Campus News Briefs - Fall 2017
鶹ѰHerbarium
A botanical library of dried plants, some dating back centuries.
1902
Year founded
535,000
Plant specimens, lichens and mosses in collection
1862
Date on one of the oldest specimens
5
Years into digitization of collection, housed in Clare Small
50
Percent of plants digitized so far, approx.
Four
Days open to public each week
One
New book about Colorado flora published with help from the Herbarium
鶹ѰBrings Back Fraternities
鶹ѰBoulder has established its own Interfraternity Council (IFC), allowing Greek social fraternities to affiliate directly with the university for the first time since 2005.
Two fraternities are on board for the 2017-18 school year: Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Tau Gamma.
鶹Ѱis in talks with others. 鶹Ѱsevered ties with social fraternities after pledge Lynn “Gordie” Bailey Jr. died from alcohol poisoning in 2005. Fraternities formed their own off-campus councils but were denied university privileges.
“We know that, for some students, being a member of a fraternity or sorority builds community, provides a support network and frames lasting friendships well beyond their college years,” said 鶹Ѱvice chancellor of student affairs Christina Gonzales.
Members of the new 鶹ѰInterfraternity Council must sign an agreement requiring them to follow all university policies.
Heard Around Campus
The functioning of our society is based in large part on our ability to transport food, fuel and other goods — activities that would be severely affected by a nuclear war."
— 鶹ѰBoulder physicist Brian Toon on his latest study concerning nuclear war’s agricultural and oceanic impacts.
What Lives in Your Showerhead?
It’s a fine time to clean your showerhead — you’ll find an entire microbial ecosystem living there.
But Noah Fierer wants a sample first.
The 鶹ѰBoulder ecology and evolutionary biology professor and colleagues sent 1,500 kits to willing “citizen scientists” in nearly every state, Puerto Rico and parts of Europe, enlisting regular folks to swab their showerheads and return the slime samples to 鶹Ѱfor DNA testing.
The researchers are trying to develop a more complete picture of showerhead bacteria communities and the conditions that allow them to thrive. They’ll pay special attention to microbes that cause non-tuberculous mycobacterial disease (NTM).
For more on this study, click .