiatives that its faculty and students would seek to explore and on which
it would provide leadership both at the University and also regionally.
Thus, a symbiotic relationship was born between the University’s overall
Sustainability Council and the Division’s Sustainability Initiative.
According to Rebecca Powell, Assistant Professor of Geography, who is not
only a NSM faculty member but who also has served on the Sustainability
Council since its inception, NSM is helping to coordinate the educational
aspect of the Sustainability Council’s undertaking as it also forges ahead
with its own research.
“For example, one of the big tasks before the Council is
coordinating curriculum and research across campus,”
says Powell. “I see the NSM Initiative complementing
that quite nicely.”
According to Mike Keables, Associate Dean, the Division
has already taken a leadership role in the educational
aspect of the University’s commitment.
“We worked with folks across campus to establish a
minor in sustainability,” says Keables. “It is housed in
the geography department and we use faculty from
across campus to teach because it is such a broad topic
and touches on different aspects of society.”
of groups and individuals with interests in the high altitude
environments, ecology and geology of the Colorado Front
Range. Now called the Mt. Evans Field Station, these
facilities at Echo Lake provide year round lodging for a wide
range of academic groups from within and outside our
University, for more information please visit
www.nsm.du.edu/units/evans.
Miller is using graduate and undergraduate students to test whether
this technique can destroy new environmental contaminants, such as
pharmaceuticals.
Alumni supporting students
through internships
Titled “Denver 2058” because Denver turns 200 in 2058, the overall
program seeks to “identify environmental, planning, and social challenges
facing the Denver metropolitan area over the next five decades.”
Alumni of the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics support
their alma mater in many ways. However, they may not be aware of
one significant way that they can immediately impact current students:
internships.
The various studies proposed by faculty across campus will focus on
regional climate change, population and economic growth, and planning
and sustainable resource management.
And internships are the epitome of a win/win situation because they
not only provide students with on-the-job training, but they give the
supporting organization access to the University of Denver’s cuttingedge research and emerging ideas in their industry.
“The environmental changes that are coming will affect everybody,”
says Kerwin. “And there is a lot of work that we can do to help the city
prepare. We can get students researching, work with the city’s planning
department and work with policy makers.”
Professor of Geography
Katherine O’Connor graduated with her MS in Geographic Information
Science (GIS) in 2005. Throughout the two years of her studies at DU, she
worked 20 hours a week with the City of Denver’s Office of Economic
Development (OED). The internship was funded by a federal grant to the
City, run through the NSM office, and provided O’Connor with muchneeded tuition assistance. It also led to a full-time job.
As part of this umbrella research program, Kerwin is
conducting his own research into droughts.
Down the road, Keables and Powell agree that NSM
will continue to provide both support and leadership to
the Sustainability Council as the division also pursues
its own Initiative goals.
“I’m very grateful for the path that it’s taken me on,” says O’Connor, who
adds that the City has also benefited from the relationship.
“One of the next steps is to form a master’s degree
in sustainability,” says Keables. “There are so many
departments on campus already working in this area –
business, law, education, arts and sciences. It will take
at least a year to look at what everyone is doing and
to put together a degree program.”
“I’ve heard people at the City say that they like having access to a university
environment where people have the time to think through emerging ideas
in our field.”
Heidi Peterson graduated in 2007 with an MA in Geography, having also
served two years as an intern with the City of Denver. She now also has a
full-time job with OED.
The minor launched this fall with 20 students and a class titled,
“Sustainability and Human Society.”
“The best thing about this internship is that it’s not just a three-month,
in-and-out, filing job,” she says. “You have a real job to do. You get a lot
of workplace experience.”
Closer to home, NSM faculty are busy conducting their own research
which, they hope, could provide insights and leadership into some of the
region’s most pressing environmental issues.
For example, Keith Miller, Associate Professor of Chemistry, is studying
ways to re-use wastewater.
“We can’t sustain our growing population in the U.S. or in the world
without thinking about reusing water,” he says.
Miller is working with a local entrepreneur who invented a way to re-use
agricultural wastewater.
