E-Nouncements - April 2025

Denver Botanic Gardens | Manager of Conservation Programs

Ph.D., University of Colorado Denver - Integrative and Systems Biology
M.S., University of Colorado Denver and Health Science Center - Biology
B.A., Macalester College - Environmental Studies; Core: Biology

Date: April 11th
Time: 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Location: Denver Campus – North Classroom, Room 3207

Counting for conservation: why we need trend data and the role of Botanic Gardens in global biodiversity conservation.

We, as a Botanic Garden, work with many public and private partners to conserve and restore rare plant species and native plant communities. I will describe our role in local and global efforts to prevent extinctions and to monitor the effectiveness of conservation actions. Our technical and scientific innovations include using drones to monitor plants on fragile soils and applying statistical models typically aimed at animal studies. I will explain the many uses of our demographic and trend data.

April 18th: My-Lan Le M.S. Defense - More information to come!

April 25th: Audrey Spencer Ph.D. Defense - More information to come!

Congratulations to the 2025 Spring Integrative Biology Student Excellence Award recipients! The Department recognizes outstanding graduate and undergraduate students for their accomplishments in teaching or research. Teaching can include any formal teaching-related activities (e.g., teaching assistants, learning assistants, tutors, supplemental instructors, etc.). Research can include scholarly activities that make an original, intellectual, or creative contribution to the biology discipline (including the scholarship of biology teaching and learning). Each student is awarded $300 and their names are added to the awards plaque on the 4th floor. 

Graduate Student Excellence in Research Award:

Audrey Spencer in Dr. Leo Bruederle's lab

Graduate Student Excellence in Teaching Award:

Joseph Tucker of Dr. Alan Vajda's lab

Ryan Jones of Dr. Paula Cushing's lab

Undergraduate Student Excellence in Research Award:

Fahiima Abdullahi at CU Anschutz

Faiz Minhajuddin at CU Anschutz

Congratulations to Ph.D. student Fayelynn Scheideman on her publication in Frontiers in Conservation Science alongside advisors Dr. Stefan Ekernas and Dr. John Swallow! Click here to read her paper, Genetic viability of small American bison (Bison bison) populations a century after reintroduction.

As previously announced, M.S. student Summer Merrell from Dr. Diana Tomback's lab presented her work on their paper "Dining With Wolves: Are the Rewards Worth the Risks?"  at the Front Range Student Ecology Symposium. The paper was officially published in PLOS One on March 24th. 

UCD's annual Research and Creative Activities Symposium (RaCAS) is April 25th!

There are several workshops scheduled this month to help students prepare:

April 2 - How to RaCAS: Everything You Need to Know

April 3 - Intro to Presenting: Preparing Your Projects

April 9 - Advanced Poster Prep: Consider Your Audience

April 16 - Communicating Your Project: Perfecting Your Pitch

April 23 - Undergraduate Research Discussions: Getting RaCAS Ready

There are also weekly virtual and in-person preps sessions. See the RaCAS website for more details!

Dr. Ragland and former UCD post-doc James DeMayo have co-authored a new paper, (Limited) Predictability of thermal adaptation in invertebrates, which was published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

Alongside other researchers at UCD, Dr. Roane has published a new paper, Wayfinding, knowledge, perspective, and engagement: Preparing tribal liaisons for stewardship of Indigenous lands, in the journal Ecosphere; An ESA Open Access Journal.

Thanks to generous funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Ecological Forecasting Initiative (EFI) will be able to continue work to ensure equitable pathways to earth and environmental data science graduate programs through collaborations with Tribal Colleges & Universities, Minority Serving Institutions, research universities, and professional organizations. This new funding will help EFI expand collaborations started with previous seed funding.  

This initiative will develop and pilot three new environmental data science modules to enable a dignity-affirming introduction to data, computing, and STEM; translate seven developed modules from the classroom to permanently archive online repositories for wider access; and develop and deliver at least six in-person environmental data science workshops, among other goals

With Dr. Timberley Roane, grant collaborators include

Cal Poly Humboldt: Nievita Bueno Watts, Rachel Torres

Salish Kootenai College: Georgia Smies, Jeniffer LaCounte

University of Minnesota: Melissa Kenney, Diana Dalbotten, Dan Keefe, Sean Dorr

University of New Mexico, Gallup: Antoinette Abeyta, Chad Smith

University of Notre Dame: Jason McLachlan, Jody Peters

Dr. Diana Tomback presented a pre-recorded invited talk and Q&A at the 4-day online Yellowstone Summit on February 20th. 

In her talk, entitled "Clark's Nutcrackers and Whitebark Pine in Yellowstone National Park: Maintaining an Iconic Mutualism", Dr. Tomback presented key background information,  as well as some results from her lab's 6 years of research on this interaction in Yellowstone, including the work of CU Denver grad students Tommy McLaren and Karina Li.

