Science & Technology

CU �ֲ��ý Research in Motion

Anna Tolette — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 19:22:39 +0000

CU �ֲ��ý Research in Motion Anna Tolette Mon, 07/20/2026 - 13:22

Julia MacLean and Christie Sounart

For 150 years, CU �ֲ��ý has embraced an interdisciplinary philosophy that has led to groundbreaking science discoveries that continually change our understanding of the world.

The impact of this work on humanity extends from the tiniest microbes to our knowledge of time. The university’s research is a catalyst for innovation, transcending traditional methods and reaching new realms of possibility.

This list highlights a few of these breakthroughs.

1910s

Botany

In 1910, a red sunflower growing wild in �ֲ��ý caught the attention of Wilmatte Porter Cockerell and her CU professor husband, Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell. Drawing on their scientific training, they cultivated and cross-pollinated the plant, stabilizing its unusual color and introducing it to seed companies. What began as a local discovery became a globally distributed plant. Today, the university continues this legacy through the University Libraries’ One Seed Program, which shares the red sunflower seeds with the campus’ local community.

1940s

Space

MAVEN mission to Mars.

CU �ֲ��ý’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) plays an integral role in advancing planetary discoveries across the solar system. Since its founding in 1948 to study the sun, LASP has become the world’s only academic research institute to send instruments to all eight planets, Pluto and beyond. Recent milestones include the oversight of the MAVEN mission to study Mars’ upper atmosphere, sending CU student-built instruments on the New Horizons spacecraft to fly by Pluto and explore the Kuiper Belt, and developing instruments aboard Europa Clipper, NASA’s flagship mission to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa.

A time lape of Niwot Ridge from the Mountain Research Station.

1950s

Engineering

In 1956, CU �ֲ��ý students and faculty developed the Rhovac typewriter system, designed for quadriplegic individuals. The system, which used a board with lights that moved across letters and symbols, allowed users to select characters through small movements of the mouth, eyelids or fingers. The Polio Foundation provided and supervised use of the typewriter, which reflected mid-20th-century efforts to apply emerging technologies to practical human needs.

1950s

Environmental Science

A keeper of long-standing and continuous environmental records, the Mountain Research Station in Nederland, Colorado, is a global leader in climate science. Since the 1950s, CU researchers have collected data across mountain ecosystems, producing some of the longest high-altitude climate records in North America and the world. These decades of measurements, tracking atmospheric conditions, snowpack and temperature, provide critical insight into climate change over time and have made the station a hub for high-altitude environmental research.

1960s

Environmental Science

Early collaboration between CU �ֲ��ý and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, made possible through the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, helped transform global environmental science. Beginning in the late 1960s, the partnership advanced early climate monitoring and atmospheric chemistry research, including new methods to measure trace gases that eventually laid the groundwork for modern environmental observation systems. Over time, the work grew into large-scale Earth systems science, atmospheric monitoring and ocean mapping, which led to a massive effort to chart the U.S. extended continental shelf.

1970s

Anthropologist Payson Sheets in the field

Archaeology

In 1978, CU �ֲ��ý’s Payson Sheets (Anth’67; MA’69) led the discovery and long-term excavation of Joya de Cerén in El Salvador, a Maya village preserved by volcanic ash around 590 A.D. Often called the “New World Pompeii,” the site revealed evidence of daily life among ordinary people, reshaping understanding of ancient societies, resilience and human responses to sudden environmental disasters. Sheets’ work also helped to advance standard archaeological methods, including the use of remote sensing to locate and analyze buried sites.

Marvin Caruthers pioneered chemical methods for synthesizing DNA and RNA.

1980s

Biology

The rise of modern microbiome science was driven by techniques that allowed scientists to identify and analyze entire microbial communities without culturing them in a lab. At CU, biochemist Norman Pace created genetic sequencing methods that revealed vast unseen biodiversity and reshaped the tree of life. Building on that foundation in the 2000s, CU microbiologist Rob Knight developed computational tools to analyze microbial ecosystems at scale. Together, these innovations changed microbiome research into a data-driven field, showing how microbes shape human health and the environment.

1980s

Biotechnology

CU �ֲ��ý biochemist Marvin Caruthers (HonDocSci’24) pioneered chemical methods for synthesizing DNA and RNA, reducing a process that once took months to just hours. His work laid the foundation for genome research, while his patents in custom DNA production helped launch the biotechnology industry. Caruthers co-founded Amgen in addition to Applied Biosystems, which brought automated DNA synthesis tools into laboratories worldwide.

1990s

Quantum Physics

The creation of the first Bose-Einstein condensate in 1995 marked a breakthrough in quantum physics, revealing a new state of matter in which atoms cooled to near absolute zero behave as a single quantum entity. Achieved by Eric Cornell and Carl Wieman at CU �ֲ��ý’s JILA, a joint institute with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the discovery won them the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics and launched the field of ultracold atomic research, with far-reaching implications for quantum technologies.

