Arts, Humanities & Culture

Art, Science and Polar Bears

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 18:32:16 +0000

Art, Science and Polar Bears Anna Tolette Mon, 11/10/2025 - 11:32

Julia MacLean

Lianna Nixon is an educator who blends science and art.

As a wildlife photographer and conservation storyteller, the Arctic is Lianna Nixon’s (Class’17; MEdu’21) second home. What began as a college expedition evolved into a career that blends art, science and education. From drifting on sea ice to counting polar bears, her adventures are as fascinating as they are meaningful.

Tell us about some of your Arctic adventures.

I first went to the Arctic in 2017 with Sea Legacy, a nonprofit organization run by two National Geographic photographers. Perhaps my most transformative Arctic photography and film experience was working on the MOSAiC Expedition (the Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) while at CU. I was able to create connections about the Arctic climate system we see today, the experiences of scientists and the prowess of intersectional storytelling through visceral art-science narratives. While out on the ice floe, we were also visited by quite a few polar bears!

What are some things you work on now in the Arctic?

Six to eight weeks out of the year, I guide on expeditions out of Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago, photographing arctic wildlife. It’s not just about posting on Instagram — it’s being able to create conversations and share the beauty, vulnerability and importance of this region. My work is taken further into the scope of science and conservation outreach to be used in citizen science projects that observe wildlife behavior and other communication needs.

What do you want people to take from your storytelling work?

My work focuses on applying new-age media, which includes photography, film, immersive 360-degree film and storytelling. When we humanize and bring different perspectives to abstract, difficult or polarizing topics, which is essentially the premise of climate science.

What motivated you to return to school for an education degree?

I always wanted to be a scientist, but my brain is programmed for art. That’s why I chose education — it’s a fantastic mediary space to bring those two together.

What are you doing when you aren’t in the Arctic?

I mainly do graphic design. My job has had to be very flexible with guiding, because I also hold my own BEAR Expedition a couple of weeks a year in Alaska, which allows people to view brown bears. The flexibility of my job is also due to the work of my husband, Casey VanCampenhout (Class’17), who is an F-15 fighter pilot. We’re stationed here in Vancouver, Washington. I’m also director of Tsé Bii’, a nonprofit which works with the Diné of the Navajo Nation located in Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park to bring sustainable off-grid electrical and water resources to their homes.

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Photo courtesy Lianna Nixon

Lianna Nixon turned her college Arctic expeditions into a career as a wildlife photographer and conservation storyteller.

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Saving Colorado Landmarks

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 18:30:51 +0000

Saving Colorado Landmarks Anna Tolette Mon, 11/10/2025 - 11:30

Julia MacLean

Preservation planning for Florence, Colorado’s Orecchio Block.

From iconic hotels to community landmarks, the Colorado Historical Foundation works to protect the state’s most meaningful places — and Catherine Stroh (Art’95) is leading the effort. A Colorado native and longtime Boulder resident, Stroh blends an appreciation for design and architecture with a passion for Colorado history as the foundation’s president and CEO.

How do you best describe the Colorado Historical Foundation?

We have many different tools to preserve historic places in Colorado. One of the ways we do that is through conservation easements on physical buildings, structures and cultural landscapes. This prevents them from being demolished or severely altered, so that they can essentially look the same as they did during their significant period of history. We also operate a low-interest loan program to help people repair and revitalize historic buildings. We also operate a low-interest loan program to help people repair and revitalize historic buildings.

What are some of the foundation’s projects right now?

The Fort, a well-known restaurant in Morrison, is modeled after Bent’s Old Fort (a fur trading post built in 1833) in Southeast Colorado and protected by one of our conservation easements. We also have an easement on the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. And in Boulder, we provided a low-interest loan to help support the rehabilitation of the Mary H. Galey Cottage within the nationally landmarked Colorado Chautauqua property.

What should Buffs know about Colorado history?

There is so much history centered in Colorado. The story of the state is really a convergence of so many different stories, from indigenous populations who were here originally to the pioneers who came in when it was a Spanish Territory. There are many different influences throughout the state and a lot of history to continually uncover.

What’s your favorite historic place you’ve worked on?

The old Smiley Junior High School in Durango has been turned into a commercial space with a lot of unique offices, creative spaces and even apartments. On the first floor, there’s a coffee shop and an art market retail area. To see that building activated in such a new way while still retaining its schoolhouse properties, is really cool.

How have you seen Colorado change over time?

