faculty

A Conversation with SPIKE Faculty Fellow Professor Andrews

Talisa Lin — Thu, 24 Sep 2026 21:51:58 +0000

A Conversation with SPIKE Faculty Fellow Professor Andrews Talisa Lin Thu, 24 Sep 2026 - 15:51

Grace Garfoot

The SPIKE Center is excited to introduce a new series: SPIKE Faculty Fellow Spotlights. Over the course of the year, we will sit down with our Faculty Fellows invested in this year’s theme of information integrity to discuss their ongoing research and efforts, both in and out of the classroom.

Our first Faculty Fellow in the series is Professor Thomas G. Andrews. He is a Professor of History and Director of the Center for the American West. A specialist in environmental and social history in Colorado and the West, Andrews has been at CU �Ǹ�Թ� since 2011. As a returning SPIKE Faculty Fellow, he is invested in integrating sustainability into his classrooms.

“Sustainability education is so critically important and I wanted to be involved in it because it helps give me hope,” said Dr. Andrews. “CU �Ǹ�Թ� can help educate undergraduates and graduate students, as well as the broader communities, about sustainability. It’s just so necessary for finding a way forward that can, hopefully, steer us clear of some of the existential threats that we’re steamrolling right towards.”

Since becoming a SPIKE Faculty Fellow last year, Dr. Andrews has been exposed to both resources and fellow professors who share his passion for sustainability. “It was cool to be around such smart, interesting people who had pretty similar values and commitments and were dedicated towards the same overall goal,” he said. “We [professors] have to learn things like this [information integrity] for us to be able to pass them down and impart them to students. It’s a key part of what we always need to be educating ourselves on and why.”

Raised in �Ǹ�Թ� by a librarian and a geologist, Dr. Andrews has been asking questions about the world around him since he was little, a trait that undoubtedly drew him to teaching and environmental history. Though sustainability takes many different forms in his classes and life, Dr. Andrews makes a point to always include it in virtually every course he teaches.

In addition to participating in the SPIKE Center’s training for fifty faculty from across campus last May, he also made a point to share many of the resources he learned during his previous fellowship at SPIKE with his students.

As a professor with more than twenty years of experience, Dr. Andrews has been in the classroom for many transitional periods, the latest one being the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into our lives and classrooms. As a sustainability fellow and a long-term professor, his opinions on AI are mixed.

“AI is big and transformative and fast-moving. I feel like I have really struggled to find a coherent take on it all,” Andrews said. “I have a lot of doubts and fears about the whole enterprise, one of which being about where it’s pointing us. I’m kind of old school and it's much easier for me to see it leading the planet into some really dark places rather than to a just and sustainable future.”

The cover of Dr. Andrews' new book, The Great Horse Flu: A Forgotten Contagion and the Fate of Reconstruction America.

In addition to teaching his various courses at CU, Dr. Andrews is publishing a book this fall: The Great Horse Flu: A Forgotten Contagion and the Fate of Reconstruction America. In his book, Dr. Andrews discusses the 1872–1873 equine influenza outbreak and its impact on the United States during a time of extreme reliance on equine labor. The equine malady, which focused primarily on horses, donkeys, and mules, paralyzed the economy and upended everyday life. This animal disease event forced many Americans to adapt in ways that they did not think possible.

“The book ends up using this unexpected lens of a huge animal contagion to try to better understand human society in the US during this time period,” said Andrews. “A lot of the concerns in the book are really rooted in the things I saw happening during COVID. Some chapters are less about the outbreak itself and more on what the outbreak helps us see, which were inspired by my efforts to understand what the relationship was between the George Floyd protests and the calls for racial justice that came to head in the summer of 2020.” His book will be released by the University of North Carolina Press on October 6th, 2026.

The Great Horse Flu reflects the crossroads between the first two themes of the SPIKE Faculty Fellows. Andrews appreciated and enjoyed the 2025/2026 SPIKE faculty fellowship on environmental justice last spring, expressing his enthusiasm in his teaching. “What I really appreciated about last year’s work was that there were a lot of faculty who shared my interest in environmental justice and my concerns about the limitations of thinking about sustainability without attending to issues of justice and equality,” he said. “There’s always a danger of sustainability becoming a technocratic type of approach that’s removed from social and political struggle, so I really enjoyed getting to meet a lot of other faculty who have different expertise than I do in environmental justice. I enjoyed being able to deepen our understanding and interest in that approach to sustainability.”

The fellowship had a lasting impact on him, so much so that he decided to apply again this year with the new focus: information integrity. His book resonates with these critical sustainability skills: reflecting on the intertwined role of social, economic, and ecological relations, as well as the need to do diligent research and apply critical scrutiny of a wide range of sources to uncover root causes and impacts of crises.