2000s

Physics

Ultra-precise atomic clocks are pushing the limits of how we measure time. At CU �ֲ��ý, Jun Ye (PhDPhys’97) has led the development of optical atomic clocks with extreme precision and accuracy, using lasers to measure the vibrations of atoms trapped in optical fields. His lab’s clocks will not gain or lose a second over billions of years. This work enables a wide range of applications, including more precise tests of fundamental physics.

Eric Cornell won the Nobel Prize in 2001

2010s

Integrative Physiology

CU �ֲ��ý researcher Monique LeBourgeois uncovered how light exposure affects children’s sleep health. In particular, her work found that young children are uniquely sensitive to evening light exposure, especially blue light emitted by screens. In a landmark experiment, her team found that just one hour of bright light before bed suppressed preschoolers’ melatonin levels by nearly 90%, with effects lasting long after the lights were turned off. This research became a driver in pediatric sleep science, translating lab discoveries into guidance for families.

2010s

Geography

Data-driven wildfire science at CU �ֲ��ý reshapes how communities understand and respond to fire risk in a warming climate. Jennifer Balch led this work through Earth Lab, integrating satellite data and field research to track fire patterns, forest loss and ecosystem recovery. Her work produced new tools for analyzing wildfire behavior and assessing risk across the Western U.S., helping communities better anticipate and adapt to a rapidly changing fire landscape.

2020s

Public Health

The discovery that COVID-19 spreads through airborne aerosols and not solely large droplets greatly impacted public health guidance and indoor safety. At CU �ֲ��ý, Shelly Miller and José-Luis Jimenez helped demonstrate how virus particles linger in indoor air, highlighting the critical role of ventilation and filtration. Miller’s research on how respiratory aerosols are generated during activities such as singing and playing musical instruments also informed safer guidance for schools and performance settings. Their work helped reshape global understanding of disease transmission and accelerate innovations to improve indoor air quality.

2020s

Artificial Intelligence

Decades of foundational work at CU �ֲ��ý in natural language processing, machine learning and ethical AI helped establish the university as a leader in the field. Research by CU faculty, including Martha Palmer and James Martin, advanced how machines interpret human language and analyze complex data. Building on that legacy, CU’s new master of science in artificial intelligence, launched in 2025, expands access to advanced AI education.

Shelly Miller, a mechanical engineering professor.

Jose-Luis Jimenez, professor of chemistry and fellow at CIRES.

See the Exhibition on Campus

Shaped by Colorado: 150 years of Research and Creativity at CU �ֲ��ý

Opening in the university’s Museum of Natural History this August, the exhibition celebrates CU innovation while highlighting its deep connection to the state of Colorado.

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Illustrations by Mike McQuade; Photos courtesy LASP (MAVEN), Associated Press (Payson Sheets); Chris Monroe (Eric Cornell); G.E. Marti/JILA (laser); Glenn Asakawa (Shelly Miller and Natural History Museum); Matthew Jonas/Daily Camera (Jose-Luis Jiminez), CU �ֲ��ý Mountain Research Center (Niwot Ridge timelapse video)

CU �ֲ��ý fuels scientific discovery through interdisciplinary research that reshapes knowledge and drives innovation.

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CU Botanist’s Notes on a Nightshade

Anna Tolette — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 19:18:29 +0000

CU Botanist’s Notes on a Nightshade Anna Tolette Mon, 07/20/2026 - 13:18

Christie Sounart

To ecology and evolutionary biology professor Stacey D. Smith, the research subjects she has dedicated 25 years of her life to studying are completely adorable. And, after hearing her eagerly discuss her work on tomatillos in the Solanaceae family — commonly known as nightshades — passersby may find the diminutive plants irresistible, too.

Smith is one of only a handful of scientists to study the wild members of this plant family, which includes over 300 species in the tomatillo tribe. Her lab studies the evolutionary changes of the plants’ flowers and fruits, including how and why their colors and shapes have changed over time, and her work with the tomatillo plants’ smallest details, from their minuscule stem hairs to their fruits’ sticky residue, might someday help in the creation of natural pesticides.

“I want to understand why plants do the things they do, and why they live the way they do,” Smith said.

Physalis heterophylla

→ Native

One of the four native �ֲ��ý tomatillos: heterophylla, hederifolia, longifolia and virginiana.

→ Clammy

Called “clammy” because of the sticky hairs on its stems and leaves.

→ Habitat

Can be found on hiking trails along the Front Range: Sanitas Valley, Saddle Rock, Skunk Canyon and the Shanahan Ridge Water Tank.

Tomatillo Facts

Toxic

The plants are toxic, but some of their fruits are edible to humans.

Nightshades

The plants are part of the nightshade family, Solanaceae, which has about 2,700 species.

Greenhouse Plants

�ֲ��ý 100 tomatillos and their relatives are growing in CU �ֲ��ý’s main campus greenhouses.