“I like to call it ‘pressure cooking purification,’” says Miller. “If you put
a lid on something like a pot and elevate the temperature and keep
the steam in there, you can increase pressure and burn off the organic
materials in the water.”
September
Septem
Sept
Se
ptemb 2008
Giving opportunities:
Mike Kerwin, Associate Professor of Geography, has also begun a research
program which he hopes will not only include researchers from many
University departments but also the City and County of Denver.
“...one of the big
tasks before the
Council is coordinating
curriculum and
research across campus.
I see the NSM Initiative
complementing that
quite nicely.”
–Rebecca Powell, Assistant
researchers. Lab buildings were added over the ensuing
decades and the mission was broadened to include support
ALUMNINews
UNIVERSITY OF DENVER
stay in touch
Please take a few
minutes to visit DU’s
alumni directory at
www.alumni.
du.edu/epioneer
and become a
registered member
of the University’s
alumni network.
Having details about
your whereabouts
enables us to
inform you about
NSM events and
programs.
NSM alumnae Heidi Peterson & Katherine O’Conner and current
intern NSM graduate student, Adam Bove.
Though many interns are never hired by their internship
employer, they are able to move on to different field
because the internships provide a good foundation for
career growth.
Adam Bove graduates after this fall quarter with an MS in
GIS. He has also interned with the OED and says he’s been
given opportunities for professional growth.
“Through this internship, I was able to attend an ESRI
[Environmental Systems Research Institute] conference in
San Diego,” he says. “I get more exposure to what GIS
means as a career.”
The City of Denver is just one of many internship providers
to NSM students. If you believe your company could offer
and benefit from a relationship with the University, contact
Erin Hegel, [email protected] to share your ideas.
Continuing Connections
Alumni Symposium
The third annual symposium took place Oct. 2nd & 3rd. Five NSM faculty members participated and their
lectures covered a wide variety of topics from The Conquest of the Universe: 21st Century Astrophysics to
Alzheimer’s Therapy: The Facts and Cures. Visit our alumni page (www.nsm.du.edu/alumni) to learn more
about how alumni can continue to benefit from a DU education through similar lifelong learning events
throughout the year.
Homecoming and Family Weekend
Come back to campus for food, fun, and to make new memories with old friends, Oct. 28–Nov. 1. For more
information or to purchase tickets to the www.alumni.du.edu.
DU on the Road
Find out what your alma mater has been doing since you left. See if DU is coming to a city near you at
www.alumni.du.edu/DUontheroad.
fall/winter ‘09
DU Launches Sustainability Minor
FOCUS ON: Environment and Sustainability
www.alumni.du.edu/epioneer
Ready, Set … Sustain:
When Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences lecturer Lisa Dale began
studying and then teaching something called “sustainability,” she says it
was considered an educational oddity, a niche that barely registered.
A survey of the class found students majoring in chemistry, English,
business, geography, Italian and more. There were sophomores, juniors
and seniors in the mix as well.
“I used to walk into my classes and students didn’t know what
sustainability was,” she says. “Now, it’s the buzz. It’s in the papers, in the
news, everyday.”
The program is one of a handful of such offerings at campuses across
the country, says Michael Keables, a DU associate professor of geography
who helped lead the push to develop it.
Her work led to a PhD and research in environmental policy. And on
August 14, as the University of Denver campus sprang back to life at the
start of a new academic year, she opened the first course on the road to
a new minor in sustainability at DU.
Keables, a member of the DU Sustainability Council subcommittee on
curriculum and research, says creating the new minor took about a year.
Many of the courses were already offered through a variety of campus
departments, but they hadn’t been connected and brought together,
he says.
“This is Day One in the new minor,” she told 20 mostly undergraduate
students.
Just like the broad field of sustainability, the minor is designed to mean
many things to many students. The course Dale opened this month,
Sustainability and Human Society, will be paired with a project at the
end of the course of study, creating a gateway and capstone designed to
bookend courses students can select from to build on their major field of
study. The minor is expected to work with most majors, so a student in
the sciences could tailor the program differently than an English major or
a business major.
“One of the themes of sustainability is how interdisciplinary it is,” Dale
says. “You can be in any field and work in sustainability. Sustainability is
relevant in every field.”