Professor Andrews is an extraordinary example of SPIKE Center’s Faculty Fellows. His teaching, writing, and research relating to sustainability demonstrate how faculty and the SPIKE Center are working together to educate more students, faculty and the broader CU-�Ǹ�Թ� community about sustainability–both in the classroom and beyond.

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CU �Ǹ�Թ� bringing sustainability expertise from American West to Climate Week NYC

Talisa Lin — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 19:14:35 +0000

CU �Ǹ�Թ� bringing sustainability expertise from American West to Climate Week NYC Talisa Lin Thu, 17 Sep 2026 - 13:14

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SPIKE Center Sustainability Curriculum Ambassadors collaborate to expand upon sustainability curriculum at CU �Ǹ�Թ�

Talisa Lin — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 15:25:04 +0000

SPIKE Center Sustainability Curriculum Ambassadors collaborate to expand upon sustainability curriculum at CU �Ǹ�Թ� Talisa Lin Mon, 24 Aug 2026 - 09:25

The SPIKE Center for Sustainability Education is pleased to announce the new cohort of SPIKE Curriculum Ambassadors (SCAs) for the 2026-27 academic year, a Dean-nominated cohort of 20 faculty representing all the colleges, schools, and divisions on campus.

The SCAs will be integral in expanding and developing curriculum to advance CU �Ǹ�Թ�’s sustainability education and increase the success of students in obtaining employment in sustainability careers. This is done with the forthcoming Common Curriculum in mind.

SCA responsibilities include revising and updating sustainability curriculum already in place, as well as creating additional minors, courses, course elements, certificates, and micro credentials. This may also include informal education, such as collaborating with student organizations, external partners and employers, and other non-academic units to create workshops, seminars, and other public events to increase the presence of CU �Ǹ�Թ� in the sustainability education space. As the power to develop curriculum resides in the faculty, the SCAs will develop sustainability curriculum and lead curricular efforts as ambassadors of their respective colleges/schools/divisions.

AY2627 SPIKE Curriculum Ambassadors

The 2026/2027 academic year SPIKE Curriculum Ambassadors include:

Katie O'Harra: College of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Alaa Ahmed: College of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Kurt Maute: College of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Carlos Salvinelli: College of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Amanda Carrico: A&S: Natural Science Division

Lisa Corwin: A&S: Natural Science Division

Jennifer Fluri: A&S: Natural Science Division

Aneesh Subramanian: A&S: Natural Science Division

Shemin Ge: A&S: Natural Science Division

Seema Sohi: A&S: Social Sciences Division

Steve Vanderheiden: A&S: Social Sciences Division

Jen Bone: Leeds School of Business

David Drake: Leeds School of Business

Kristi Ryujin: Leeds School of Business

Kevin Rich: A&S: Arts & Humanities Division

Jota Samper: College of Communication, Media, Design & Information

Hong Vu: College of Communication, Media, Design & Information

Sarah Matsumoto: Law School

Emily Gee: School of Music

Enrique Lopez: School of Education

Together, these faculty represent a wide range of disciplines and perspectives, demonstrating the SPIKE Center’s commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration and inclusive approaches to sustainability education at CU �Ǹ�Թ�.

For more information on SPIKE Curriculum Ambassadors, please visit: /center/spike/spike-curriculum-ambassadors

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The SPIKE Center for Sustainability Education Faculty Fellows Focus on Information Integrity

Talisa Lin — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 21:01:50 +0000

The SPIKE Center for Sustainability Education Faculty Fellows Focus on Information Integrity Talisa Lin Thu, 6 Aug 2026 - 15:01

After a successful launch in Spring 2026, the SPIKE Center for Sustainability Education Faculty Fellows program welcomes 15 faculty members to form a new cohort this academic year.

The SPIKE Faculty Fellows continue to build a cross-campus network of faculty committed to integrating sustainability into our educational mission, while providing critical faculty perspective to broader university initiatives connected to sustainability education focused on our past, present, and future. (Note, this is not curriculum work, which is advanced through a separate yet coordinated SPIKE Curriculum Ambassadors program.)

These faculty members have been selected from a competitive pool as SPIKE Faculty Fellows for this 2026-2027 academic year, galvanizing a conversation and network to address transformational learning on information integrity. This theme includes research on climate change and environmental relations that intersect with building societal trust, fostering healthy public spheres of engagement, mis-/disinformation campaigns, pedagogical challenges created by “artificial intelligence,” and transparency of data.