Difficult Cultivation

The plants are hard to cultivate, but grow well in the wild.

Delicate in Nature

The plants don’t recover well when mowed over and are easily overrun by non-native plants.

Physalis heterophylla Fruit

Lanterns

When fruit forms, the plant creates a lantern around it to protect it from insects.

Ground Cherries

The edible fruits, referred to as “ground cherries,” are orange and high in vitamin A.

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Illustration by Irene Laschi

Stacey D. Smith is one of only a handful of scientists to study the wild members of the Solanaceae family, which includes over 300 species in the tomatillo tribe.

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The History of Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship at CU �ֲ��ý

Anna Tolette — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:24:05 +0000

The History of Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship at CU �ֲ��ý Anna Tolette Mon, 03/09/2026 - 15:24

PACES can involve community members directly in research projects

Sarah Kuta

For years, North Denver residents complained about bad smells wafting through their neighborhoods, but nothing ever seemed to change. Then, they got in touch with Shelly Miller, a CU �ֲ��ý professor emerita of mechanical engineering who studies urban air quality.

Miller took their concerns seriously and sprang into action. Working in collaboration with residents and local community organizations, she conducted research to identify the sources of the odors and determine whether and how they might be affecting air quality. As suspected, the pungent aromas were coming from nearby industrial facilities, including a pet food factory, an oil refinery, a roofing plant and an animal rendering plant. Miller’s research also detected higher-than-normal concentrations of air pollutants during stinky periods.

In 2016, as a result of her findings, and with continued lobbying from residents, the City of Denver strengthened its odor ordinance. The new rules didn’t completely solve the problem, but they were a step in the right direction — one that helped make North Denver residents feel seen and heard.

Miller’s efforts are an example of public and community-engaged scholarship, or research that connects with and involves individuals beyond the university and, often, contributes to public conversations and policies.

“A lot of my projects up to that point had been lab-based or more controlled setups,” said Miller. “I started thinking about my contributions to science, and I realized I really wanted to impact people’s lives today.”

For CU �ֲ��ý, this kind of research has been crucial to the university’s ethos since its inception 150 years ago. It continues today with innovative scholars like Miller, who are committed to studying and solving real-world problems — everything from reducing wildfire risk to bridging the political divide.

“It’s really essential to our identity as Colorado’s public flagship university,” said David Meens, executive director of the Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship (PACES), which has helped fund Miller’s air quality work. “The spirit of service is so strong, and it really comes from the ground up. People here want the scholarship they’re producing to be of value to people.”

PACES can involve community members directly in research projects

Engagement with the community was seen as essential for any public institution to be viable.

— David Meens, executive director of the Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship (PACES)

Engagement Origins

In 1861, Colorado’s first territorial legislature passed a bill to establish the university, though the plans took more than a decade to materialize in �ֲ��ý. These lawmakers commissioned the university to educate students, but they also had a much broader goal in mind: serving every resident of Colorado. That charge was later stipulated in a federal land grant and enshrined in the state’s constitution.

“Engagement with the community was seen as essential for any public institution to be viable,” said Meens. “It would take an understanding of its value and buy-in from really diverse communities — geographically, demographically — because its authorizing charge was really about supporting public life in Colorado.”

In 1912, the university established a new extension office to help bring that vision to life. The unit’s first director, Loran D. Osborn, felt the university’s resources were so valuable they should be made available to “individuals who cannot come within the college walls and communities which are seeking information and guidance in solution of the complex problems of modern life,” he wrote in the first University Extension Bulletin in February 1912.

In the ensuing decades, the unit greatly expanded CU �ֲ��ý’s footprint throughout Colorado, with offerings like correspondence courses, public lectures, citizenship programs, radio broadcasts and clinics throughout the state. By the 1970s, CU �ֲ��ý had become a major national research institution, an identity shift that also broadened its community engagement focus. CU �ֲ��ý researchers began pursuing national and international projects, in addition to those closer to home.

That same ethos has carried through to the modern era. In 2001, the university created a new hub to support its community engagement activities, both in Colorado and beyond — the Office for University Outreach, which is now PACES.

Over the last 2.5 decades, PACES has awarded more than $8 million to various projects, from dance programs in rural Colorado communities to clean water initiatives in Africa — a project that ultimately gave rise to Engineers Without Borders USA, now a well-known and longstanding nonprofit.

CU �ֲ��ý scholars have also taken a stand against bullying using live theater, worked to make classrooms more inclusive for all students, and helped Rocky Mountain National Park develop new Indigenous history exhibits and programs. They’ve taught underrepresented youth how to code, helped rural communities maintain their historic water distribution philosophies, and delivered free fossil kits to schools around the state.

“We’re really interested in hearing from people directly and listening to the issues they have,” said Meens. “We want to know what’s going on so we can identify resources and folks on campus who might be able to help. We bridge that gap and put those pieces together.”

In addition to addressing the needs of Colorado communities, this type of work benefits CU �ֲ��ý students, faculty and staff.

