Environmental Design

10 for 10: Centers making an impact

Amanda J. McManus — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 21:20:40 +0000

10 for 10: Centers making an impact Amanda J. McManus Mon, 11/17/2025 - 14:20

Centers and labs at CMDI are important not just because of the insights discovered by the researchers and creatives working within them, but because of the impact they offer to the public.

Here are some signature labs and centers from CMDI’s first decade.

Center for Communication and Democratic Engagement: Aims to learn from deliberation, dialogue and educational events tied to communication and democratic practice.
Center for Documentary and Ethnographic Media: Creates opportunities for the public to engage with documentary films, especially through the signature Mimesis festival, in Boulder.
Center for Environmental Journalism: Journalists who complete a fellowship from the center have been responsible for award-winning work on environmental issues.
Center for Media, Religion and Culture: Studies the complex relationship between media and religion in an entangled world.
Community Engagement, Design and Research Center: Partners with communities at home and abroad to build resilient, equitable cities and neighborhoods.
Immersive Media Lab: Invites people to explore augmented and virtual reality environments to develop different perspectives on emerging challenges.
Media Archaeology Lab: A peerless collection of obsolete, but functional, technology to experiment with and imagine roads not taken in tech and society.
Neuro D Lab: Explores the intersection of design, neurodiversity, equity and innovation to ensure designs—from products to wayfinding—work intuitively for all users.
Sustainability and Storytelling Lab: Aims to understand how stories influence the ways we practice sustainability and shame unsustainable methods.
Visual Evidence Lab: Studies how the legal system can be better equipped to handle video and photographic evidence presented in court, including deepfakes and generative A.I.

Here are 10 centers and labs that have created public impact in the college’s first decade.

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First resort

Allyson Maturey — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 21:49:09 +0000

First resort Allyson Maturey Fri, 11/14/2025 - 14:49

Allyson Maturey

As part of the assignment, CMDI students spent the day exploring Eldora for a site visit.
Header image: Hunter Wright, director of sustainability and project development at Eldora, guides CMDI students through the ski resort to give them a sense of the property. Photos by Kimberly Coffin and Addi Rexroat.

It’s not every day that “a local’s mountain,” as Jade Polizzi refers to Eldora Mountain Resort, is listed for sale. But when it hit the market in August 2024, Polizzi was quick to get CMDI students involved.

This spring, Polizzi (EnvDes’99), a teaching professor in environmental design, centered her senior architecture studio on the theme of “celebrating snow.” Over the 16-week capstone course, students completed three resort-inspired projects, including a redesign of the Lookout, Eldora’s signature lodge. In the summer, the town of Nederland announced its intention to purchase the resort.

“I’m always looking for projects that will get students excited,” Polizzi said. “This was a good one, especially because so many of our students are outdoor enthusiasts and love thinking about a ski resort. This is something they can connect to, and now they get to re-envision it.”

‘Like the bumper rails’ in bowling

For this project, the connection to the work included skiing a blue run during a site visit, as well as a more traditional opportunity to receive critiques from design professionals. Tobin Taylor (EnvDes’25) said his favorite part about Polizzi’s teaching philosophy is that it removes boundaries, creating an inspiring environment to experiment with new design ideas.

“She’s like the bumper rails guiding us to the bowling pins,” Taylor said. “She really inspires us to make beautiful things.”

View a 360 of the wood sculpture.

Two-dimensional abstractions.

Students explored wood as a material and constructed an abstract sculpture using tools available in the Creative Labs Center woodshop. They referenced the sculpture to hand-draw a two-dimensional abstraction. Designs by Orion Davis and Bailey Freeman

In an architecture capstone course, students work through complex design challenges, like environmental sustainability, user experience, and integrating building technologies and structural systems. To jump-start the students’ creativity, Polizzi assigned them what’s called an exploration, where they created abstract sculptures using wood.

“Wood is a warm element, and most resorts have some component of wood in them,” Polizzi said. “I wanted to get them in the wood shop to rethink what your typical lodge looks like.”

"She's like the bumper rails guiding us to the bowling pins. She really inspires us to make beautiful things.

Taylor Tobin (EnvDes '25)

Outcomes from the exploration influenced motifs used by students for the next two projects—redesigns of the Nordic Center and the Lookout—with an emphasis on beautiful designs that harmonize with the land.

Orion Davis’ concept was regrowth and return to nature, a theme she wove into her inhabitable designs.

“Because the Nordic Center is on such a drastic slope, I sank the building into the site a little bit to make it more accessible,” Davis (EnvDes’25) said. “For the Lookout, I took the same idea and exaggerated it. You start at the top with this minimalist building, because it’s so sunken into the ground—but as you move through, you get this array of views. It really meshes with the topography.”

Taylor’s Lookout design focused on highlighting the peak experience while providing shelter for skiers and staff.