"In these dynamic times, we are centering and upholding information integrity as a cornerstone of sustainability education. The work of these expert SPIKE Faculty Fellows will bolster CU �Ǹ�Թ�’s commitments to function as a leading hub for sustainability and to serve the students attending CU �Ǹ�Թ�”, says SPIKE Center Faculty Executive Director Max Boykoff.

Once again, the fellows will collectively prepare and deliver an annual Sustainability Across the Curriculum training for CU �Ǹ�Թ� faculty, including a digital toolbox with local, state, and global resources for sustainability pedagogy. This year, we also aim to co-create and publish a coauthored project related to information integrity and sustainability education.

AY26-27 SPIKE Faculty Fellows

The SPIKE Faculty Fellows include leading experts in information, from historical and natural archives to contemporary digital data. Pedagogical and research expertise includes a range of epistemologies or ways of knowing how to best to discern sustainable and unsustainable ecological, economic, and equitable relations.

The new cohort of faculty fellows focused on information integrity includes:

Thomas Andrews, Director of the Center for American West, Professor, History, Arts & Humanities Division of the College of Arts and Sciences

Jed Brown, Associate Professor, Computer Science, College of Engineering and Applied Science

Clint Carroll, Director of the Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies, Associate Professor, Ethnic Studies, Division of Social Sciences of the College of Arts and Sciences

Jolene Fisher, Associate Professor, Advertising, Public Relations, and Design, College of Communication, Media, Design & Information

Joshua Herrington, Business Research & Instruction Librarian, University Libraries

José Izaguirre, Associate Professor, Communication, College of Communication, Media, Design & Information

Brian C. Keegan, Associate Professor, Information Science, College of Communication, Media, Design & Information

Cresten Mansfeldt, Assistant Professor, Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Science

Zannah Mae Matson, Assistant Professor, Environmental Design, College of Communication, Media, Design & Information

Rebecca Safran, Distinguished Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Division of Natural Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences

Cosetta Seno, Associate Professor, Italian, Division of Arts & Humanities in the College of Arts and Sciences

Nancy J. Stevens, Institute Director of the Natural History Museum & Professor, Anthropology, Division of Social Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences

Angel Y. Tang, Assistant Professor, Science & Engineering Librarian, University Libraries

Meghan Van Portfliet, Assistant Teaching Professor, Leeds School of Business

Hong Tien Vu, Director of the Center for Environmental Journalism and Professor, Journalism, College of Communication, Media, Design & Information

Together, these faculty leaders represent a wide range of disciplines, ranks, and perspectives, underscoring the SPIKE Center’s commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration and inclusive approaches to sustainability education at CU �Ǹ�Թ�.

For more information on various ways faculty may play a role in the SPIKE Center for Sustainability Education from fellows to affiliates, please see: /center/spike/faculty.

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"Climate Wayfinding: Healing Ourselves and the Planet We Call Home" author Dr. Katharine Wilkinson joined Dr. Max Boykoff in conversation

Talisa Lin — Tue, 26 May 2026 16:48:15 +0000

"Climate Wayfinding: Healing Ourselves and the Planet We Call Home" author Dr. Katharine Wilkinson joined Dr. Max Boykoff in conversation Talisa Lin Tue, 26 May 2026 - 10:48

On May 14, Dr. Katharine Wilkinson joined CU professor Dr. Max Boykoff to talk about her recently published book Climate Wayfinding: Healing Ourselves and the Planet We Call Home. This book includes personal essays, interwoven with the wisdom of other climate leaders and the beauty of poetry, art, and song. It is a book to sit with and savor, as it invites engagement with journaling prompts, practical exercises, and guides for conversation. In that spirit, CU �Ǹ�Թ� students in attendence were provided a free copy for a planned summer book club led by the Environmental Center.

Dr. Wilkinson with Spike Buckley, CU alumnus and founder of the SPIKE Center for Sustainability Education.

This event was co-sponsored by the CU �Ǹ�Թ� Office of the Vice Chancellor for Sustainability, the CU �Ǹ�Թ� Sustainability Research Initiative, the Spike Center for Sustainability Education, and the CU �Ǹ�Թ� Environmental Center. The conversation took place in the British and Irish Studies room in Norlin Library with about 50 people in attendance.

Twenty years earlier, Max advised Katharine as she earned a DPhil in geography and environment from the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. Seven years ago, Time magazine named her one of fifteen “Women Who Will Save the World.” In addition to this new book, Katharine has co-authored the bestselling anthology All We Can Save, and the New York Times bestseller Drawdown. Dr. Wilkinson co-founded and leads The All We Can Save Project, where she shaped the much-beloved programs All We Can Save Circles and Climate Wayfinding. She also co-hosts the podcast A Matter of Degrees and writes the newsletter Human on Earth. Previously, Dr. Wilkinson was the principal writer and editor-in-chief at Project Drawdown. Before her work at the University of Oxford, Katharine earned a BA in religion from Sewanee: The University of the South.