I think the biggest change that we see is just the continual population growth and how that influences the shape of towns, especially the merging and blending of communities along the Front Range. We are losing some of the open space that I think a lot of us grew up with, but this also brings in a lot of new and interesting people and opportunities.

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Photo courtesy Colorado Historical Foundation

Catherine Stroh leads efforts to preserve the state’s historic buildings and landmarks.

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Rockin' Folsom with the Doobie Brothers

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 18:28:52 +0000

Rockin' Folsom with the Doobie Brothers Anna Tolette Mon, 11/10/2025 - 11:28

Julia MacLean

The Doobie Brothers in 1975 in Folsom Field.

The summer of 1975, the Doobie Brothers lit up Folsom Field in a concert that has become a legendary piece of ��ɫ��Ƶ’s musical history. Photographer Dan Fong (Mktg’70), who documented the show, recalled Boulder’s then-mayor introducing the group, setting the stage for a performance that brought the entire crowd to its feet.

“Even the kids in the audience went crazy,” Fong said. “Age didn’t matter. It was good music.”

At the time, Fong was working full-time for the Doobie Brothers and had assumed a new role as the band’s media coordinator. He was in charge of their worldwide photo requests and oversaw interviews and promotional events. He knew how to capture their spirit both on and offstage.

“This concert was the Michael McDonald [lead vocalist] era, and I was in charge of the album cover for ‘Takin’ It To The Streets,’ absolutely their most famous album to date,” Fong said proudly.

But the concert wasn’t just about the Doobie Brothers. The Memphis Horns — an American horn section who played with artists ranging from Elvis Presley to Stephen Stills — were traveling and playing exclusively with the Doobie Brothers, making it an unrivaled experience.

Today, Fong’s photographs from that night are part of a collection he has worked to preserve with the help of ��ɫ��Ƶ archivists. The collection documents his career as a photographer beginning in 1962, with a special emphasis on his photography of the Colorado music scene. When he attended CU from 1966 to 1970, he worked for a company that specialized in photographing fraternity and sorority parties.

“Most of the collection has images no one’s ever seen,” Fong said.

In recent years, ��ɫ��Ƶ has brought a few concerts back to Boulder. Dead & Company played Folsom for several summers starting in 2016 and, most recently, Phish came to Folsom in July. The band was the first to play on the field’s new artificial turf, which CU installed in mid-June.

CU plans to feature more concerts at Folsom Field. On Oct. 18, DJ and songwriter John Summit played the first concert of the academic year.

The Dan Fong Collection is available to the public by appointment.

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Photo courtesy Dan Fong

The Doobie Brothers played a legendary concert at Folsom Field in 1975, captured by photographer Dan Fong, whose archival collection is on campus.

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Dan Carlin Is the Ultimate Time Traveler

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 18:19:22 +0000

Dan Carlin Is the Ultimate Time Traveler Anna Tolette Mon, 11/10/2025 - 11:19

Tori Peglar

Dan Carlin (Hist’89) is 4 minutes and 41 seconds into an episode of his Hardcore History podcast when he pauses to catch his breath. Alexander the Great has just watched his father, King Phillip II, get assassinated. It’s a milestone moment that Carlin likens to the 9/11 attacks, where anyone watching knew in those terrifying moments that everything would change.

Beyond the walls of his podcasting studio, Carlin’s millions of listeners wait expectantly at the edge of their proverbial seats. Was Alexander a victim, innocently watching the assassination of his royal father in the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon? Or was Alexander a traitor who orchestrated his father’s death to seize the throne? Carlin’s audience ponders this question as they drive through their neighborhoods, prepare dinner in their kitchens, and jog through parks, all while listening to Carlin.

“Dan Carlin is one of the world’s greatest storytellers, and anyone who has spent any time listening to his audio, even for a few minutes, understands that this is the case,” said Clint Kisker, an entrepreneur and former president of MWM Interactive, an entertainment company that has collaborated with Carlin.

A trailblazer in the podcasting space, Carlin was part of the early crowd of people in 2005 to tell stories about history via the Internet in an audio format. In the 20 years since, more than 100 million people have tuned into his tremendously popular shows. In Common Sense, Carlin, a self-described politically independent pragmatist, looks at events shaping the world. Hardcore History delves into riveting historic moments, and Hardcore History: Addendum features interviews and material that don’t make it into the main program.