“My building is essentially this idea that the earth at the base of the mountain has been pulled up, and you can go beneath it and use it as shelter,” Taylor said. “I hope people appreciate that, and don’t just pass it by as they walk through.”

View a variety of scaled architectural models.

The hands-on studio sparked enthusiasm and creativity, with students producing scaled architectural models and presenting them for review.

View the final design board (PDF) for The Viewout at Eldora by Tobin Taylor (EnvDes '25).

Real-world experience

Polizzi’s course was run as a client-based studio, in which students interacted with the team at Eldora—including its general manager and sustainability director—to get guidance and site context throughout the semester. This included a much-anticipated field trip to the mountain, with all-day ski passes and rentals for students.

“We had the most perfect day,” Polizzi said, “even if some of the students may have exaggerated their skiing abilities.”

I know that 99% of the class would say the field trip and skiing during a school day is their favorite memory, but for me, it was the midterm.”

Orion Davis (EnvDes '25)

At several points during the semester, alumni from local architecture and design firms were invited to participate in guest critiques—a regular feature of environmental design studio projects.

For graduating students, these casual settings offer both network development and real-world feedback from design professionals—like Hans Cerny, of ESA Architects, who designed the Caribou Lodge at Eldora.

“Hans gave us reviews for the midterm, which was incredibly cool, because we got direct feedback from someone who has done this before,” Davis said. She was experimenting with green roofs, which incorporate a top layer of vegetation, and felt unsure about the direction of her design.

Feedback from Cerny and other professionals validated her choices.

“I learned that it doesn’t have to be my best idea to still be a good idea,” Davis said. “It gave me an opportunity to challenge myself and run with something. I know that 99% of the class would say the field trip and skiing during a school day is their favorite memory, but for me, it was the midterm.”

Allyson Maturey is a communications project manager for CMDI.

When Eldora hit the market last summer, a team of environmental design students got the chance to re-envision its signature buildings as a way to potentially interest a buyer.

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Band together

Amanda J. McManus — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 22:14:09 +0000

Band together Amanda J. McManus Tue, 11/11/2025 - 15:14

Joe Arney

What role does CMDI play in the university chancellor’s vision for an institution that leads on sustainability? From left, faculty experts Phaedra C. Pezzullo, Caitlin Charlet, Hong Tien Vu and Morgan Young explored that question from their different areas of expertise. The group was photographed at the tree office, which was built by environmental design students and installed on the �� Boulder campus in 2016. Photos by Kimberly Coffin.

Phaedra C. Pezzullo is a professor of communication and director of the Sustainability and Storytelling Lab. She is an expert on communication’s role in shaping and influencing environmental and climate justice movements.

Caitlin Charlet is an associate teaching professor of environmental design, specializing in regenerative architecture and urban ecologies. Her research is situated at the experimental intersection of transformative design strategies, biogenic materials and the built environment.

Hong Tien Vu is the director of the Center for Environmental Journalism at CMDI. His work examines journalism and communication practices in addressing global challenges, from environmental degradation to societal inequalities.

Morgan Young has decades of experience in branding, strategy and creative execution—including managing campaigns about, and clients working in, sustainability. He is an associate teaching professor of advertising at the college.

�� Boulder Chancellor Justin Schwartz has been clear that he expects Colorado’s flagship university to be a leader in sustainability. But what does “sustainability” even mean? How do we get there without becoming discouraged? And in the current political and social moment, how do we advocate for the steps needed to advance sustainability?

At the time of this conversation, Hong Tien Vu—an associate professor of journalism and director of the Center for Environmental Journalism—was so new to the college that most of his belongings were still in boxes after relocating from the University of Kansas to CMDI. But he has a long track record of doing environmental journalism, so we threw him into the deep end with three faculty experts who have been doing sustainability long before it became a buzzword—whether directing ad campaigns, being mindful of building materials or podcasting about plastics.

This conversation was edited for length and clarity.

Vu: I’d like to start by asking each of you about sustainability, and how you define it.

Pezzullo: I’m a little nerdy about the definition of sustainability. There’s a new edition of my textbook out now, and we literally have a boldfaced definition I make my students memorize. So, for me, sustainability is the capacity to negotiate environmental, social and economic needs and desires for current and future generations.

Charlet: I rarely use the word “sustainability,” actually. There needs to be something regenerative—not just sustainable—in how we build and design. I’m interested in the long-term cultivation of regenerative relationships, in terms of materials, ecosystems and communities. For most of human history, we’ve built with what we’ve been able to grow locally, and it’s been able to go back into the earth. There was care for the environment, animals and humans. That changed with the Industrial Revolution.

Young: I come at this from a different perspective. Advertising and branding is both a leader and a follower in society. And at this moment, the industry is more of a follower, as people try to figure out what’s going on in this administration.

Pezzullo: I think, interestingly, that the ambiguity Caitlin was talking about, around the term “sustainability,” works well in this moment. It’s not a banned word, because we could be talking about anything. We could be talking about, for instance, economic sustainability.