The term “sustainability,” she explains in her syllabus, “is defined as
meeting the needs of the current generation without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
“It’s not going to be a traditional minor where everyone takes the same
five courses,” he says. “This is designed so each student can apply
sustainability to his or her own field.”
In designing the gateway course, Dale says she wanted to push students
to get out into the real world and see sustainability in action. In addition to
a heavy reading load, students will hear from a range of guest experts in
all facets of sustainability. And the course will require students to study a
real initiative or problem and create a presentation. Dale told students she
expects them to get hands-on, talk with real people and see something
concrete.
“There are a lot of ways you can go with this because sustainability can
mean lots of different things to different people,” she told them. “Get out
there in the real world and see sustainability happen. There are things out
there going on in sustainability in every corner of this city. I’m challenging
you to find them.”
Destination Mt. Evans
The Meyer-Womble Observatory is the newest of a series
of facilities and programs that the University of Denver has
been instrumental in developing on Mt. Evans over the
past 70 years. Originally established as the Inter-University
High Altitude Laboratory with the primary mission of
studying cosmic radiation, one and two-story log cabins
were completed near Echo Lake in 1946 to accommodate
In 2007, Chancellor Robert Coombe signed the American College
and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, a step that illustrated
the University of Denver’s commitment to not only eliminate its own
greenhouse gas emissions, but also to promote research and educational
efforts that could enable society to do the same.
The timing was fortuitous.
Simultaneously, the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics had
identified “Environment and Sustainability” as one of three strategic
initiatives that its faculty and students would seek to explore and on which
it would provide leadership both at the University and also regionally.
Thus, a symbiotic relationship was born between the University’s overall
Sustainability Council and the Division’s Sustainability Initiative.
According to Rebecca Powell, Assistant Professor of Geography, who is not
only a NSM faculty member but who also has served on the Sustainability
Council since its inception, NSM is helping to coordinate the educational
aspect of the Sustainability Council’s undertaking as it also forges ahead
with its own research.
“For example, one of the big tasks before the Council is
coordinating curriculum and research across campus,”
says Powell. “I see the NSM Initiative complementing
that quite nicely.”
According to Mike Keables, Associate Dean, the Division
has already taken a leadership role in the educational
aspect of the University’s commitment.
“We worked with folks across campus to establish a
minor in sustainability,” says Keables. “It is housed in
the geography department and we use faculty from
across campus to teach because it is such a broad topic
and touches on different aspects of society.”
of groups and individuals with interests in the high altitude
environments, ecology and geology of the Colorado Front
Range. Now called the Mt. Evans Field Station, these
facilities at Echo Lake provide year round lodging for a wide
range of academic groups from within and outside our
University, for more information please visit
www.nsm.du.edu/units/evans.
Miller is using graduate and undergraduate students to test whether
this technique can destroy new environmental contaminants, such as
pharmaceuticals.
Alumni supporting students
through internships
Titled “Denver 2058” because Denver turns 200 in 2058, the overall
program seeks to “identify environmental, planning, and social challenges
facing the Denver metropolitan area over the next five decades.”
Alumni of the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics support
their alma mater in many ways. However, they may not be aware of
one significant way that they can immediately impact current students:
internships.
The various studies proposed by faculty across campus will focus on
regional climate change, population and economic growth, and planning
and sustainable resource management.
And internships are the epitome of a win/win situation because they
not only provide students with on-the-job training, but they give the
supporting organization access to the University of Denver’s cuttingedge research and emerging ideas in their industry.
“The environmental changes that are coming will affect everybody,”
says Kerwin. “And there is a lot of work that we can do to help the city
prepare. We can get students researching, work with the city’s planning
department and work with policy makers.”
Professor of Geography
Katherine O’Connor graduated with her MS in Geographic Information
Science (GIS) in 2005. Throughout the two years of her studies at DU, she
worked 20 hours a week with the City of Denver’s Office of Economic
Development (OED). The internship was funded by a federal grant to the
City, run through the NSM office, and provided O’Connor with muchneeded tuition assistance. It also led to a full-time job.