“Engaging in real-world contexts makes research better and more interesting,” said Meens. “Students who participate in these types of experiences learn more, and they have a more positive experience overall. Really, community-engaged scholarship is a tremendous value-add across all of the university’s core activities.”

Force for Good

In November 2025, Chancellor Justin Schwartz moved PACES into the newly formed Outreach and Community Engagement unit within his office — a move that elevates and reaffirms the university’s commitment to public and community-engaged research, teaching and creative work for the years to come.

Externally, PACES will continue fostering authentic relationships across Colorado and beyond. At a time when public confidence in higher education is waning and communities are facing numerous challenges, Meens believes public and community-engaged research will remain a force for good.

“We have a real opportunity,” he said. “We’re in a moment where folks understand the value of collaboration and working to achieve bigger things in ways that are beneficial to everyone. There’s so much more we can achieve.”

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Photos courtesy Shelly Miller

Research involving the community has been crucial to the university’s ethos since its inception 150 years ago.

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CU Alum Takes An Affordable Approach to Indoor Farming

Anna Tolette — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:20:19 +0000

CU Alum Takes An Affordable Approach to Indoor Farming Anna Tolette Mon, 03/09/2026 - 15:20

Marc Zarefsky

Maximilian Knight (EnvEngr’17) was in sixth grade when he saw a documentary that changed his outlook on the world around him.

The Cove, which won the Academy Award for best documentary feature in 2010, featured an in-depth look at a small town in Japan known for capturing and selling dolphins to aquariums around the world. The film featured graphic footage and raised critical questions about dolphin hunting practices.

Knight was transfixed.

“It was a pretty tough subject, but through that film, I became more aware of things going on in the world,” Knight said. “The whole community of people trying to do good in the world and trying to make the world a better place — that really inspired me and continues to.”

Knight took that inspiration and found his own way to improve the world. As founder and CEO of �ֲ��ý-based Rooted Robotics, Knight’s mission is to provide affordable automation systems to indoor farms of all sizes.

The company, founded in 2019, offers game-changing technology to small and mid-size controlled-environment growers who can’t afford industrial-sized — and industrial-priced — services.

“If we look to 50 or 100 years from now, if climate change does get significantly worse, as is largely expected, we need to be able to feed ourselves,” Knight said. “We need to be able to do that at scale without having millions or billions of people starve because we can’t grow as much food in the same ways that we used to.”

Enter controlled-environment agriculture, a term Knight explained refers to incorporating a more technology-focused approach to farming. In these environments, which often exist as vertical farms or greenhouses, growers can control everything from temperature and sunlight to humidity and nutrients, along with countless factors in between.

This flexibility allows growers to customize what they grow and when they grow it in a way traditional farmers cannot.

Rooted Robotics offers products that help farmers with seeding, harvesting and cleaning. Each system is designed with simplicity, reliability and sustainability in mind. Everything the company sells is also made to be upgradable with customized add-ons, allowing the machines to grow with the farms they support.

Knight’s own expertise in the field dates back to his time in CU �ֲ��ý’s College of Engineering & Applied Science, where he learned many of the technical skills he routinely applies to his work. But perhaps the biggest takeaway from his time at CU was, as he describes it, learning how to learn.

“I studied environmental engineering, which is not really what I do today,” Knight said. “Even though I’m not doing water treatment engineering or sanitation engineering, I learned how to teach myself new skills.”

Christian Maljian (left), Sebastian Vazquez-Carson (middle) and Maximilian Knight (right)

Knight also met Rooted Robotics’ chief technology officer at the school. He and Sebastian Vazquez-Carson (Phys’17) were friends as undergraduates, and the two reconnected in 2022 when Vazquez joined the company to help with a robotic system.

When Knight considered undergraduate programs, he was drawn to the community he found at CU. Today, with his company still housed in �ֲ��ý, he has kept close ties to the school. Christian Maljian (Engr’19) is co-founder and head of mechanical engineering. Of Rooted Robotics’ seven part-time employees, six are students from the College of Engineering & Applied Science or the Leeds School of Business.

Rooted Robotics also hosts summer interns from CU �ֲ��ý. In addition, the company partnered with the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering this year to sponsor a capstone project. The senior students involved with the project are helping Rooted Robotics develop a variation of the company’s seeding machine.

Knight’s hope is that, through the partnership and the innovation he’s brought to the company since its founding, Rooted Robotics can continue to be an inspiration and valuable resource for indoor growers.

“A beautiful vision that could exist in 50 to 100 years would be that we’re growing most of our agriculture in these controlled environments,” Knight said. “Because of that, nature will be able to reclaim a lot of the farmland that blankets the Earth. That can also help with reversing climate change at scale. That’s part of the future that we want to create.”

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Photos courtesy Maximilian Knight

Maximilian Knight’s company Rooted Robotics takes an affordable approach to indoor farming.