There’s no reason why CMDI can’t be a leader in sustainability, particularly with the incorporation of environmental design."

Morgan Young, associate teaching professor

Vu: That’s an interesting point. I’d like to hear more from you all on what you’re seeing in the world as it relates to those organizations and sustainability.

Young: One example: I’ve done a lot of work with General Motors; in fact, I was the first person to make a commercial for an electric vehicle. It was the Chevy Volt, and it was their first ad talking about a sustainable future. And, in my classes, we do projects on how brands can create extensions to existing product lines. How can we use sustainability as a marketing tool to reach people who will respond positively to that information?

Pezzullo: I think it’s important to note that over the summer, �� Boulder transitioned away from all single-use plastics in beverage bottles on campus. It’s a great sustainability story, because it’s a tangible difference in our everyday lives that was made systemically, following the wisdom of the growing climate justice movement.

Charlet: I’ve been working on a documentary to collect the stories of how women have used collaboration as a foundation to run material science departments in academic settings, and work toward scalable alternative material solutions—and to show how they will have a major impact in changing our built environment.

Pezzullo: Collaboration is the only way to get things done for systemic change. Otherwise, you just have individuals, which isn’t enough to generate impact. In my work with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, we co-create story maps of the five most-polluted communities in Colorado. And working with those communities—instead of just about them or at them—creates better outcomes for public participation.

Charlet: Oh, I agree. Individual behavior won’t solve this problem. How do we educate a generation of architects and designers to choose better materials? That’s a radical notion for an architecture school. And the choices they make in building things will have a larger impact, because the construction sector is responsible for so much destabilization—humans, animals and topographies—and carbon emissions. There is no one solution, but biogenic and regenerative architecture and design is a basis for a scalable, forward-looking model.

Vu: We talked about how to define sustainability earlier, but Morgan, I wonder if you can talk about challenges you have faced in working with brands and avoiding overuse of the term, so they’re not accused of greenwashing.

Young: The reality is, even some of the brands we think of as being best for the environment are greenwashing. And as an advertising person, we’re not so deep into the business that we can look at their entire supply chain and influence that. If you hire someone like me, I’m going to focus on the best things to accentuate for a specific target audience—but what we’re missing is the rest of that chain that doesn’t have that positive impact. And in advertising, we have to be careful not to get in front of our skis and pretend a client is someone they’re not.

Vu: So that’s kind of mobilizing companies. Phaedra, I know you’ve done a lot in terms of initiatives that mobilize communities. Can you share some of the challenges you’ve faced there?

Pezzullo: Well, there’s a reason I use the word “sustainability” in my lab—I was launching it knowing the administration was going to ban words. I was set up to work with the Environmental Protection Agency’s environmental justice office, and the week I was supposed to present to them, they sent me an email and said the department was being shut down. Part of what’s exciting about this campus and the Boulder community is that we’re not giving up on our values.

Young: To build on that, on this campus, we are different. I had 13 students with me in London for a month, and we were really struck by the complete absence of reusable water bottles there. They don’t have their Yetis or their Hydro Flasks like we do in Colorado. The point I’m trying to make is, much of the world is not there with us.

Vu: We’ve brought up current events a couple of times now. I wonder if we could talk about what the shift in public perception around sustainability has meant for your students, or the way you teach.

Young: A lot of my students are very business-minded. Some want to do advertising for the Environmental Working Group, the League of Conservation Voters or Earthjustice. But some would rather work for Chevron, Sephora or a fashion brand, like Kith. So, my goal is to create a student who can do external communications that show sustainability is good business.

Pezzullo: I think one of our biggest challenges, in communication, is A.I., which has radically changed our classrooms and what we understand labor to be—for creative content makers, for storytellers and for people just doing research. This generation is going to need to rise to the challenge of whether A.I. can become sustainable.

Charlet: I love this question. I’ve taught a design course where I challenge students to create a resilient ecological strategy for urban design with A.I. And the biggest thing that they learn is that it’s really hard to design with A.I.—it’s a tool like others already in use in architecture. It isn’t magic. In parallel to that, I ask them to consider the environmental detriment of using A.I.—not only the energy use, but the building facilities themselves. What impact do they have on communities? Where do the materials come from? Considering those two aspects of A.I. in parallel is really important for them to think about.

Vu: Caitlin, is that what students are looking for, from the standpoint of their career paths?

Charlet: Architecture is often seen as an exciting, but inherently safe, choice for students. It rests somewhere between the creativity of art and the challenges of engineering—so it’s a middle ground, and a respected profession. And I think the students come in with confidence, knowing they will be able to get a job. In terms of environmental design, there’s such a movement toward regenerative and biogenic architecture now, and the reuse and recycling of materials within buildings. There are a lot of firms with research departments that our students feel very comfortable and very prepared to go right into, and work on certifications like LEED, WELL and Passive House.

