NREL EcoPress

07/25/2026

New on the EcoPress blog from Colorado State University's Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory (NREL): how a banner for the Ecological Society of America (ESA)'s Rocky Mountain Chapter turned real temperature data into art!

NREL communications specialist Caroline Nickerson and University of Florida artist Olivia Zhang collaborated to build a banner for the chapter's table at the ESA Annual Meeting, held in Salt Lake City July 26 to 31.

The art piece created by Olivia shows a Rocky Mountain landscape, and the line across the sky is not decoration. It is the actual annual mean temperature for the Rocky Mountain National Park region, drawn from the PRISM climate dataset. In the animated version on the NREL EcoPress blog (and featured in this social media post), the graph shifts color as it warms over time.

That is the idea behind the data and art approach: a picture can resonate and communicate trends in a different way than just words or numbers can. Putting the temperature record where the sky would be lets people see the warming trend right away.

And warming here has real consequences. It changes snowpack and snowmelt timing, stresses alpine species like the bighorn sheep in the banner, and reshapes the ecosystems the chapter's members study and manage. Caroline and Olivia were honored to help interpret the chapter's mission in a new way.

If you are at ESA, stop by the Rocky Mountain Chapter's table and say hello (and pick up some stickers of the new logo!).

Learn more in this blog post: https://www.nrel.colostate.edu/understanding-temperature-change-through-art-creating-a-banner-for-the-rocky-mountain-chapter/

07/16/2026

06/26/2026

CSU, CitSci.org, and NREL are bringing citizen science to Denver’s Park Hill 4th of July Parade! 🎉

Caroline Nickerson, communications specialist with Colorado State University’s NREL EcoPress and CitSci.org, will walk in the parade as Ms. Doctorate Colorado 2026. Her platform is citizen science: the idea that anyone can take part in real research.

That message fits right at home with CSU’s land-grant mission of research, education, and service. At CSU’s Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, or NREL, researchers study ecosystems, environmental change, sustainability, and the connections between people and the natural world.

CitSci.org, a global citizen science platform based at CSU, helps researchers, educators, students, and community groups create projects, collect data, and invite the public into science.

On July 4, Caroline will bring that work into the community at the Park Hill 4th of July Parade, a beloved Denver tradition organized by Greater Park Hill Community, Inc.

CSU faculty, staff, students, alumni, families, and friends are invited to walk with the CSU/CitSci group, carry signs, wave to the crowd, and share citizen science projects anyone can join, including:
🌎 Leave No Trash (Leave No Trace), which turns cleanups into environmental data
☁️ Space Cloud Watch (Do NASA Science), which invites volunteers to look for rare noctilucent clouds
🌱 2FP Resilient Soils Project (The Two Frontiers Project), which focuses on soil health and land stewardship

Read more and sign up to walk with us: https://blog.citsci.org/2026/06/18/walk-with-us-caroline-nickerson-brings-citizen-science-to-the-park-hill-4th-of-july-parade-as-ms-doctorate-colorado-2026/

04/30/2026

Nitrogen fertilizer is essential for global food production, but more than half of what is applied to crops is often lost to the environment. These losses contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, water and air pollution, and broader ecosystem impacts.

Researchers at Colorado State University are part of a new international collaboration aimed at reducing agricultural emissions while maintaining crop productivity.

The initiative, known as the Agricultural Nitrogen Use Efficiency Platform, is hosted by Aarhus University and supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. AgNUE will bring together institutions across Europe and the United States to create the first international network dedicated to measuring and understanding how nitrogen moves through agricultural fields.

Learn more: https://www.nrel.colostate.edu/csu-researchers-join-international-effort-to-improve-nitrogen-management-in-agriculture/

04/27/2026

04/16/2026

Join folks from NREL EcoPress, Colorado State University - Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, CitSci, and others from across Colorado State University for a community event! Celebrate Earth Day, CSU Natural Resource Days, and Citizen Science Month with hands-on environmental action and real research.

On Wednesday, April 22 at 2 PM MT, we’ll meet in the Natural and Environmental Sciences Building (NESB) lobby for a one-hour community clean-up, where we also log data about what we picked up to power sustainability research.

Learn more (and RSVP!): https://blog.citsci.org/2026/04/16/join-us-for-the-leavenotrash-university-challenge-at-csu-earth-day-natural-resource-days-and-citizen-science-month/

This is a CSU-centric clean-up that is part of the broader, global University Challenge, led by CitSci and Leave No Trace. Cleanup Week runs April 18–26, 2026, with events happening on campuses around the world.

We hope to see you at the CSU clean-up and that you help spread the word to friends at other universities and colleges! https://blog.citsci.org/2026/02/18/organize-your-campus-community-leavenotrash-university-challenge/

Small actions add up. One hour can make a difference. Thank you for helping us Leave. No. Trash!

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04/06/2026

Today’s the day!

Join our friends at the School of Global Environmental Sustainability- Colorado State University for "Prairie Fortified: Shelterbelts and Conservation in the Great Plains" at 4 PM in NESB B218 – Swift Conference Room.

Featuring Dr. David Vail (University of Nebraska at Kearney), in discussion with Bill Romme (CSU), attend this event to learn how farmers, scientists, and communities responded to environmental crises starting in the 1930s—using shelterbelts and windbreaks to protect land and build long-term resilience across the Great Plains.

Open to all—join in: https://sustainability.colostate.edu/event/prairie-fortified-shelterbelts-and-conservation-in-the-great-plains/

03/25/2026

What are you doing at 4 PM MT today? Going to this engaging event at The Africa Center, we hope!

Join us on March 25 for Dr. Joseph Mbaiwa's talk on global opposition versus local support in relation to wildlife tourism in Botswana! Please check flyer for more details.

03/05/2026

🌲🐞 We are excited that Tony Vorster, Research Scientist at the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, will be speaking at an event next week!

Wednesday, March 11
5:00–6:30 PM
Free panel discussion: "Managing the Next Outbreak: Mountain Pine Beetles and the Future of Colorado's Forest Communities"
Avogadro’s Number, 605 S. Mason Street, Fort Collins, CO

Mountain pine beetles have reshaped millions of acres of Colorado’s forests. What does that mean for the communities that live, work, and recreate here?

This panel brings together experts in tree health and beetle-associated fungi, forest ecology and management, statewide forest protection strategy, and forest insect science to discuss how Colorado can better anticipate and manage future outbreaks.

The conversation will explore what drives beetle populations, how outbreaks intersect with wildfire risk and water resources, and what coordinated science, management, and policy efforts are underway to strengthen forest resilience.

Panelists:
🌲Matt McCombs, State Forester and Director, Colorado State Forest Service
🌲Jane Stewart, Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Biology
🌲Tony Vorster, Research Scientist, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory
🌲Dan West, State’s Forest Entomologist, Colorado State Forest Service

Moderated by Gene Kelly, School of Global Environmental Sustainability- Colorado State University Faculty Research Liaison, Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, and Associate Dean of CSU Extension

Learn more:
https://sustainability.colostate.edu/event/managing-the-planet_3-11-2026/