For Carlin, who’s disarmingly gregarious and humble, a knowledge of history and its cast of characters is essential for understanding the present moment. Moreover, he said it enables us to see how groups of human beings tend to behave, especially under pressure.

“Life, as someone once said to me, is like living inside a television soap opera,” Carlin recalled. “If you don’t go back and watch the previous episodes, you’ll never understand what’s going on — or why — in the story currently.”

Path to Podcasting

In his 20s, Carlin worked in broadcast television in Los Angeles before moving to Oregon and becoming a television reporter, then a radio show host. But when the tech version of the Gold Rush began in the late 1990s, he and five friends formed a startup. The goal was to launch a novel product — amateur content made by the public and hosted on a platform. It would have been something like what YouTube turned out to be. After he left the startup, what Carlin eventually produced was a podcast, but it wasn’t recognized as such yet.

In 2004, the term “podcast” first appeared in print when Guardian reporter Ben Hammerstein used it to describe a new type of audio blogging that could be played on an Apple iPod. The origins of the word? A mash-up of “iPod” and “broadcast.”

Plunging into new territory, Carlin launched his Common Sense podcast in 2005, followed by Hardcore History a year later. The Hardcore History format is unique, even by today’s standards.

“Podcasters doing true crime or sports entertainment are all folks who took an existing medium and adapted it to meet their needs,” Kisker said. “Dan created a medium. There was no prior ‘Dan Carlin.’ It wasn’t a thing.”

Each of Carlin’s Hardcore History episodes is an extraordinarily deep dive into a slice of history — and because he spends an inordinate amount of time researching, he only releases one to two episodes a year. Each one runs between three and five hours.

Carlin’s show takes on a conversational dimension as he doesn’t prepare a written script — his storytelling style is all improv. Episodes include the famous World War II battles that shaped modern naval warfare, the Atlantic slave trade, the Asia-Pacific War of 1937–45 and the Viking sea kings of the 10th and 11th centuries.

“Every show is on a subject I’ve been really interested in, so I have a foundation,” Carlin said. “Then I start reading, so I’m trying to update my knowledge — what’s true, how history has evolved and become clarified over time.”

But Carlin doesn’t just regurgitate important dates on his podcasts. He uses empathy to slingshot his listeners back in time, making people like Alexander the Great fallibly human and their decisions topically relevant. In doing so, his audience stands on the sidelines of pivotal historic moments, cheering and jeering on characters they once knew only by name but now feel a personal connection to.

“Empathy for historical personalities is vital if we want to try to see them more as three-dimensional figures rather than two-dimensional ones,” Carlin said. “Put yourself into the shoes of President Harry Truman having to make the decision about dropping atomic bombs in the Second World War. How could you even begin to assess such an event without trying to imagine yourself in his position?”

Having an empathetic understanding of the human experience is essential to help us navigate our complex world, said William Wei, one of Carlin’s ��ɫ��Ƶ history professors and a former Colorado state historian.

“As historians have demonstrated since time immemorial, history functions as humanity’s collective memory and the means for understanding the consequences of human choices,” Wei said.

Empathy for historical personalities is vital if we want to try to see them more as three-dimensional figures rather than two-dimensional ones.

Dan's Favorite Episodes

“Blueprint for Armageddon”

A six-part exploration of World War I that immerses listeners in the human experience, chaos and unprecedented scale of the first modern global war.

“Supernova in the East”

A six-part chronicle of Japan’s rise and ruin in World War II, tracing how cultural pride, militarism and desperation led to one of history’s most ferocious conflicts.

“Ghosts of the Ostfront”

A look at the Eastern Front of World War II, where Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union waged a merciless fight for survival.

“The Destroyer of Worlds”

An exploration of the birth of the nuclear age and the uneasy moment when humanity gained the power to erase itself.

“Death Throes of the Republic”

A retelling of Rome’s unraveling — from civic virtue to corruption and civil war — as a republic gives way to empire.

History functions as humanity’s collective memory and the means for understanding the consequences of human choices.

At Home in Hollywood

Carlin grew up on the edges of Hollywood’s golden spotlight. His mother earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in the 1968 film Faces. His father, Ed Carlin, was a movie producer. Carlin spent his childhood in two towns at opposite ends of the San Fernando Valley — first Toluca Lake, then Calabasas. Back then, Toluca Lake was home to celebrities like Bob Hope, Bette Davis and Frank Sinatra. Yet Carlin describes both towns as Brady Bunch-type communities filled with camera operators, production folks and just regular people.