Young: I already mentioned advertising is more of a follower than a leader right now, but oftentimes, advertising is a reflection of society, as well. Right now, we see companies pulling back and hiding on sustainability issues. There are good companies—Patagonia, Outside magazine—that will continue to stand up and fight. But those that are more about their bottom line will let go of their sustainability programs to keep making money. This is where we have to work with our students, to show them these companies don’t have a moral high ground and will change with whatever the environment is in order to look good. But—is this important to all our students? I’m not sure, en masse, that they’re much more focused on sustainability than past generations were.

Pezzullo: There are lots of reasons to be alarmed and depressed, and I’m Italian American, so I can have, like, 100 emotions in five minutes. But I do have hope. You know, when South Park started—it was written by two �� Boulder grads, you know—

Young: Yes! I went to college with them.

Pezzullo: That’s right, so you know they began South Park making fun of climate change, saying Al Gore believes in this thing called ManBearPig, and there’s no such thing. But South Park has, over time, recognized climate change does happen, and they even apologized to Al Gore. It’s important to remember that attitudes change, and we can shape public opinion in creative ways.

There needs to be something regenerative—not just sustainable—in how we build and design.”

Caitlin Charlet, associate teaching professor

Vu: Let me ask one final question. After listening to your colleagues, what’s one thing you’re inspired to explore?

Charlet: I’m inspired by and appreciate the chance to learn more about my colleagues’ work. Especially advertising—that’s a field I’ve never delved into. How might that impact the field I’m working in? Does it pertain to architecture firms and how they forefront buildings and construction ethics? Is there a measurable impact?

Pezzullo: That’s what I love about being part of a college like this—the opportunities to publish, edit, co-author or just talk to people in so many different disciplines. So, when we have a challenge like sustainability, we approach it from a more systemic, holistic perspective. We all bring different experiences from the institutions and companies and communities we’ve worked with.

Young: I think this college is in a rapid growth trajectory. We are very well positioned to have a big impact on the next generation—specifically, A.I. I’m inspired by people like Caitlin, who are already building A.I. into their syllabi, because I don’t have a handle on how A.I. will be incorporated into our academics. But I am worried about intellectual property rights around it—specifically related to advertising, but also areas like architecture, design and communication. Our college needs to tackle that—it’s a great opportunity for us to become a leader within that sector, because right now, nobody has a handle on it.

Vu: So, can CMDI be a leader in sustainability communication?

Young: Absolutely. I think our students are more concerned about this matter than those at other universities. There’s no reason why CMDI can’t be a leader in sustainability, particularly with the incorporation of environmental design.

Pezzullo: I absolutely agree with you, Morgan. It’s not that we don’t know the science, or what’s wrong, or what we could do to have a more sustainable future. It’s that we have to find ways to bridge differences, and that’s a strength of ours. With our expertise across a wide range of human expression, I really believe CMDI has a strong role to play in sustainability in the future.

Joe Arney covers research and general news for the college.

Photographer Kimberly Coffin graduated from CMDI in 2018 with degrees in media production and strategic communication.

When it comes to sustainability, individual actions aren’t enough. The same is true for how we look for solutions, so we asked a group of CMDI experts how collaboration might save the day.

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Illustration by Dana Heimes

At this holiday market, repurposing is the new regifting

Hannah Stewart — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 16:02:52 +0000

At this holiday market, repurposing is the new regifting Hannah Stewart Fri, 11/07/2025 - 09:02

Hannah Stewart

A student applies a decal to a finished whiskey glass while another student records the process in the EPOP studio course. This class challenges students studying environmental products of design to make gifts from diverted materials that are listed for sale at the Firefly Handmade Holiday Market. Photos by Hannah Howell.

John Davis developed a love of product design through a furniture building studio in Copenhagen, Denmark. So taking the EPOP studio course offered through the environmental design department was a no-brainer.

If you go

What: Students will be at the Firefly Handmade Holiday Market all weekend selling 12 hand-designed and manufactured products.

Where: Pearl Street Mall, 1303 Pearl St., Boulder.

When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Nov. 15 and 16. Historically, they’ve sold out quickly, so stop by early.

Learn more

“I initially wanted to do architecture, but found that product design has much more tangible results a lot faster, which is rewarding,” Davis said. “And this studio is such a good opportunity for students like me. I don't think a lot of people get the chance to actually design a product and take it to market during their education.”

EPOP students have one seemingly simple task: Design, produce and sell an item at market. But there’s a catch: All products—as well as the storefront—must be made sustainably, with at least 50% of each item made from diverted materials.

The course name comes from the environmental products of design, or EPOD, major at �� Boulder’s College of Communication, Media, Design and Information, and the pop-up shop at which the final goods are sold each year.

In teams of three, the students identified a waste stream—plastic from holiday string lights, used outdoor gear or, in Davis’ case, used whiskey bottles—and created both a story and a product from it.