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Register for global youth climate summit co-hosted by CU �Ǹ�Թ� on June 5

Talisa Lin — Wed, 20 May 2026 17:34:00 +0000

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CU �Ǹ�Թ� Student Comedians to Take Climate Humor from Local Earth Day Celebration to Hollywood Climate Summit

Toby Murdock — Thu, 14 May 2026 17:35:01 +0000

CU �Ǹ�Թ� Student Comedians to Take Climate Humor from Local Earth Day Celebration to Hollywood Climate Summit Toby Murdock Thu, 14 May 2026 - 11:35

BOULDER, Colo. (May 14, 2026) — Sam Nelson, Liam Connelly, Chloe Hull, and Koyote Manske from the �Ǹ�Թ�'s Creative Climate Communication course are taking their unique brand of environmental humor to the national stage, representing the university at the upcoming ‘Scorched’ Climate Comedy show to close the events on June 4 at the Hollywood Climate Summit.

The student comedy group, recognized for their performances at the 11th annual "Earth Day Eve: Stand Up for Climate Comedy" event at the historic �Ǹ�Թ� Theater, will bring their sharp wit and compelling storytelling to Los Angeles. Hosted in collaboration with the Hip Hop Caucus and Inside the Greenhouse, the Hollywood Climate Summit closing event will highlight rising voices alongside established professional comedians such as Reggie Watts and Esteban Gast, emphasizing the power of humor in addressing the climate crisis.

During the local Earth Day Eve celebration in �Ǹ�Թ�, the students shared the stage with headlining professional comedians, delivering stand-up sets and sketches that tackled climate anxiety, sustainability, and environmental action. Their standout performances paved the way for their upcoming participation at the Los Angeles Hollywood Climate Summit, where they will perform original material for a diverse audience of climate justice advocates, industry professionals, and comedy fans. Want to check it out? Enjoy two days of hands-on programming, meaningful networking, and plant-based eats in Los Angeles (and free online via livestream) on June 3 and 4. Use our partner code HCSFAM 50% off your ticket! Grab yours at hollywoodclimatesummit.com/tickets

Max Boykoff, Faculty Executive Director of the SPIKE Center for Sustainability Education at CU �Ǹ�Թ�, praised the students for their innovative approach to environmental advocacy.

"Humor is an incredibly powerful tool for breaking down barriers and making the complex realities of climate change accessible to everyday people," said Boykoff. "Seeing our students take the material they developed for our Earth Day Eve event and perform it on a prominent stage at the Hollywood Climate Summit is a testament to the impact of creative climate communication. They aren't just making people laugh; they are sparking meaningful dialogue and inspiring real climate action."

The SPIKE Center for Sustainability Education, which hosted the CU �Ǹ�Թ� event, continues to champion the integration of arts and sciences to mobilize communities. By utilizing humor as an engaging storytelling tool, these student performers are helping to break down complex ecological issues, proving that the fight for a sustainable future can be both impactful and entertaining.

Photo Credit: Ben Hale/PrettyGoodPics

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Max Boykoff talks SPIKE Center on eTown

Toby Murdock — Wed, 06 May 2026 15:54:36 +0000

Max Boykoff talks SPIKE Center on eTown Toby Murdock Wed, 6 May 2026 - 09:54

On May 6 eTown broadcast an episode that featured SPIKE Executive Director Max Boykoff talking about climate communication and the SPIKE Center for Sustainability Education. Please click the link above to listen to Max's interview on YouTube.

"Young people nowadays aren't like my generation that had grown up in a world now thinking and talking about [climate change]," said Max. "Young people are ready to go."

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The SPIKE Center for Sustainability Education, almost one year in

Toby Murdock — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 19:28:26 +0000

The SPIKE Center for Sustainability Education, almost one year in Toby Murdock Mon, 27 Apr 2026 - 13:28

The SPIKE Center for Sustainability Education was launched in fall 2025 after a $10 million gift from Buff alumnus Spike Buckley, which was given in response to Chancellor Justin Schwartz’s identification of sustainability as a campus priority. Since its inception, the center has grown into an accelerator for sustainability education and leadership on campus.