“Neither area was what it is now,” Carlin said. “Next door lived a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force. Bob Hope lived in town, but we never saw him. It didn’t feel glitzy.”

Even so, it wasn’t a big leap for Carlin to get highly involved in his high school’s improv program and plunge deeply into theater classes for a brief stint at California State University, Northridge. And when he decided to finish his studies out of state, ��ɫ��Ƶ felt like the right fit.

“My dad really liked CU. He said it reminded him of UCLA in the 1950s when he was a student,” Carlin recalled. “It’s like [Coach] Bill McCartney said, ‘If you get the recruits to town, they’ll come.’”

Boulder Backstory

When Carlin arrived on campus, Coach McCartney was in his fifth season coaching the Colorado Buffaloes, finishing second in the Big 8. It was CU’s best conference record in 25 years. But you were more likely to find Carlin protesting CIA recruitment on campus and CU’s investments in South Africa’s apartheid than standing in line for football tickets. Clad in his Ecuadorian sweater purchased near the Alfred Packer Grill, Carlin pursued his passion for history, with an emphasis on military history. One of his courses was “Sociology of Peacemaking,” which he joked was “a CU way of talking about the military.”

“When I decided to transfer to CU, none of my theater classes transferred,” said Carlin, who initially thought that it was all a wasted effort. “But the great thing is, I’ve used the theater and history stuff every single day in my work.”

Carlin remembered the history department had a pamphlet printed on green paper titled something along the lines of, “What to Tell Your Parents About Choosing History as a Major.” None of the professions he pursued after graduation — journalism, broadcasting and podcasting — appeared on the pamphlet. Carlin addressed this discrepancy in 2020 when he served as CU’s first virtual graduation speaker.

“CU gave me the skills to put myself in a position to be offered these gigs,” he told the graduates. “And [it gave me] the knowledge, not the specific knowledge about how to do those jobs — after all, I didn’t study journalism, broadcasting or podcasting in school — but CU gave me the lifelong ability to know how to keep learning.”

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Illustrations by María Jesús Contreras

CU gave me the lifelong ability to know how to keep learning.

Dan Carlin has pioneered long-form, deeply researched history podcasts like "Hardcore History" to make pivotal historical events relatable.

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CU Ceramics: A Living Legacy

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 18:10:11 +0000

CU Ceramics: A Living Legacy Anna Tolette Mon, 11/10/2025 - 11:10

The ceramics program at ��ɫ��Ƶ has a long and storied history, shaped in part by the late Betty Woodman, a CU professor and master potter whose work garnered international acclaim in the 1970s. Woodman’s work is displayed in prominent museums worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art. Her legacy endures through Scott Chamberlin, a former colleague, and two of her former students, Kim Dickey and Jeanne Quinn, who have taught together in the department for 25 years.

In September, the trio unveiled an alumni showcase exhibit: “Shaping Time: CU Ceramics Alumni 2000–2020.” The exhibit is open to the public at the CU Art Museum until Dec. 19.

To support the Betty Woodman Fund, visit cubuffs.org/woodman.

Ashley Jude Jonas, “sailing bare breasted with a gun,” 2023, ceramic, strapping tape, found table, found wood.

Grace Potter, “Desire Stone I,” 2025, stoneware with clay slip.

Liisa Nelson, “The Glorification of Signifiers,” 2025, ceramic.

Rebekah Myers and Tim Berg, “...in plain sight,” 2025, glazed ceramic and maple.

Erica Green, “California King,” 2022, knotted fibers on mattress.

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Installation photos by Wes Magyar, © the artists and CU Art Museum

��ɫ��Ƶ’s ceramics program is celebrating its enduring impact with the alumni exhibit Shaping Time: CU Ceramics Alumni 2000–2020.

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Wóinila: A Mural of Silence and Learning

Anna Tolette — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 20:12:22 +0000

Wóinila: A Mural of Silence and Learning Anna Tolette Mon, 07/07/2025 - 14:12

Julia MacLean

On March 11, ��ɫ��Ƶ unveiled a new mural, Wóinila: In Silence We Learn, on the second floor of the Miramontes Baca Education Building. The mural is an original work created as part of a collaboration between CU’s School of Education and the student-led Cultural Events Board (CEB).