Davis and his team realized many holiday markets have artisan wine glasses, but rarely did they see similar drinkware for hard liquor. They settled on a whiskey glass and companion coaster, and after learning skills like sandblasting and 3D modeling, were able to create 15 two-glass sets to sell at the Firefly Handmade Holiday Market later this month.

Both the glasses and coasters were made of reclaimed whiskey bottles from Spirit Hound, in Lyons, which donated the raw materials to the team.

“That just made our sustainability story a lot stronger,” Davis said. “I am really proud of how sustainable we were able to make our product. It’s made from something like 80% diverted material.”

This is the fifth year the students have collaborated with Firefly, and the fourth time they'll sell their goods at the annual holiday market on the Pearl Street Mall. And each year, the studio—and market storefront—has grown. Unlike the 10-foot-by-10-foot tents most vendors use, the students are building a 10-foot-by-20-foot storefront, complete with cash wrap and mounts so that market-goers can watch each product’s process videos, created by the students over the course of the semester.

Most years, their inventory quickly sells out.

“It’s really affirming for the students and builds their creative confidence,” said Jared Arp, an assistant teaching professor co-leading the class alongside Melissa Felderman, an associate teaching professor.

“This studio is like a right of passage. When the market happens, former students come back to see what the next class has done, so it’s become a touchpoint for our alumni and a great way to engage the community,” Arp said.

Students learned various technical skills like sandblasting, 3D modeling and more throughout the course of the EPOP Studio.

From concept to creation, all products (and the storefront itself) are all made by the students.

Hannah Stewart graduated in 2019 with a degree in communication. She covers student news at the college.

Photographer Hannah Howell is studying media production at CMDI.

CMDI students will showcase, and sell, their sustainable products at the annual Firefly Handmade Holiday Market in November.

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Expert calls East Wing destruction a rejection of history, culture: ‘This should not have been allowed to happen’

Joe Arney — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 16:59:50 +0000

Expert calls East Wing destruction a rejection of history, culture: ‘This should not have been allowed to happen’ Joe Arney Fri, 10/31/2025 - 10:59

Joe Arney

The demolition of the East Wing of the White House was ‘utterly negligent,’ says Azza Kamal, an associate teaching professor of environmental design and someone who has worked in historic preservation. Photo by Jacquelyn Martin/The Associated Press.

Remember the Alamo? Yeah, Azza Kamal remembers the Alamo. She also remembers, as a member of the historic preservation committee for San Antonio, a redevelopment plan that threatened to encroach on the historic site’s borders.

Kamal, an associate teaching professor of environmental design at the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information, stepped down from the committee before it rendered a decision about how the proposal addressed the delineation of the historic footprint. But she remembered being unimpressed with the proposal’s lack of respect for the boundaries of the battle that made the fort famous.

“This pivotal moment in Texas history does not have a physical boundary, like a fence, and part of this plan ignored that boundary,” Kamal said. “If you look at East and West Germany, there are places where you can see where the border existed between them. That’s what we asked for—to recognize that this is history, and needs to be designated in a visible, dignified way that aligns with this historical icon.”

“You’re standing up for a history, a culture, and a way people connect with buildings and engage with their communities. To disregard that with a building as significant as the White House is problematic.”

Azza Kamal, associate teaching professor, environmental design

When she looks at the pile of rubble that used to be the East Wing of the White House, she sees “a much worse and utterly negligent” disrespect for the history and culture associated with an important building.

“There is a complicated process for a building like this. It should take years,” said Kamal, who is not involved in the White House project but has served in a preservation role in Gainesville, Florida, in addition to San Antonio. “Typically, anytime you’re talking demolition with a historic landmark, a preservation committee is among the first steps in your due process.”

The destruction of the East Wing was undertaken by Donald Trump to add a ballroom to the White House, and is the second time he’s embarked on a controversial renovation project to the building and its grounds: Earlier this year, he paved over the Rose Garden to install patio seating.

A great deal of media attention on the ballroom project has focused on the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, which was adopted to create processes to protect historic resources. Notably, the act exempts the White House, U.S. Capitol and Supreme Court building, but in proceeding immediately to demolition, Trump is ignoring the precedent established by other presidents, who have sought approvals to make smaller renovations.

Potentially illegal

While she’s not a legal scholar, she said it may also have been illegal.

“If you read the text of the act, it specifically says those exemptions must be consistent with the purpose of this act,” Kamal said. “And the purpose of the act is historic preservation, and these buildings are designated landmarks importance sense of our shared cultural heritage, in the sense that important decrees, decisions and discussions happen in these places. This should not have been allowed to happen.”

Scholars are trying to build the legal case against this action, but Kamal pointed to another important dimension—the environmental impact. Something she talks about to students in her sustainable planning courses is the impact new development has, including energy use to tear something down, filling landfills with destroyed materials and extracting raw materials to enable new construction.

Alternatives like rehabilitation or adaptive reuse of a building, or deconstruction—where the building materials are kept intact or repurposed—can alleviate the environmental impact of a new building or prevent materials from ending up in a landfill. Neither appears to have been considered for the East Wing.

