Students from Mark Hernandez’s group at the University of Colorado Boulder install an air quality monitor in a classroom.

K-12 air quality research spotlighted by industry group

Sept. 4, 2024

Mark Hernandez's air quality research is being highlight by Chemical and Engineering News. Hernandez is a professor in the Environmental Engineering Program and air quality expert. The work being spotlighted by C&EN, which is a publication of the American Chemical Society, initially focused on reducing the spread of COVID-19 in...

Mija Hubler in lab

Building Blocks

July 31, 2024

Prometheus Materials eyes expansion through increased production Traditional cement production is responsible for about 7 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, making it a significant contributor to climate change. So faculty at CU Boulder started developing a greener alternative. A Department of Defense-funded project launched in 2016 led to the...

Diane McKnight

Climate change causing increase in metals concentrations in streams

May 24, 2024

Diane McKnight's alpine stream research is highlighted in a new article published in the Aspen Times. The piece focuses on newly published research demonstrating climate-driven increases in stream metal concentrations in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, including Lincoln Creek above Aspen. McKnight, a distinguished professor in the Environmental Engineering Program and...

Aerial photo of a winding river in the mountains.

CU Boulder leading effort to improve water quality in Rockies’ rivers

April 4, 2024

Using machine learning for better water quality. University of Colorado Boulder and Colorado State University researchers are teaming up to improve river water quality in the...

Air handling equipment on a building rooftop.

Scientists advocate for policies regulating indoor air

April 1, 2024

A group of international experts, including CU Boulder’s Jose-Luis Jimenez , CIRES Fellow and distinguished chemistry professor, and Shelly Miller , mechanical engineering professor, presented a blueprint for national indoor quality standards for public buildings, in a paper published today in Science . “The science is very clear that improving...

 Mark Hernandez (middle) and his students installed air quality monitors and purifiers in Colorado classrooms.

Can air purifiers help keep kids in school? New study seeks to find out

Sept. 27, 2023

Engineers at CU Boulder kicked off a new project this month that aims to investigate whether improving classroom air quality with air purifiers can help students miss fewer school days. The study comes at a time when millions of students across the country are chronically absent from school, a worsening...

Header Photo: The CU Boulder Team and Armenian representatives on the shore of Lake Sevan.

CU Boulder water quality expertise goes international in Armenia

Aug. 7, 2023

University of Colorado Boulder researchers are advancing water resource management in the South Caucasus through a partnership with Deloitte Consulting. The professional services firm is is tapping CU Boulder’s environmental engineering technical expertise to improve river, lake, and groundwater management in the...

Professor Mark Hernandez and doctoral graduate Marina Nieto-Caballero stand inside the 10-cubic-meters bioaerosol chamber used to study live airborne coronavirus persistence in the Environmental Engineering disinfection laboratory at the Sustainability, Energy and Environment Complex (SEEC).

Three years in: What we’ve learned about COVID

March 8, 2023

Three years ago this week, Colorado recorded its first known cases of COVID-19. A week later, on March 12, CU Boulder announced its first positive case and quickly shifted to fully remote classes. Meanwhile, researchers at CU and universities across the country jumped into action to learn everything they could...

Lab equipment blue light.

Tend to get sick when the air is dry? New research helps explain why

Feb. 23, 2023

Recent research from CU Boulder may have finally revealed why humans tend to get sick from airborne viral diseases more often in drier environments. Published in December in PNAS-Nexus , the study found that airborne particles carrying a mammalian coronavirus closely related to the virus which causes COVID-19 remain infectious...

Marina Nieto-Caballero conducting research.

Unique bioaerosol lab, dedicated students made COVID research possible

Feb. 23, 2023

As one of the first interdisciplinary bioaerosol labs established in the U.S., the Environmental Engineering Microbiology and Disinfection Lab at CU Boulder is home to one of the biggest bioaerosol chambers in the country at an academic institution. At about 350 cubic feet (10 cubic meters), it provides a large...

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