Its title, Wóinila — a Lakota word meaning “silence” — reflects one of the first Lakota values passed down within the culture, said the mural’s creator, Danielle SeeWalker, a Hunkpapa Lakota artist from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

“We sit in silence as we listen to the land, the wind and the stars as they teach us. We learn to listen before we respond and speak,” SeeWalker said.

The painting includes scenes of mentorship, colorful hummingbirds, stars and two buffaloes.

Naisha Naik (BusAna’28) helped lead the project as a member of the CEB, which provides students with opportunities to broaden their knowledge on topics such as diversity and social awareness.

“Having this mural in the School of Education is especially meaningful. It serves as a reminder that education is not just about books and classrooms, but also about the stories, history and knowledge of our communities,” Naik told the School of Education.

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Photo by Patrick Campbell

��ɫ��Ƶ’s new mural Wóinila: In Silence We Learn honors Lakota values by illustrating the power of listening, mentorship and cultural storytelling within the School of Education.

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Summer 2025

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Saving Endangered Languages

Anna Tolette — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 19:58:24 +0000

Saving Endangered Languages Anna Tolette Mon, 07/07/2025 - 13:58

Sophia McKeown

��ɫ��Ƶ linguistics professors Ambrocio Gutiérrez Lorenzo and Rai Farrelly are working to preserve Zapotec, a family of languages that originated in Southern Mexico and Central America.

For most of human history, the survival of specific languages has relied on one generation passing it on to the next — a process that, in many speech communities, unfolds naturally.

But, according to a study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, around half of the world’s 7,000 documented languages are currently considered “endangered.”

��ɫ��Ƶ linguistics professors Ambrocio Gutiérrez Lorenzo and Rai Farrelly hope to slow the decline.

“Languages are tied very closely to peoples’ identities and their cultures,” said Farrelly in an interview with KUNC this spring. “We believe that there is tremendous value in working to maintain and revitalize [languages].”

Currently, Farrelly and Gutiérrez Lorenzo are working to preserve Zapotec, a family of languages that originated in Southern Mexico and Central America, spoken mostly in Oaxaca, Mexico. Gutiérrez Lorenzo collaborates closely with members of the Teotitlán del Valle community who are interested in learning more about the Zapotec language and contributing to preservation efforts.

Since 2011, he has held monthly meetings with community members to discuss linguistic aspects of the language and the practical applications of his research, including the creation of small dictionaries and the documentation of local narratives.

“[Zapotec] is the language I grew up speaking, so I don’t want it to be lost with my generation,” said Gutiérrez Lorenzo. “I don’t want to be the generation that let it go.”

Besides creating real-world solutions, Gutiérrez Lorenzo and Farrelly are determined to raise awareness around the issue, both on campus and around the world. The colleagues developed a global seminar for CU’s Education Abroad based in Teotitlán del Valle, which offers ��ɫ��Ƶ students the opportunity to live in a rural Mexican community while learning and practicing Spanish and Zapotec.

“Maintaining languages in a community serves to strengthen intergenerational connections,” said Farrelly. “It brings together youth and elders through oral traditions that have been celebrated in many of these communities for centuries.”

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Photo courtesy Rai Farrelly

��ɫ��Ƶ linguistics professors Ambrocio Gutiérrez Lorenzo and Rai Farrelly work closely with Mexican communities to preserve the endangered Zapotec language and strengthen cultural ties.

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Sundance Film Festival Finds a New Home in Boulder

Anna Tolette — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 19:55:04 +0000

Sundance Film Festival Finds a New Home in Boulder Anna Tolette Mon, 07/07/2025 - 13:55

Julia MacLean

The Sundance Institute’s first festival began in Utah in 1985. Now, 40 years later, the iconic film fest has set its sights on the Flatirons.

According to the nonprofit’s March announcement, the Sundance Institute’s board of trustees was drawn to Boulder’s small-town charm, engaged community, art focus and natural scenery.

“This move will ensure that the festival continues its work of risk-taking, supporting innovative storytellers, fostering independence and entertaining and enlightening audiences,” said Robert Redford (A&S ex’58; HonDocHum’87), Sundance Institute president and founder. “I am grateful to the Boulder community for its support, and I look forward to seeing what the future holds for the festival there.”

Redford started the institute in 1981 as a way to support independent filmmakers and storytellers.

Once in Boulder, the majority of the festival will be held on and around the Pearl Street Mall. ��ɫ��Ƶ will offer support and additional venue space.

The event will offer students — particularly those enrolled in the university’s Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts program — direct exposure to prominent filmmakers and actors.