“It seems like demolition was the first step in the process, and for that to happen, you have to skip a lot of steps,” Kamal said. “And people will say the only function preservation committees have is to make life difficult for people, but serving in these roles is a great responsibility and honor that I cherished. You’re standing up for a history, a culture, and a way people connect with buildings and engage with their communities. To disregard that with a building as significant as the White House is problematic.”

Joe Arney covers research and general news for the college.

A preservationist and professor of sustainable planning laments leveling of White House section to add a ballroom.

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Notable architect, planner named recipients of alumni awards

Allyson Maturey — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 17:20:40 +0000

Notable architect, planner named recipients of alumni awards Allyson Maturey Mon, 10/27/2025 - 11:20

The Department of Environmental Design at the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information has announced the recipients of its 2025 alumni awards. This year’s honoree for the Distinguished Alumni Award is Sarah Broughton (EnvDes’96), while the Young Designer Award recipient is Mackinzi Taylor (EnvDes’17).

The Environmental Design Alumni Awards honor individuals who have demonstrated leadership and made significant contributions to the design and architectural professions.

CMDI will celebrate this year’s winners from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 30, at the Environmental Design Building. The celebration kicks off in the ENVD Gallery with an exhibit featuring work from the award recipients. Light refreshments will be served. The awards ceremony begins at 5:30 p.m. in ENVD 134, featuring presentations from each winner. All members of the CMDI community are welcome to attend.

Schedule of events:

3:30 to 4:30 p.m. | Alumni panel with students (ENVD 134)

4:30 to 5:30 p.m. | Reception and exhibit (ENVD Gallery)

5:30 to 6:30 p.m. | Awards ceremony (ENVD 134)

Distinguished Alumni Awardee:

Sarah Broughton FAIA, NCIDQ, founding principal, Rowland+Broughton Architecture

Since founding R+B in 2003 with her husband, John Rowland AIA, Broughton has embraced a holistic model of practice, continuously elevating the firm’s reputation for excellence in design. She champions the firm’s overriding belief that sustainable design is an integral component to delivering high-quality, thoughtful projects that stand the test of time. The health and well-being of clients are critical, and inclusivity is a hallmark of all interactions.

Broughton’s experience includes high-end hospitality and residential architecture, interior design, urban design, and historic preservation. Her design leadership spans studios in Aspen and Denver, with projects ranging from coast to coast and beyond. In 2022, as a licensed architect, Broughton was elevated to the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows, which recognizes significant contributions to the profession of architecture and society.

Broughton has held multiple leadership positions at R+B, including chair of the Aspen Historic Preservation Commission and 2023 AIA Colorado president, and is frequently invited to sit on awards juries and speak on panels, webinars and podcasts. Under her leadership, R+B has been named AIA Colorado Firm of the Year, and team projects have received awards from AIA Colorado, IIDA, ASID Colorado and PSMJ, among others, plus being featured in dozens of publications.

In addition to her architectural leadership, Broughton and Rowland are the authors of Designing Aspen: The Houses of Rowland+Broughton, which showcases 10 remarkable residential projects set against the spectacular backdrop of Aspen and the Rocky Mountains. Deeply engaged in the arts and culture community, Broughton serves on the board of trustees for the Aspen Music Festival + School as secretary, is a board member of the Aspen Art Museum and was the guest curator of the museum’s inaugural design room.

The firm’s convergent design philosophy led to an invitation for the firm to participate in the 2023 Venice Architectural Biennale, hosted by the European Cultural Centre, an international platform that highlights innovative architectural thinking and fosters dialogue between global designers, institutions and the public.

Young Designer Awardee:

Mackinzi Taylor

Taylor is a passionate and dedicated planning professional with a background in landscape architecture, urban design, land use and policy planning, and community engagement. She contributes strong organizational skills, aesthetic and accessible products, and clear communication to her projects, as well as a deep love for the American West. After five years in consulting, she is thrilled to be working in the nonprofit space where she can partner with communities to reach implementable solutions and envision a more livable future.

Taylor lives in Loveland with her fiancé, Scott, and their many plants. She is a project manager for Community Builders, a nonprofit that assists local leaders in building healthy, equitable and prosperous communities. Outside of work, you can find her climbing at one of the many local crags, biking to a brewery, backpacking in canyon country or hosting game night. She is a certified planner with a bachelor’s degree in environmental design from the University of Colorado Boulder.

Sarah Broughton and Mackinzi Taylor will be honored at a reception later this month.

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Designing a more hopeful future

Joe Arney — Mon, 20 Oct 2025 15:44:58 +0000

Designing a more hopeful future Joe Arney Mon, 10/20/2025 - 09:44

Iris Serrano

Photo by Addi Rexroat

Design has always been about solving problems, but in the Department of Environmental Design, it’s also about finding hope along the way.