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CU Researchers Study Potential Links Between Hearing Loss and Dementia

Anna Tolette — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:19:01 +0000

CU Researchers Study Potential Links Between Hearing Loss and Dementia Anna Tolette Mon, 03/09/2026 - 15:19

Lisa Marshall

Can hearing loss cause dementia?

Professor Anu Sharma gets this question a lot. As an auditory neuroscientist in CU’s Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Sharma has spent much of her career in a soundproof room on the �ֲ��ý campus, spying on volunteers’ brain activities as headphones pipe sound into their ears. Her small yet high-tech studies have produced some of the most detailed evidence that hearing loss, even in early, mild stages, reorganizes the way the brain responds to sound and other stimuli.

The findings complement a growing body of large public health studies linking presbycusis, also known as age-related hearing loss, and cognitive decline.

A seminal 2011 study from Johns Hopkins University found that, over the course of 12 years, people with mild hearing loss were twice as likely to be diagnosed with dementia, while those with moderate to severe hearing loss were three to five times as likely. In 2017, the Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention identified hearing loss as the “single largest potentially modifiable risk factor for dementia.”

Such studies have sparked worrying headlines, emboldened some hearing aid companies to claim their products can “prevent Alzheimer’s disease,” and prompted older patients to ask their audiologists about cognitive health.

“Ten years ago, almost nobody would come into the clinic asking about brain health,” said Dr. Vinaya Manchaiah, director of audiology at CU Anschutz. Now, it happens all the time.

Sharma and Manchaiah still respond cautiously.

“There’s a lot of fear-mongering going on, and that worries me,” Sharma said. While ample evidence shows that hearing loss is associated with cognitive decline, it’s still not clear whether it causes it — and if so, how and what can be done.

That’s where Sharma’s lab comes in. By studying the brain activity of adults in various stages of hearing loss, she hopes to shed light not only on what, precisely, presbycusis does to the brain, but also whether hearing aids can undo the damage.

Professor Anu Sharma

Rewiring the Circuit

Seated in her office, images of brain scans glowing red and yellow on her computer monitor, Sharma explains the concept that has inspired much of her 20-year career: cross-modal plasticity.

“One of the most remarkable aspects of our brain is its ability to adapt to change,” she said. “A basic tenet of this ability is that the brain will reorganize itself following sensory deprivation.”

She first saw this in children born deaf. Sharma found that because their auditory cortex (the brain region earmarked for sound processing) was deprived of sound, their brains repurposed that valuable real estate to assist other senses, like vision and touch, instead.

This elegant rewiring has its upsides.

For instance, studies have shown that, with multiple parts of their brains weighing in to process what they see and feel, some deaf individuals are better at recognizing faces and have a heightened sense of touch.

“It is a dynamic and elegant plasticity,” said Sharma. “And for a long time we had only seen it in children that were born deaf or adults that were profoundly deaf.”

In 2011, after reading the first news stories associating hearing loss with cognitive decline, she wondered: Could such rewiring occur in earlier, milder stages of hearing loss?

She and her students recruited dozens of people with hearing loss, along with age-matched participants with normal hearing. As flashing objects marched across a monitor or vibrations tickled their fingertips, an EEG (electroencephalogram) cap with 128 electrodes measured electrical activity in their brains.

When the first results came in, “I was shocked,” recalled Sharma.

Even among those with mild hearing loss, the brain had already begun to rewire itself, leveraging parts of its sound processing center to help make sense of sights and sensations.

But of greater concern was what happened when they tried to make sense of sound.

When the repeated sound “ba” was played for those with hearing loss, it prompted only limited activation in the auditory cortex. Meanwhile, brain regions responsible for working memory and other cognitive functions crackled with activity.

“Even as early as mild hearing loss, listening becomes effortful,” Sharma explained. “As a result, you do two things: You rely more heavily on other modalities, like vision, and you use parts of your brain designed for cognition.”

Some have theorized that this extra load on the brain’s memory centers eats up “cognitive reserve,” boosting risk of decline later in life.

And Sharma’s own studies show that those with untreated age-related hearing loss tend to perform worse on cognitive tasks.

“Anu has done some landmark research showing that, even with mild hearing loss, you can have changes in the brain,” said Manchaiah. “The big question now is: Can you do something about it?”

Hearing Loss by the Numbers

30%

Adults over age 50 who have age-related hearing loss

15%

Adults who could benefit from hearing aids in the U.S. and use them

7-10 years

Adults typically wait this long to seek treatment for hearing loss

$2,000 to $7,000

Average cost of prescription hearing aids

$1,000 to $2,000

Average cost of OTC hearing aids

Can Hearing Aids Prevent Cognitive Decline?

In 2020, Sharma published the results of a small but groundbreaking study.

Her lab found that when 21 adults with untreated, mild to moderate age-related hearing loss wore hearing aids for six months, their brains began to look more like those of people with normal hearing again. In essence, that cross-modal plasticity had reversed.