During Sundance’s 2024 run, its economic impact was vast. Over 24,000 festival visitors attended from out of state, generating over 1,700 jobs for Utah residents and producing $132 million in economic activity for the state, according to the festival’s economic impact report.

Now, Colorado will reap the benefits.

In an interview with ��ɫ��Ƶ Today, Chancellor Justin Schwartz added to the hype: “We are excited for tens of thousands of festival guests to experience what we already know: Boulder is an incredible place to immerse yourself in the arts, culture, nature and history that make life worth living.”

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Photo courtesy Don Kohlbauer for Boulder Reporting Lab

In 2027 the Sundance Film Festival will relocate to Boulder.

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¿Dónde Está Boulder? The Baca Family's Three Generations of Buffs

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 20:34:05 +0000

¿Dónde Está Boulder? The Baca Family's Three Generations of Buffs Anna Tolette Mon, 03/10/2025 - 14:34

Patricia Kaowthumrong

"I don’t know what I would have done if my brother was not recruiting Chicano students to the University of Colorado."

As a teenager growing up in Trinidad, Colorado, during the early 1970s, attending the ��ɫ��Ƶ seemed out of the question for Bernal Baca (A&S’75). Instead, he planned to follow the advice of his high school guidance counselor and enter an auto mechanics program after graduation. But his older brother Richard Baca (Edu’71) intervened.

Richard, a student at ��ɫ��Ƶ at the time, was back home visiting his former high school. As a United Mexican American Students (UMAS) member, he was recruiting Hispanic students like Bernal to attend the university. Bernal was hesitant, insisting he wanted to become an auto mechanic — but Richard wouldn’t take no for an answer. Bernal heeded his brother's advice and applied to the school, where he was accepted and enrolled.

In retrospect, following in his brother’s footsteps to an education on the Front Range turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to Bernal — and future generations of Baca family members.

“I don’t know what I would have done if my brother was not recruiting Chicano students to the University of Colorado. That signaled to me that we had a chance,” Bernal said. “So I took that chance, and I’m glad.”

Deep Roots

Richard and Bernal earned degrees from ��ɫ��Ƶ and went on to achieve doctoral degrees in psychology and education, respectively. According to Richard, these feats were considered improbable at the time, given the siblings’ humble upbringing.

The Baca family’s history in the United States dates back to the 1600s, when a settlement from Spain’s Oñate Expeditionary Group landed in northern New Mexico. Eventually, the family migrated to the southern Colorado city of Trinidad, whose establishment in the 1870s by Felipe Baca and his wife, Dolores, was a catalyst for Hispanics to settle in the area.

“In essence, [Bacas] have been here for a long time,” Richard said. “We often hear the notion that ‘America came to us’ because our family was here long before the United States was founded.”

The Bacas, a family of farmers, ranchers and entrepreneurs, were influential in southern Colorado. However, after Richard graduated from Trinidad State College in 1969, he thought his only two choices in the rural town were to work in the coal mines or join the military. An unlikely opportunity arose, though: Richard was selected with a cadre of other Latino students to apply to ��ɫ��Ƶ under what was then called the Educational Opportunity Program, which was established in the 1960s to recruit young Latinos who might not have met all the established admissions criteria at the time.

"My brother was the one who showed me the way, and he was able to teach his own son and granddaughter the same thing. I love it."

Without this program, the thought of attending the university would have been as unlikely as eating “frijoles sin tortillas” (beans without tortillas), Richard said. “Formal admission to the university opened an educational dimension immeasurable by traditional means and inexplicable to [my] mother who had all of a third-grade education,” he wrote in a letter about his family to the Coloradan this past August.

Boulder or Bust

When Richard told his mother he was accepted to ��ɫ��Ƶ, she replied, “Ah, que bueno jito. ¿Dónde está Boulder?” which translates to, “That’s good news, my son. Where is Boulder?”

Over the next few years, Boulder evolved from what Richard called “a strange land” into his second home. He credits his success to living of campus with a group of graduate students and to his participation in student groups and campus activities. Richard’s tenure at CU coincided with the Chicano movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

“At that time, the movement was really becoming strong, so I just became involved in campus activities related to Chicano students and learned more about my roots, my heritage and the importance of trying to advance ourselves as a grouping,” Richard said.

"I got my spark at [��ɫ��Ƶ] because I was mentored by one of the best professors I think I’ve ever met."