This event is a fund-raiser put on by two key non-profits: Yellowstone Life and Yellowstone Foreve

CU Denver's 2024 Budget Model Revision Project launched in April 2024 to review the budget model CU Denver has had for the past seven years. The Budget Allocation Review Committee will hold a Spring 2025 Learning Session virtually on Zoom on April 3, 2025, from 2:00-3:00pm. This event is available to CU Denver faculty and staff. Click the link above for more information on registration.

Join us on April 8th from 4:00pm  - 6:00pm for the Auraria Campus Mix & Mingle, a vibrant networking event in celebration of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month. This special gathering brings together students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community professionals for an evening of connection, career insight, and cultural celebration. Click the link above for more information and registration.

Giving and Receiving Effective Feedback

Boost performance, satisfaction, and teamwork through better feedback skills! CU Denver Staff Council and the CU Anschutz Learning and Development Team are hosting this virtual workshop from 11:00am - 12:15pm on April 10th. Open to all faculty, staff, and students. Click the link above to register. 

Are you feeling anxious about how to move forward with our commitment to justice, equity, and inclusion in the context of the federal transition? Do you want to develop practical tools to combat misinformation and create real change?

The CLAS Council on Access and Community Engagement (ACE) is partnering with Christina Dawkins, founder of A4Abolitionist and A4Academy (https://www.a4abolitionist.com/about), on a three-part programming opportunity for faculty and staff interested in supporting our core values in concrete ways. This work is more important than ever in our current moment.

April 10, 2025, 3-4:30pm: Christina Dawkins will be on campus to lead a hybrid workshop, “Meeting the Moment with a Social Justice Mindset”

April – September 2025: Faculty and staff will undertake self-paced learning through Christina’s online program, “The Storied JEDI” (https://www.a4abolitionist.com/a4academy). The program emphasizes the importance of storytelling in JEDI (justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion) work and consists of 14 on-demand videos that involve just 20 minutes per session. A certificate is available upon completion.

October 2025: Christina Dawkins will lead a hybrid debrief workshop

We would love for you to engage with all the events. The April workshop will set the stage for the online course and help create a community around the Storied JEDI project. However, we understand some of you will only be able to participate in one or another. Please use this form below to sign up! 

*This program is funded by a CU Denver Inclusive Excellence Grant.

The Office of Equity will offer a series of sessions during the spring aimed at enhancing understanding of institutional policies, legal obligations, and personal responsibilities. These sessions will also focus on building skills to identify behaviors, apply intervention strategies, and foster a culture of respect.

This month: Session 2 - Responding to Disclosures as a Responsible Employee

Date: Thursday April 10th

Time: 11:30am - 1:00pm

Location: Virtual (Zoom ID 994 1979 6120)

Come to this open-forum workshop with all your digital accessibility questions and work one-on-one with a TIPS team member to remediate content in your courses.

Wednesday, Apr 16, 9:30 a.m.-10 a.m. Understand what Alt Text (alternative text) is how to add it in Word & PowerPoint. (Click HERE to register.)

Wednesday, Apr 23, 9:30 a.m.-10 a.m. Understand what Alt Text (alternative text) is and how to add it in Canvas. (Click HERE to register.)

Need a fresh, professional headshot?

CU Denver CLAS is offering free faculty and staff headshots.

When: Wednesday, April 16th | 3:00-5:00pm

Where: Student Commons Building's, Spear Gallery

Spots are limited—RSVP now to secure your session!

More dates and times will be announced soon!

The Department of Anthropology is hosting two Career Roundtable sessions! Join us for advice and tips from professionals who have learned to effectively package their skills and training to get jobs in their chosen careers! 

Thursday, Apr 17, 6:30pm - 8:30pm North Classroom Room 1204 -This roundtable will feature professionals from museums, consulting firms, Cultural Resource Management firms, and the National Park Service. (Click this link for more information and registration.)

Thursday, Apr 17, 6:30pm - 8:30pm North Classroom 1202 - This roundtable will feature professionals in public health, government agencies, evaluation, nonprofits, and higher education. (Click this link for more information and registration.)

Friday, Apr 18, Noon-2 p.m.

Elevating Your Research Profile: This final session walks participants through a series of steps they can undertake to elevate the profile of their research. This session also includes a guest speaker from University Communications with activities to practice communicating your work to a variety of media outlets.

To register for any workshops, click here. You will receive a calendar invitation with a Zoom link.

The Office of Equity will offer a series of sessions during the spring aimed at enhancing understanding of institutional policies, legal obligations, and personal responsibilities. These sessions will also focus on building skills to identify behaviors, apply intervention strategies, and foster a culture of respect.

This month: Session 3 - Consent on Campus - Understanding University Policy

Date: Tuesday, April 29th

Time: 12:30pm - 2:00pm

Location: Hybrid - ACAD 4018 or Zoom ID 956 4793 7716