Science Notes

Providing information at the intersection of Science and Policy in Colorado


  • College First Years Today Are More Equipped to Tackle Environmental Challenges
  • College First Years Today Are More Equipped to Tackle Environmental Challenges

It’s now August 2022 and we have more insight into Colorado’s 8th (and newest) Congressional District ahead of November’s midterm elections…Read more

By Presley Church


  • A Quick View of CO’s Latest Toss Up

    A Quick View of CO’s Latest Toss Up

    It’s now August 2022 and we have more insight into Colorado’s 8th (and newest) Congressional District ahead of November’s midterm elections…

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  • Why Beetles Aren’t As Bad As You Think

    Why Beetles Aren’t As Bad As You Think

    By Melanie Thompson The most readily apparent and discussed relationship between climate change and wildfires is the weather. Climate change is creating a hotter, drier climate in Colorado, which in turn leads to more wildfires…

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  • The Wide Reaching Impacts of Smoke

    The Wide Reaching Impacts of Smoke

    (By Christine Wiedinmyer) For those of us on the Colorado Front Range, fires have been forefront in our minds this winter and spring – including the red flag days, to the devastating Marshall Fire that will be impacting our community for months and years to come…

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  • The 37E Fire and the New Normal

    The 37E Fire and the New Normal

    (By Dave Newport) Ironically, I was at home on a Zoom call with Colorado Local Science Engagement Network (CO LSEN) lead (& ENVS Chair & Professor) Max Boycoff and CU Boulder Chief Sustainability Officer Heidi VanGenderan talking about carbon offsets…

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  • How Humans Are Changing Colorado’s Fire Season

    How Humans Are Changing Colorado’s Fire Season

    (By Melanie Thompson) Wildfire is a natural, beneficial part of the carbon cycle in Colorado. In the midst of recent destruction and fire scares it’s important to remember this. Historically, wildfire has supported the biodiversity and the resiliency…

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  • Why Electric Vehicles aren’t just Moving Emissions Upstream

    Why Electric Vehicles aren’t just Moving Emissions Upstream

    April 18, 2022 By Melanie Thompson The idea for this week’s science note came as I was browsing the comments of an article about Colorado’s Clean Truck Strategy in the Denver Post. It was exciting to read that a draft of the clean truck strategy had been released, accompanied by the news that Eco-cycle unveiled…

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  • Colorado’s Non- Fiction Lorax Tale

    Colorado’s Non- Fiction Lorax Tale

    By Presley Church August 10, 2021 When we think of regulation of the natural world we think of policy that limits who has access to which resources and how much they are allowed to alter that land, right? That’s where rights of nature organizations are coming in, changing the way we look at land regulation…

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  • Reflections on Science-Informed Decision-Making and CO-LSEN Panel

    Reflections on Science-Informed Decision-Making and CO-LSEN Panel

    By Christina C. Willis August 2, 2021 In August of 2020, I was a fresh transplant to Boulder from Washington, DC. I was excited to see old grad school friends who lived in the area, and we met up for a pandemic-friendly picnic. As we sat in the grass on our respective blankets (carefully spaced…

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  • What Are We Doing About Ozone on the Front Range

    What Are We Doing About Ozone on the Front Range

    By Presley Church July 20, 2021 By now you may have seen the infamous “brown cloud” that sits over the Front Range during Colorado’s hot and sunny summer months- a visible reminder of the severity of Colorado’s poor air quality. Recently, Denver – the largest Front Range city – earned the notorious distinction of being…

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  • Colorado Towns Take Action to Save our Skies

    Colorado Towns Take Action to Save our Skies

    By David Oonk July 12, 2021 The word pollution may trigger images of soot-emitting factories, high areas of congestion on highways, plastic bottles and litter, and chemical spills into our waterways. More unlikely, however, is to immediately associate light as a source of pollution. But light pollution is indeed a form of contamination, and one…

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  • Amid Historic Heat, A Climate Scientist’s Mountain Love Story (Commentary)

    Amid Historic Heat, A Climate Scientist’s Mountain Love Story (Commentary)

    By Heidi Steltzer July 5, 2021 Amid the record heatwaves hitting North America, no community is being spared, whether they are coastal, interior, floodplain or montane. A lead author on the High Mountain Areas part of a recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report shares a love story for these high places that are,…

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  • Colorado 2021 Legislative Session

    Colorado 2021 Legislative Session

    Climate, Technology, & Environmental Bills — What Passed and What Didn’t? By David Oonk June 23, 2021 Lawmakers passed numerous climate, environment, and technology bills this legislation designed to protect our state’s lands and people. Photo by Sheelah Brennan on Unsplash The 2021 legislative session in Colorado officially came to a close on June 12,…

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