As a result of initiatives such as the Educational Opportunity Program that supported Richard, ��ɫ��Ƶ began recruiting hundreds of students from new communities — including Native American, Mexican American, Black/African American and Asian American communities — to attend the university. Some of these students formed organizations inspired by broader civil rights movements, including UMAS.

Bernal also became involved with the Chicano Movement, joined UMAS and studied under Salvador Ramírez — who taught Chicano studies. When Ramírez moved to the Pacific Northwest, Bernal followed to help him establish the first Chicano studies program at Washington State University. After a long career as a college professor, Bernal now serves as executive director at a nonprofit called Mi Centro, which provides social, cultural and educational services to the Latino community in the greater Tacoma area.

“I got my spark at [��ɫ��Ƶ] because I was mentored by one of the best professors I think I’ve ever met,” Bernal said. “I feel really honored to be bestowed that university bachelor’s degree because it was the most important degree I have received.”

Passing the Torch

From left: Ryan, Alexandra and Richard Baca.

While Richard is now retired, his career in higher education, mental health, consulting and politics spanned over 40 years. He even ran for University of Colorado regent in 1994 and served as the assistant vice president of student affairs and enrollment management at Mesa State College (now Colorado Mesa University) in Grand Junction. Richard raised his family on the Western Slope, and his son Ryan (Bus’96) was admitted to ��ɫ��Ƶ in the 1990s, continuing the legacy started by his father and uncle nearly three decades prior.

Ryan’s daughter, Alexandra (Bus’28), is the latest Baca family member to become a Buff. She moved into student housing at ��ɫ��Ƶ’s Cheyenne Arapaho Hall in fall 2024. Like her father, Alexandra was admitted to the Presidents Leadership Class, which Ryan said was key to his success as a student and later as a management professional. The university also offered her scholarships from the Latinx Association and the Business and Engineering Women in Leadership program.

“I don’t know another place I would want to go to for a university experience,” Bernal said. “My brother was the one who showed me the way, and he was able to teach his own son and granddaughter the same thing. I love it.”

While Richard, Ryan and Alexandra each experienced the university in different eras, they’re united by their love for the beautiful campus, Boulder’s ever-evolving cultural scene and their love for Colorado Buffaloes football.

The legacy they continue to nurture is one we know Alexandra’s late abuela would definitely be proud of.

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Have a ��ɫ��Ƶ family legacy to share? Email us at editor@colorado.edu with your story.

��ɫ��Ƶ is involved in several programs in Trinidad, Colorado. Visit the Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship for more information.

Illustration by Emiliano Ponzi; Photo courtesy Richard Baca

Attending ��ɫ��Ƶ changed Bernal Baca's life and sparked a multi-generational family legacy.

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Spring 2025

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The Stories that Sustain Us: Phaedra Pezzullo's Unique Approach to Sustainability

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 20:30:53 +0000

The Stories that Sustain Us: Phaedra Pezzullo's Unique Approach to Sustainability Anna Tolette Mon, 03/10/2025 - 14:30

Joe Arney

When you’re trying to change the world — in Phaedra C. Pezzullo’s case, by improving the environment — you need more than scholarly publications to create impact.

It’s why one of her favorite stories involves the fact that her first solo-authored book, Toxic Tourism, inspired the lyrics to a punk-rock song by the band The Holland Dutch.

“Something like that reaches people in more profound ways than just talking about policy or politics,” said Pezzullo, ��ɫ��Ƶ communication professor in the College of Media, Communication and Information (CMCI).

In early 2025, Pezzullo opened CMCI’s Sustainability and Storytelling Lab. And while an academic lab in a formal university setting may sound out of step for someone whose work galvanizes protesters and inspires musicians, she sees it as an exciting next step in the shifting conversation around sustainability.

“The lab is already becoming a space where people from a range of disciplines who study sustainability — students, staff, faculty and community partners — can build relationships and consider the role of storytelling in the field,” she said.

“Something like that reaches people in more profound ways than just talking about policy or politics.”

As with any university lab, creating high-impact learning opportunities for students is key.

Activist Becomes Academic

Pezzullo’s formative educational experiences inspired her teaching philosophy. While a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she interviewed activists and community members in Warren County — known as the birthplace of the environmental justice movement — where landfill toxins were poisoning the water source serving a predominantly Black community.

Listening to their voices and adding her own to the cause helped Pezzullo to see how a single story could unlock millions of dollars to clean a landfill. Cleanup work began as she completed her studies.