Most also scored better on cognitive tests than they had prior to getting hearing aids.

The study, while promising, came with caveats and prompted more questions.

For instance, participants were professionally fitted with state-of-the-art hearing aids and wore them for an average of 10 hours a day. Would people experience beneficial brain changes and cognitive improvements with less expensive hearing aids? How much does fit matter? And how long do they need to be worn?

Larger studies elsewhere have yielded mixed results.

One randomized controlled trial, published in 2023, showed that hearing aids did not reduce the risk of cognitive decline on a population-wide level, but they did in specific subgroups, including people with cardiovascular disease.

All this makes it hard for doctors to give patients a straight answer, said Manchaiah.

So, he and Sharma are working to fill the research gap.

In 2025, armed with a $3.5 million National Institutes of Health grant, they launched an ambitious five-year study.

The randomized controlled trial plans to recruit 280 people with early, untreated hearing loss and divide them into four groups: prescription hearing aids with professional fit; over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids with in-person support from an audiologist; OTC hearing aids with online support from an audiologist; and OTC self-fit groups.

All study participants will receive free hearing aids (to keep) and undergo EEG, cognitive and behavioral testing before and after use. They will complete questionnaires and surveys throughout the study.

“This is one of the largest hearing aid studies ever done, in terms of the number of different things we are measuring,” said Machaiah, who is leading the study along with Sharma. “There are many unanswered questions, but in a few years we will have a lot more answers.”

In the meantime, Sharma said there are many other reasons to seek treatment for age-related hearing loss, as research has shown it can contribute to social isolation and depression.

“Regardless of the cognitive issues, if you have hearing loss, it’s really smart to get hearing aids,” said Sharma. “They will enhance your quality of life.”

To inquire about participating in the study, email eeglab@colorado.edu.

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Illustrations by Petre Péterffy

A CU �ֲ��ý lab is exploring how age-related hearing loss rewires the brain — and whether hearing aids can undo the damage.

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Cyborg Jellyfish at CU �ֲ��ý

Anna Tolette — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:12:40 +0000

Cyborg Jellyfish at CU �ֲ��ý Anna Tolette Mon, 03/09/2026 - 15:12

Julia MacLean

It’s not uncommon for people to frequently stop in front of assistant professor Nicole Xu’s mechanical engineering lab, mesmerized by the giant aquarium of drifting moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita). Inside, Xu’s team has created “cyborg” jellies, fitting them with tiny microelectronic devices that steer their movements with pacemaker-like pulses. The technology could transform deep-sea exploration by offering an energy-efficient way to gather climate data in remote waters — and inspire the next generation of ultra-efficient underwater vehicles.

500 million+ years

evolutionarily unchanged

20 years

captive lifespan

2 years

wild lifespan

Data Divers

Energy-efficient

Most efficient swimmers on earth.

Future upgrades

Sensors for temperature, pH, salinity.

Health and safety

of the jellies are prioritized.

Small cameras

enable the study of animals in their natural environments.

Data collection

Information can be collected by swarms of jellyfish at higher spatial and temporal resolutions.

Biohybrid Robots

Moon jellyfish fitted with tiny electronic devices.

Control and steering

Devices simulate swimming muscles like a pacemaker.

Safe

Stinging cells can’t penetrate human skin.

Small sensors

measure changes in the ocean to track climate change.

CU �ֲ��ý Program

Part of a Denver Aquarium partnership, which includes well-being checks on the jellies by aquarists.

Goal is affordable, sustainable ocean monitoring.

�ֲ��ý Aurelia Aurita (Moon Jellyfish)

Size

As small as one centimeter (half of a penny) or larger than a dinner plate.

Environments

Found in a wide variety of ocean habitats around the world.

Diet

Zooplankton, crustacean larvae, small fish.

Anatomy

No brain, but sensory nerves for movement.

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Photos by Glenn Asakawa

Pioneering research helps us understand more about our oceans.

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CU Research Finds Human Rights Under Threat

Anna Tolette — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:11:21 +0000

CU Research Finds Human Rights Under Threat Anna Tolette Mon, 03/09/2026 - 15:11

Deforestation in the Maranhão state of Brazil, July 2016

Yvaine Ye

Deforestation in the Maranhão state of Brazil, July 2016

More than 99% of the world’s 7.7 billion people face at least one threat to their environmental rights, according to a new study.

In 2022, the UN formally recognized that everyone on the planet has the right to a healthy environment. But according to the most comprehensive analysis of environmental inequality to date, CU �ֲ��ý researchers found that nearly half of the global population lives in regions facing three or more of the five environmental threats analyzed: polluted air, unsafe water, extreme heat, food insecurity and biodiversity loss.

“Over the years, communities around the world have been fighting for local environmental justice,” said first author Naia Ormaza-Zulueta (PhDEnv St’25), a researcher in CU �ֲ��ý’s Better Planet Lab. “We want to stitch their stories into a single, undeniable global tapestry.”

For their study, Ormaza-Zulueta and Zia Mehrabi, a data scientist in the Better Planet Lab, calculated whether an individual in a given location around the world is experiencing, or has recently experienced, any of the five environmental threats that violate their rights.

The team found that almost everyone on Earth lives in a place that has recently experienced at least one of these environmental threats. The report indicated that over 45%, or 3.4 billion people, have at least three rights threatened, and 1.25%, or 95 million people, experienced all five environmental threats studied.

Disadvantaged populations, such as those with lower incomes and those living on Indigenous lands, are far more likely to experience poor air quality, excessive heat and limited access to clean water.

Many of the poor environmental conditions around the globe result from the activities of wealthy nations, the study found. For instance, the large demand for products in the United States and Europe has caused biodiversity loss and deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.

“No matter where we live, our rights are inherently connected to those of people in other parts of the world,” Ormaza-Zulueta said.

The analysis was published in September 2025 in Environmental Research Communications.

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Photo by Ibama from Brasil

Billions live in environments that violate human rights.

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Deforestation in the Maranhão state of Brazil, July 2016

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Allergy Busters, Preserving Language and a Rare Dinosaur Tree

Anna Tolette — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:05:18 +0000

Allergy Busters, Preserving Language and a Rare Dinosaur Tree Anna Tolette Mon, 03/09/2026 - 15:05

UV Allergen Busters

CU �ֲ��ý researchers have discovered that low-intensity ultraviolet light can disable common airborne allergens such as pet dander, dust mites, mold and pollen. The light alters the structure of the allergen proteins so the immune system no longer recognizes them. Using 222-nanometer-wavelength UV lights in a controlled chamber, the team found that allergen immunorecognition dropped significantly within 30 to 40 minutes. Because allergens persist indoors long after their sources are gone, this approach could offer a simple, fast and portable way to reduce allergy and asthma triggers in indoor environments.

Preserving Language

CU researchers hope that digital tools will protect and revitalize Arapaho, a language native to the �ֲ��ý area. Andrew Cowell, CU �ֲ��ý linguistics professor and faculty director of the Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies, along with students, community partners and native Arapaho speakers, have created two online databases (one lexical, the other for in-depth text) to help these efforts. The free lexical database functions like a living dictionary with more than 20,000 entries, according to the Arts and Sciences magazine. The text database, not publicly released to avoid online exploitation, contains more than 100,000 sentences of spoken Arapaho, including natural conversations and stories recorded over decades.

Space Policy and Law

As space activity worldwide increases, CU will become a hub for connecting technical expertise with governance, highlighted by the creation of the Hatfield Endowed Professor in Space Policy & Law, which is held by Marcus Holzinger (PhDAeroEngr’11). Alongside the launch of the Colorado Space Policy Center, the university is fostering collaboration across academia, industry and government. These efforts aim to prepare students to apply technical knowledge to policy challenges and shape the future legal and regulatory frameworks for space exploration.

Campus Talk

“I can’t wait to lock arms, get to work, have some fun and build the future of Colorado Athletics.”

— Fernando Lovo, the new CU �ֲ��ý director of athletics, after being introduced Jan. 5, 2026. Lovo comes to CU from the University of New Mexico. His predecessor Rick George will step into an advisory role and serve as director of athletics emeritus on campus in June.

Digits

Dinosaur Tree

CU �ֲ��ý is home to one of the oldest and rarest trees in the world

2025

Year Judy (PE’76; MEdu’06) and Rod McKeever (ChemEngr’76) gifted CU a Wollemi pine

30th

Street location of the �ֲ��ý greenhouse where the pine, “Wally,” lives

1994

Year the Wollemi pine was rediscovered in Australia after it was previously thought to be extinct

91M

the pine fossil’s records date back, in years

200M

age of Wally’s plant family

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Photos by Patrick Campbell (researcher) and Rachel Sauer (wollemi pine)

News and research from the CU �ֲ��ý campus.

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CU �ֲ��ý's Jolly Rancher-Influenced Vaccine

Anna Tolette — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:02:41 +0000

CU �ֲ��ý's Jolly Rancher-Influenced Vaccine Anna Tolette Mon, 03/09/2026 - 15:02

Amber Carlson

Rabies remains a major public health threat — 60,000 people die annually — especially in developing countries where vaccines are in short supply and challenging to store. Current vaccines need to be kept refrigerated or frozen because the proteins in them start to degrade at warmer temperatures. When the proteins go bad, the shots become ineffective. For this reason, it’s been challenging to administer traditional rabies vaccines in regions that lack electricity or specialized cold storage equipment.

But CU �ֲ��ý researchers are looking to change that, thanks to recent innovations from the university’s chemical and biological engineering department, where scientists have discovered a new way to keep these shots viable at warmer temperatures and combine multiple timed-release doses into a single injection.

These new, temperature-stable shots don’t degrade in warmer environments and can be stored in bulk powder form until they’re ready to be used.

To make the vaccines, the research team sprays the vaccine proteins with a sugar solution that hardens to a candy-like texture. The candied particles then get a nanoscopic coating of aluminum oxide (the same chemical that makes up sapphire jewels) that protects the sugar-coated vaccine particles for days to weeks before dissolving in the patient’s body.

“We’re basically making sapphire-coated Jolly Ranchers that deliver vaccines,” said Ted Randolph (ChemEngr’83), CU �ֲ��ý professor and lead study author.

Rabies shots typically require three to five doses to be effective, so combining the doses into one shot is more efficient and cuts down on unnecessary health care visits.

Randolph believes the same process could also be used to create vaccines for other viruses, such as human papillomavirus (HPV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

To bring this technology to market, Randolph and Robert Garcea, professor emeritus in CU �ֲ��ý’s molecular, cellular and developmental biology department, formed the startup VitriVax. In October, the company announced it had raised $17.25 million in series B funding.

“It’s been 25 years of lots of talented grad students adding little bits and pieces to the puzzle,” Randolph said.

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Illustration by Ibrahim Rayintakath

New single-dose, temperature-stable rabies vaccines could expand global access.

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Art, Science and Polar Bears

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 18:32:16 +0000

Art, Science and Polar Bears Anna Tolette Mon, 11/10/2025 - 11:32

Lianna Nixon is an educator who blends science and art.

Julia MacLean

Lianna Nixon is an educator who blends science and art.

As a wildlife photographer and conservation storyteller, the Arctic is Lianna Nixon’s (Class’17; MEdu’21) second home. What began as a college expedition evolved into a career that blends art, science and education. From drifting on sea ice to counting polar bears, her adventures are as fascinating as they are meaningful.

Tell us about some of your Arctic adventures.

I first went to the Arctic in 2017 with Sea Legacy, a nonprofit organization run by two National Geographic photographers. Perhaps my most transformative Arctic photography and film experience was working on the MOSAiC Expedition (the Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) while at CU. I was able to create connections about the Arctic climate system we see today, the experiences of scientists and the prowess of intersectional storytelling through visceral art-science narratives. While out on the ice floe, we were also visited by quite a few polar bears!

What are some things you work on now in the Arctic?

Six to eight weeks out of the year, I guide on expeditions out of Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago, photographing arctic wildlife. It’s not just about posting on Instagram — it’s being able to create conversations and share the beauty, vulnerability and importance of this region. My work is taken further into the scope of science and conservation outreach to be used in citizen science projects that observe wildlife behavior and other communication needs.

What do you want people to take from your storytelling work?

My work focuses on applying new-age media, which includes photography, film, immersive 360-degree film and storytelling. When we humanize and bring different perspectives to abstract, difficult or polarizing topics, which is essentially the premise of climate science.

What motivated you to return to school for an education degree?

I always wanted to be a scientist, but my brain is programmed for art. That’s why I chose education — it’s a fantastic mediary space to bring those two together.

What are you doing when you aren’t in the Arctic?

I mainly do graphic design. My job has had to be very flexible with guiding, because I also hold my own BEAR Expedition a couple of weeks a year in Alaska, which allows people to view brown bears. The flexibility of my job is also due to the work of my husband, Casey VanCampenhout (Class’17), who is an F-15 fighter pilot. We’re stationed here in Vancouver, Washington. I’m also director of Tsé Bii’, a nonprofit which works with the Diné of the Navajo Nation located in Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park to bring sustainable off-grid electrical and water resources to their homes.

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Photo courtesy Lianna Nixon

Lianna Nixon turned her college Arctic expeditions into a career as a wildlife photographer and conservation storyteller.

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CU �ֲ���ý Research in Motion

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CU Botanist’s Notes on a Nightshade

Physalis heterophylla

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Physalis heterophylla Fruit

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The History of Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship at CU �ֲ���ý

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Force for Good

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CU Alum Takes An Affordable Approach to Indoor Farming

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CU Researchers Study Potential Links Between Hearing Loss and Dementia

Rewiring the Circuit

Can Hearing Aids Prevent Cognitive Decline?

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Cyborg Jellyfish at CU �ֲ���ý

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CU Research Finds Human Rights Under Threat

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Allergy Busters, Preserving Language and a Rare Dinosaur Tree

UV Allergen Busters

Preserving Language

Space Policy and Law

Campus Talk

Digits

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CU �ֲ���ý's Jolly Rancher-Influenced Vaccine

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Art, Science and Polar Bears

Tell us about some of your Arctic adventures.

What are some things you work on now in the Arctic?

What do you want people to take from your storytelling work?

What motivated you to return to school for an education degree?

What are you doing when you aren’t in the Arctic?

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CU �ֲ��ý Research in Motion

The History of Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship at CU �ֲ��ý

Cyborg Jellyfish at CU �ֲ��ý

CU �ֲ��ý's Jolly Rancher-Influenced Vaccine