November 2025
Drs. Joshua Sbicca, Tara Opsal, Stephanie Malin, and Carrie Chennault (Anthropology & Geography) have received funding for a new research project focused on ICE detention facilities, "ICEd Out: Carceral Expansion and the Production of Sacrifice Zones."
As Josh shared recently while posting the project's opening for a graduate research assistantship, "Immigrant detention has rapidly grown in the past year, requiring the construction, repurposing, or expansion of detention facilities across the United States. Authoritarian claims of an immigration crisis have justified rushed policies and lax oversight, leading to both human and environmental harm. This project examines carceral expansion as a sustainability crisis—one that undermines public health, human rights, and ecological resilience."
Dr. James Hale and Ecosystem Science & Sustainability colleagues' "Environment, Society, and Technology (EST-CSU)" project has been selected as a 2025-2026 Funded Collaboratory through CSU's School of Global Environmental Sustainability. Ph.D. student Adam Snitker will be the project manager.
Their EST-Collaboratory welcomes CSU faculty and researchers across disciplines to participate in collaborative exploration of and early-stage ideation around critical sustainability challenges at the intersection of the Environment, Society, and Technology (EST) related to technological interventions such as AI and machine learning, big data, nanotechnology, and web-based decision-making tools among others. The EST-Collaboratory aims to support networking and brainstorming to develop new collaborative research efforts at CSU examining how technology shapes and is shaped by society.
Ph.D. student Rebecca Forsythe has been accepted as a 2025-2026 Diana Wall Sustainability Fellow through CSU's School of Global Environmental Sustainability (SoGES). This competitive program accepts 20 advanced Ph.D. students and postdoctoral scholars annually from across campus and provides innovative training for effectively communicating science to the media and public, professional development skills and techniques, and strategies to build meaningful careers that incorporate engagement and interdisciplinarity.
Rebecca has also received a CSU Climate Adaptation Partnership grant for her research on the Maine Lobster industry and coastal community climate resilience. This funding comes from CSU's Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR).
Congratulations, Rebecca!
Congratulations to Ph.D. student Milagro Núñez-Solis who has been selected for an American Association of University Women (AAUW) International Fellowship! This program promotes education and equity for women by investing in international students who will be applying their expertise, professional skills, and leadership in the context of their home countries.
Did you know?
AAUW has supported the academic achievements of many thousands of scholars, from scientist Marie Curie, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, to astronaut Judith Resnik, the second woman in travel in space. Additionally, AAUW's advocacy efforts have propelled countless new laws, including the Equal Pay Act passed in 1963, the Title IX amendment in 1972, the Family and Medical Leave Act in 1993, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009, and the Paycheck Fairness Act which was passed by the U.S. Representatives in 2019 but is awaiting action in the Senate.
Senior Colin Hoffman was accepted to present a research poster at the Association for Clinical Translational Sciences in Washington, D.C. "My research was on social clinical communication, the modalities that different groups may communicate in the healthcare space. This includes patients, publics, caregivers, organizations. Each paradigm has recognized examples. Each relationship has its own current iteration, best practices moving forward, goals of those in the clinical practices. I am planning on making a video project for this one as well illustrating the poster," he explains. "My personal research can be found at The Soulciologist on most social media platforms! I enjoy making analogies, lectures, interviews, political coverage, research presentations. I love collaborating, making thoughtstorms, sharing excitement to anyone looking to share ideas!"
There's never a dull moment in Jason Downing's classrooms!
Jim Lenderts, Marijuana Enforcement Officer for Fort Collins Police Services, rode a SPIN bike to campus and posed many questions to students in SOC 380A3: Drugs in U.S. Society as he discussed myths and opportunities around law enforcement's role in upholding marijuana regulations and ensuring safety.
Max Poling, Compost Queen's Hand of the Queen, visited SOC 220: Environment, Food, and Social Justice. Compost Queen operates the only state-compliant food recycling facility in Larimer County and launched a city-wide pilot program this fall for Fort Collins residents and CSU students.
Inspired by semester-long discussions around equality and poverty, SOC 100 and 220 students came together again this semester to help fill Rams Against Hunger's food pantry shelves. Jason has been offering this service learning opportunity to students for twenty years!
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