“I became hooked on stories,” she said. “When we put storytelling into practice in service of complex problems, like sustainability, we discover why communication is captivating.”

It’s part of why Pezzullo doesn’t limit her storytelling to scholarly publications. Her public-facing work on sustainability includes a podcast, Communicating Care, where she explores sustainability issues like plastic bag bans, disability justice and environmental treaties with other voices from the field.

One of these voices was Emy Kane (IntlAf’13), managing director of Lonely Whale, an organization that raises awareness about and offers alternatives to problematic plastics through partnerships with brands and engagement with companies, scientists and the global youth movement.

“When we put storytelling into practice in service of complex problems, like sustainability, we discover why communication is captivating.”

“What inspired me most about Phaedra is her commitment to sharing stories borne from empathy and action,” said Kane. “I’m thrilled to see my alma mater support her platform and research so that the next generation of leaders are equipped with the stories they need to reimagine the systems that run our world.”

Conversations on the podcast helped inform Pezzullo’s 2023 book, Beyond Straw Men: Plastic Pollution and Networked Cultures of Care, which won three national book awards. Highlighting success stories, she said, is important to counteract the defeatism and fatalism that typically accompany sustainability stories — and she’s seeing such sentiments rising, even in her classroom.

Oftentimes, in the wake of a victory, “people point out just how much is still wrong with pollution, with our climate, with the world,” she said. “Success isn’t that there won’t be more disasters — it’s that, with more thoughtful choices, future disasters may be less impactful. And that is a more challenging story to tell.”

Science Demands Better Stories

Amid news of rising temperatures, invasive microplastics and melting glaciers, it might seem frivolous to talk about sustainability in terms of good storytelling. But experts argue that we’ve struggled to make progress on environmental issues because the deeply scientific nature of these problems makes it hard for the general public to relate.

Robert Cox — Pezzullo’s mentor at UNC Chapel Hill, where he remains an emeritus professor — credited his protégé with laying the basis for how understandable stories can change the course on climate.

“All the work being done to communicate climate science in the public sphere is now being talked about in terms of relatable stories that demonstrate the impact of climate change,” said Cox, a three-time president of the Sierra Club environmental organization and co-author (with Pezzullo) of a textbook on the discipline. “Those stories resonate far beyond just the pages of an academic article. Phaedra’s work really laid the basis for the importance of narrative, of storytelling, to make complex environmental issues approachable.”

“Success isn’t that there won’t be more disasters — it’s that, with more thoughtful choices, future disasters may be less impactful. And that is a more challenging story to tell.”

In her lab, Pezzullo is searching for that impact by forging partnerships within CMCI and ��ɫ��Ƶ to bring different kinds of expertise to the challenge of impactful storytelling — something she’s already doing as director of the university’s graduate certificate in environmental justice. She’s lectured at universities across the globe and has collaborated extensively with Colorado’s Department of Public Health and Environment on climate change. In the meantime, she and her students build digital “story maps” that illustrate how Colorado communities are affected by environmental and climate injustice.

Pursuing Stories with Confidence

Independent reporter Anthony Albidrez (MJour’24) took a foundational course in environmental justice with Pezzullo to better understand how journalism supports sustainability through storytelling and rigorous news reporting standards.

Because of his class experiences, Albidrez turned a course project about a stream cleanup in Honolulu, where he lives, into a report detailing how the local unhoused population was blamed for a mess that, when cleaned, amounted to 16 tons of trash being removed from the Makiki Stream.

“I don’t think a group of homeless people can drag tons of trash into a streambed, but from my research, they were receiving the brunt of the blame,” Albidrez said. “Phaedra’s course helped give me the confidence to go beyond the government numbers and explanations and find the real story.”

Pezzullo’s ability to encourage that sort of intellectual curiosity is what Cox most appreciates about her impact. Though he’s quick to credit her with pushing the boundaries of their field, Cox most admires how Pezzullo has guided the next generation of thinkers as they seek to advance sustainability through storytelling.

“So many of her students are pursuing academic, business and nonprofit work in this area, and that speaks to her strength as a mentor,” Cox said. “She is such an unselfish person in terms of contributing her labor to the field of environmental communication — and that’s the kind of champion a story like this needs.”

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Illustrations by Scott Bakal

Professor Phaedra Pezzullo aims to make sustainability issues more relatable by integrating storytelling into environmental communication.

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Spring 2025

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