That is why the department, part of the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information at �� Boulder, is hosting a year-long lecture series, with guest speakers from around the country sharing their insights on designing for a complex world.

If you go

What: The ENVD Lecture Series on Designing for a Complex World

When: Various days and times through Wednesday, Nov. 19.

Who: Various speakers from industry and academia, who will bring real-world perspectives to complex problems and challenge students to be optimistic in the face of crises.

The remaining lineup is as follows:

Cyrus Peñarroyo, associate professor of architecture at the University of Michigan, 12:20 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 22, ENVD 134.
Mike Moore, founding partner of Tres Birds, 5 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 12, ENVD 134.
Alejandro Vázquez, director at Field Operations, 12:20 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 19, ENVD 134.

Though the lecture series has been held before, this year’s theme of designing optimism issues a specific challenge to the presenters and students who attend.

“Design is inherently an optimistic act,” said Jeremy Ehly, an associate teaching professor and chair of the visiting lecture committee. “Optimism is imagining a future that’s better, and in order to be a designer you have to believe in that possibility.”

The lectures go beyond traditional design, covering topics such as photography, environmental advocacy and sustainability, showcasing how creativity can create change for all spaces and living beings. The series formally kicked off Oct. 13 with a lecture from Joyce Hwang, a professor of architecture at the University at Buffalo, who shared insights from her work on how to integrate multispecies habitat design into the built environment.

Hwang encouraged designers to frame their work beyond just human considerations—from integrating ecosystem services thinking into design thinking, to incorporating empathy and inclusion in a more expanded and biodiverse sense.

Environmental design often handles complex and sometimes discouraging issues like the housing crisis, habitat degradation and ecological collapse. Still, Ehly hopes this series will inspire students to see hope beyond these challenges.

“When confronted with these problems, it creates a sense of futility,” Ehly said. “I hope students attending are influenced by these people who are making a positive change—and can see themselves doing it someday.”

Students won’t only have the opportunity to hear from these industry experts, they will also be able to connect with speakers on a deeper level. It’s a key focus of the environmental design department, which challenges students to do hands-on work that is reviewed by industry professionals to provide invaluable feedback.

“What gets me excited is just the ability for our students to be so intensely exposed to these critical voices, and have a way to critically engage with them in our studios, in our curriculum and in real life,” Ehly said.

Iris Serrano is studying strategic communication and journalism at CMDI. She covers student news and events for the college.

ENVD is hosting a year-long lecture series featuring industry experts exploring how creativity can create positive change.

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‘Little community,’ big class: Meet CMDI’s groundbreaking Class of 2029

Joe Arney — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 16:17:48 +0000

‘Little community,’ big class: Meet CMDI’s groundbreaking Class of 2029 Joe Arney Mon, 10/13/2025 - 10:17

Iris Serrano

Chip the Buffalo leads CMDI's newest class of students in doing the wave during the college's orientation activities. The college's Class of 2029 is 25% larger than last year's, which was at the time the largest ever. Photo by Hannah Howell.

When Kellen McFarland made the short drive from Thornton to Boulder, he immediately fell in love.

Not just with the university, or its dramatic views of the Flatirons, but with the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information

“I remember thinking it was not only pretty out here, and close to home but all the classes I took were really fun,” said McFarland, who attended Connections, a summer academy for high school students that helped him experience life on campus. “After the program, Boulder felt like the best fit for me, and I considered it as one of my top options.”

In enrolling at CMDI, McFarland joined a monumental class of new first-year students. With 548 new first-year students, this new cohort is by far the largest in the college’s history, reflecting a 25% increase from the previous year.

Some other highlights from the Class of 2029:

The college also added 73 transfer students, bringing the total count of new undergraduate students to 621.
The strategic communication major had the highest number of admits by department, with 155. Information science saw the largest increase in enrollments, jumping by 16 over last year.
Despite the vastly increased size of the class, average high school GPA (3.76) and standardized test scores are slightly up, or on par with, last year.
CMDI also added 38 master’s students and 23 doctoral students for the fall.

Photo by Jack Moody

Notably, the incoming class is the first to be admitted to the renamed college, reflecting the integration of the environmental design department into CMDI.

“It’s so exciting, in our 10th year as a college, to have such a large and dynamic class of students joining us,” said Lori Bergen, founding dean of CMDI. “I’m especially thrilled to welcome our environmental design students, and am excited to see how their energy and enthusiasm continues to positively shape the direction of our community.”

‘Trying to be ambitious’

McFarland also participated in Pathways, another summer program designed to help students acclimate to college life and build community. It was there that the aspiring sports journalist also had the opportunity to learn more about the clubs and student organizations that would help him build a network and develop experience outside of the classroom.

“I learned about the opportunities that Sko Buffs Sports offers. Members have gone to Big 12 media days, and they get to interview athletes and get flown out to games,” McFarland said. “I’m trying to be ambitious. I know I won’t get there on day one, but I want to experience what it’s like on the field.”