As part of this umbrella research program, Kerwin is
conducting his own research into droughts.
Down the road, Keables and Powell agree that NSM
will continue to provide both support and leadership to
the Sustainability Council as the division also pursues
its own Initiative goals.
“I’m very grateful for the path that it’s taken me on,” says O’Connor, who
adds that the City has also benefited from the relationship.
“One of the next steps is to form a master’s degree
in sustainability,” says Keables. “There are so many
departments on campus already working in this area –
business, law, education, arts and sciences. It will take
at least a year to look at what everyone is doing and
to put together a degree program.”
“I’ve heard people at the City say that they like having access to a university
environment where people have the time to think through emerging ideas
in our field.”
Heidi Peterson graduated in 2007 with an MA in Geography, having also
served two years as an intern with the City of Denver. She now also has a
full-time job with OED.
The minor launched this fall with 20 students and a class titled,
“Sustainability and Human Society.”
“The best thing about this internship is that it’s not just a three-month,
in-and-out, filing job,” she says. “You have a real job to do. You get a lot
of workplace experience.”
Closer to home, NSM faculty are busy conducting their own research
which, they hope, could provide insights and leadership into some of the
region’s most pressing environmental issues.
For example, Keith Miller, Associate Professor of Chemistry, is studying
ways to re-use wastewater.
“We can’t sustain our growing population in the U.S. or in the world
without thinking about reusing water,” he says.
Miller is working with a local entrepreneur who invented a way to re-use
agricultural wastewater.
“I like to call it ‘pressure cooking purification,’” says Miller. “If you put
a lid on something like a pot and elevate the temperature and keep
the steam in there, you can increase pressure and burn off the organic
materials in the water.”
September
Septem
Sept
Se
ptemb 2008
Giving opportunities:
Mike Kerwin, Associate Professor of Geography, has also begun a research
program which he hopes will not only include researchers from many
University departments but also the City and County of Denver.
“...one of the big
tasks before the
Council is coordinating
curriculum and
research across campus.
I see the NSM Initiative
complementing that
quite nicely.”
–Rebecca Powell, Assistant
researchers. Lab buildings were added over the ensuing
decades and the mission was broadened to include support
ALUMNINews
UNIVERSITY OF DENVER
stay in touch
Please take a few
minutes to visit DU’s
alumni directory at
www.alumni.
du.edu/epioneer
and become a
registered member
of the University’s
alumni network.
Having details about
your whereabouts
enables us to
inform you about
NSM events and
programs.
NSM alumnae Heidi Peterson & Katherine O’Connor and current
intern NSM graduate student, Adam Bove.
Though many interns are never hired by their internship
employer, they are able to move on to different field
because the internships provide a good foundation for
career growth.
Adam Bove graduates after this fall quarter with an MS in
GIS. He has also interned with the OED and says he’s been
given opportunities for professional growth.
“Through this internship, I was able to attend an ESRI
[Environmental Systems Research Institute] conference in
San Diego,” he says. “I get more exposure to what GIS
means as a career.”
The City of Denver is just one of many internship providers
to NSM students. If you believe your company could offer
and benefit from a relationship with the University, contact
Erin Hegel, [email protected] to share your ideas.
Continuing Connections
Alumni Symposium
The third annual symposium took place Oct. 2nd & 3rd. Five NSM faculty members participated and their
lectures covered a wide variety of topics from The Conquest of the Universe: 21st Century Astrophysics to
Alzheimer’s Therapy: The Facts and Cures. Visit our alumni page (www.nsm.du.edu/alumni) to learn more
about how alumni can continue to benefit from a DU education through similar lifelong learning events
throughout the year.
Homecoming and Family Weekend
Come back to campus for food, fun, and to make new memories with old friends, Oct. 28–Nov. 1. For more
information or to purchase tickets to the www.alumni.du.edu.
DU on the Road
Find out what your alma mater has been doing since you left. See if DU is coming to a city near you at
www.alumni.du.edu/DUontheroad.
fall/winter ‘09
DU Launches Sustainability Minor
FOCUS ON: Environment and Sustainability
www.alumni.du.edu/epioneer
Ready, Set … Sustain: