Faculty News

A true trailblazer for whitebark pine “DIANA TOMBACK and her backpacking partner Pamela were sitting under a pine tree in Inyo National Forest in the early 1970s when Tomback saw something that would change her life. A black and gray bird with white wing patches landed on the tree and...

“Pining for whitebarks: researchers work across the Northwest to save 'quintessential wilderness trees” NWNews| by Courtney Flatt Published July 29, 2021 Dr. Diana Tomback, Professor with the CU Denver Dept. of Integrative Biology was interviewed this summer, along with several other researchers, botanists, and tree climbers about their efforts to...

Senior Instructor, Dr. Molly Neopkroeff, received a very nice recognition from a former student, graduate, and future Biology Graduate student, Tiffany Gentry: "Dr. Swallow, My name is Tiffany Gentry and I am a 2021 biology major graduate. The purpose of my email is to inform you of the outstanding teaching...

Brian Buma's explorations and research in southern Cape Horn were featured in National Geographic Magazine (June 2021 issue) with a full article, highlighting the finding and documentation of the world's southernmost forest and southernmost trees. These forests grow on the inhospitable island of Isla Hornos, one of the top 10...

Evolutionary biologist Sara Branco , PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Colorado Denver, received a nearly $800,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study metal tolerance in a plant-fungal mutualistic system. She will team up with researchers from the University of Florida...

From Dishwasher to Doctoral Student: Professor Charlie Ferguson Receives Alumni Award There will always be brainy bookworms and virtuoso valedictorians. But that was not Charlie Ferguson . “I was a really, really, really bad student,” he admits. “Neither one of my parents graduated from high school. There was no way...

Dr. Brian Buma The northeast Pacific coastal temperate rainforest in southeast Alaska can store more than 1,000 tons of carbon per hectare in biomass and soil. Across this region, glaciers are disappearing faster than most other places on the planet, and winter snowfall is turning into winter rain. “This is...

Dr. Brian Buma Climate Change Damaging North America’s Largest Temperate Rainforest, Harming Salmon New research released in Bioscience found that a remote region of North America’s largest temperate rainforest is experiencing changes to its ecosystem due to climate change. Brian Buma , a researcher and professor of integrative biology at...

Dr. Alan Brockway and family It is with great sadness that my colleagues and I report the passing last summer of Professor Emeritus Alan P. Brockway, Ph.D. at the age of 83. News of Alan’s passing came to us through his longtime Denver friends Everett and Margaret Perkins. Alan and...

“The daughter of two teachers, young Laurel Hartley looked forward to annual summer trips with her parents to national parks across the country. Those opportunities led her to CU Denver, where she is an associate professor in the Department of Integrative Biology, and co-director of the STEM Learning Assistants Program...