The Provost’s Post recently spoke with the Faculty Executive Director for the SPIKE Center for Sustainability Education Max Boykoff, who is also a fellow with the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and a professor in the Department of Environmental Studies, about what the SPIKE Center has been working on during its first academic year and what the next year will bring.

An academic year in, how has SPIKE Center developed and/or evolved compared to how it was first envisioned?

This transformative gift from Spike Buckley provides an opportunity for us at CU �Ǹ�Թ� to come together as a globally recognized sustainability-related education destination for students preparing for careers that help to navigate their lives and livelihoods in the 21st century world. This is our moment to move forward as we build on many key initiatives developed over the past decades by CU �Ǹ�Թ� faculty and administrative leadership. We have been evolving our plans as our outstanding and capable SPIKE Center team integrates lessons learned from these past efforts while we move forward.

We have benefited from many conversations with students, staff, faculty and administrative leaders this academic year to align SPIKE Center priorities with demands, needs and aspirations here on campus regarding sustainability pedagogy and education in the next few years. We have therefore developed concrete plans to support the faculty creation of a sustainability minor for students to begin enrolling in fall 2027. The details are yet to be developed—and will require ongoing engagement with connected divisions, schools, colleges, centers and everyone in them—yet the larger goal and timeline have come into focus through our iterative strategic planning process over the past six months.

Our ambitions have risen as we have worked to better understand our great capabilities and appetite for transformative sustainability education on this campus in these times. We recognize that this is uniquely possible here and that many members of our campus community are ready for us all to move forward with planning to reach every student at CU �Ǹ�Թ� with meaningful sustainability-related educational opportunities by the year 2030.

How is this work supporting the campus’s broader sustainability work?

The work of the SPIKE Center takes place within the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Sustainability, led by Vice Chancellor for Sustainability Andrew Mayock, where education is one of the four priorities for sustainability implementation on campus. By working to support and accelerate our training of students to become leaders who drive transformational environmental change, we are helping CU �Ǹ�Թ� meet its goal of becoming a global leader in sustainability within public higher education.

Q: What can the CU �Ǹ�Թ� community expect from SPIKE going forward into year two?

A: Our initial focus has been to engage with groups and already-existing initiatives across campus to support sustainability education endeavors, generate awareness and engage in dialogues to envision the future of sustainability education at CU �Ǹ�Թ�.

In the coming years, we seek to engage and graduate the highest proportion of sustainability-focused students in global public higher education and achieve significant increases in graduation and post-graduation employment rates among sustainability-focused students. We will do this by providing opportunities for the entire campus to engage with sustainability education as we build and strengthen connections and receive and integrate feedback from our students, staff, faculty and leaders on campus as well as in the surrounding �Ǹ�Թ� community.

We also will be imagining and energizing a common framework for sustainability education across CU �Ǹ�Թ� as we support faculty development of a sustainability minor across all schools, colleges and divisions to achieve a unique breadth of sustainability education for students here. The CU �Ǹ�Թ� community can also expect us to work to identify, uplift and encourage experiential learning across sustainability education, including robust employer relationships that will yield strong job and post-graduation outcomes as we collaborate on student recruitment efforts to attract students who want a world class sustainability education here at CU �Ǹ�Թ�.

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SPIKE CENTER FOR SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION 2026 DESIGN CONTEST

Toby Murdock — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 19:09:23 +0000

SPIKE CENTER FOR SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION 2026 DESIGN CONTEST Toby Murdock Thu, 12 Mar 2026 - 13:09

WHEN: DEADLINE: APRIL 8, 2026 before 12pm MT

WINNER ANNOUNCED: 2026 Earth Day Eve APRIL 21^st

WHO: any currently enrolled student at the �Ǹ�Թ� may participate

WHAT: Create a design that illustrates what “sustainability education” means to you—or at least one way you find it matters. We welcome designs that include the word “SPIKE” to spread the word on the SPIKE Center for Sustainability Education. This design could be placed as stickers on a water bottle, laptop, or other surface, or as a t-shirt design!

Submission Guidelines:

Create a circle (3x3), rectangle (3x2), oval (3x2), or square (3x3) design
Must be an original design: no AI-generated designs, clipart requiring permission, copyrighted or trademarked material (including CU or logos)
Please upload as a vector file format. We suggest a transparent background if that is fitting for your design

HOW: Fill out this form linked here and upload your design there!

WHY: Use your ideas and creativity to help shape what sustainability education means on our campus! You can earn bragging rights for submitting, and the winner may receive a $50 gift card to the CU Book Store!*

*If the winner is a non-US person, $50 will be paid via another payment mechanism to ensure proper international tax review.

SPIKE-affiliated students, staff, and faculty will be invited to judge the designs!

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