Buff Innovator Insights

Dr. John Crimaldi – Odor2Action; Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering

In this episode, we’ll meet Dr. John Crimaldi, a professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering. We’ll learn about his early fascination with sailing and how it set the course for his lifelong interest in fluid mechanics. As the Network Lead for the ambitious Odor2Action project, he also tells us about this international network working to understand how brains organize and process information from odors to guide behaviors.

Heather Reed & Pete Withnell­ – Emirates Mars Mission; Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics

Currently in orbit, the Emirates Mars Mission Hope spacecraft will spend two years gathering crucial science data on the planet's weather and climate systems. In this episode, we’ll learn from engineering and management team members–and married dynamic duo–Heather Reed and Pete Withnell about the extraordinary international collaboration that made this mission possible and more terrestrial effects of the mission on their family.

This episode features Dr. Noah Fierer, a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and director of the Center for Microbial Exploration at CU Boulder. We’ll learn about his natural curiosity for learning, and his unexpected and enduring passion for...SOIL! And he gives us a glimpse into the hidden world of microbes, the functions they serve, and how his research aims to help us understand and improve the health of our environment and ourselves.

This episode features Dr. Christine Lv, associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and CU Boulder Campus Director for “ASPIRE,” a new NSF center that is exploring transportation challenges facing our world today. In addition to learning about the work of the new center, we’ll hear about Dr. Lv’s journey from China to Princeton and eventually to CU Boulder, where her interdisciplinary research intersects with domains such as Earth sciences, transportation electrification and sustainability.

This episode features Dr. Cora Randall, professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, and a faculty member in the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, or LASP. We’ll follow her journey from earning her PhD in chemistry to working on the Hubble Space Telescope and, now, to leading a new NASA DRIVE center working at the leading edge of next-generation space weather prediction.

In this episode, we meet Dr. Rabaka, Professor of African, African American, and Caribbean Studies in the Department of Ethnic Studies, and inaugural Director of the Center for African and African American Studies. Dr. Rabaka describes the mix of church, poverty, family and jazz that shaped his early years; the combination of mentors and educational opportunities led him to CU Boulder; and his vision for CU Boulder’s Center for African and African American Studies. 

In this episode of Buff Innovator Insights, we meet Dr. Balch, associate professor of geography and director of Earth Lab­–a project at CU Boulder and CIRES. We’ll learn about how her work in places like Kenya and Amazon rainforests shaped her interests in the relationships between fire, Earth systems and people, and how she’s working to transform data into insights to help solve some of the world’s most challenging problems.

In this episode of Buff Innovator Insights, we meet Dr. Sidney D’Mello, Associate Professor at the Institute of Cognitive Science and the Department of Computer Science at CU Boulder. Dr. D’Mello describes how his unique combination of education and research experiences led to his leading-edge work at the Institute for Student-AI Teaming, which is reimagining the role of artificial intelligence in the classroom to better serve both students and teachers. 

In this episode of Buff Innovator Insights, we meet Dr. Jennifer Ho, professor in the department of Ethnic Studies and the director of the Center for Humanities and the Arts. Dr. Ho tells us about how growing up in an Asian-American family, along with more recent societal and personal transformations, has influenced her scholarship and emboldened her efforts to end racism.

In this episode of Buff Innovator Insights, we meet Dr. Evan Thomas, a professor of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering and Aerospace Engineering Sciences, and Director of the Mortenson Center in Global Engineering. Dr. Thomas shares how his family’s interests in journalism, engineering and entrepreneurship, as well as his experiences with Engineering Without Borders, inspired him to tackle global poverty through his work and teaching.

In this episode of Buff Innovator Insights, we meet Dr. Lori Peek, Professor of Sociology, Faculty Associate at the Institute of Behavioral Science and Director of the Natural Hazards Center. We’ll learn about her formative years in small-town Kansas, how her research helping us learn from disasters like Hurricane Katrina the COVID-19 pandemic, and her love for teaching and mentoring students.

In this episode of Buff Innovator Insights, we meet Dr. Jun Ye, Fellow of NIST and JILA, and Professor Adjoint of Physics at JILA and CU Boulder. We’ll talk with Dr. Ye about his formative years in China, his transformation into a leading researcher in the US, and how his work is helping to realize the vast potential of quantum science and technology.

In the first episode of Buff Innovator Insights, we meet Dr. Margaret Murnane, CU Boulder professor of physics and one of the world’s leading experts in ultrafast laser and x-ray science. Join us to learn about her improbable journey from growing up in the Irish countryside to developing the microscopes of the future and cultivating the world’s next generation of physicists.