Media production major Eloisa Samper participated in Pathways with McFarland, crediting the experience with preparing her for college life.

“We got really close in our group. We all have different majors, but when we see each other, we stick together,” Samper said. “It was comforting to know I had this little community on my first day.”

She’s no stranger to working in the creative field. Samper has practiced photography for years, and over the summer, she explored videography and content creation to support the global seminar in Medellin, Colombia, run by environmental design each year.

“After that, I started getting invested in my education and trying to figure out how I could do the kind of art that I am passionate about. That’s how I decided to study media production,” said Samper, who hopes her education prepares her to become a cinematographer on feature films or even work as a war correspondent.

Interests in sports, sustainability

Kennah White also came into college knowing what she wanted to do. The first-year student moved from Colorado Springs to study environmental design after taking an introductory class in high school.

Christopher Bell (PhDMediaSt'09) presents to students at orientation. Photo by Jack Moody.

“We still have a lot of problems with sustainability,” White said. “I want to help solve those problems and teach people how to help and utilize the environment.”

Her passion for advocacy started in high school, where she was part of an organization that raised awareness and funds to support women’s and children’s rights around the world. She hopes to continue that work in college.

CMDI is also welcoming plenty of students who have found their home away from home. Jhordynn Garcia, a media studies major, came to Boulder from San Antonio in hopes of breaking into the sports media industry.

Garcia is eager to learn foundational skills in her classes and hopes to better understand audiences and what drives engagement, so she can do multimedia marketing for professional sports teams.

“I’m curious about how to make people feel excited, how to connect with an audience and bring people together through social media,” she said.

With the semester already underway, students said they’re already making the most of the opportunities available to them in and out of class. Sam King, a strategic communication major from Minnesota, hopes to start his own business one day. To that end, he’s started to build his skill set by joining the �� Boulder chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America.

“We’ve had LinkedIn workshops and learned how other students got their internships. These are things that will help me pursue my goal, even if I’m still figuring out exactly what that is,” King said. “If you can communicate well and express yourself, that helps you get along with people and lead them.”

The Class of 2029, with Chip, in the �� Events Center during orientation activities. Including transfer students, the incoming class is made up of 621 new undergraduates. Photo by Kimberly Coffin.

Iris Serrano is studying strategic communication and journalism at CMDI. She covers student news and events for the college.

CMDI’s first cohort since integrating with environmental design is made up of even more ambitious and creative students.

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Grounded in reality

Amanda J. McManus — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 21:34:20 +0000

Grounded in reality Amanda J. McManus Fri, 09/26/2025 - 15:34

Hannah Stewart

Illustrations by Dana Leafdale

Two small wheels clattering against the tile floor. Again.

To a young Mary Miller, that sound meant her father, a Delta pilot, was off to work. And while she’d miss her father while he was away, growing up around airports helped Miller fall in love with aviation, too. “I soloed for the first time on my 16th birthday,” she recalled with a laugh. “I always tell people I flew a plane by myself before I drove a car by myself.”

Her passion for flying became a driving force behind her senior thesis, a combined research and design project. Miller (EnvDes’25) conducted fieldwork, interviews and policy analysis to better understand airport infrastructure and sustainability. She then created designs for what regional and municipal airports might look like in a future when they are used less frequently—a shift that is likely to happen in her Minnesota home.

As a hardworking and involved student—she was a member of multiple organizations and held a number of jobs on campus—Miller never got the chance to fly in Colorado. But lessons learned in Boulder—as well as in Medellín, Colombia, where the environmental design department hosts an annual studio—convinced her she needed to conduct her research in the literal airfield.

“You have to ground yourself in a site because no two are the exact same,” she said. “While I was in Colombia, I learned that different areas have their own histories and needs, so it’s important to always consider that.”

In the six-week studio, faculty lead students like Miller in completing local development projects alongside community members and peers from other universities.

“It was definitely one of the best experiences I had as a student,” she said. “It was impactful to work with the community there and realize how much we had changed each others’ lives.”

In all her projects, Miller’s mission is to create impact. Her honors thesis was a chance to do so in an industry she loves.

For her thesis project, Mary Miller created designs of different use cases for small airports to balance their use with their natural surroundings. Used with permission.

“Her passions for aviation and environmental protection come together in her thesis work, where she critically investigates the vast areas of land occupied by airports and explores how they can be reimagined,” said Jota Samper, an associate professor in environmental design and director of the Medellín studio. “Her thesis is, in many ways, a love letter to airports, nature and the people who work in those spaces.”

Initially, Miller studied how to make airports more sustainable, and connected with Zannah Mae Matson, her advisor and an assistant professor of landscape architecture who researches infrastructure. But the project shifted to include the damage airports do to the environment.

Nationwide, regional and municipal airports occupy approximately 1.5 million acres of land. As a pilot, Miller understands that clearing land improves safety, but as a landscape architect, she’s aware of the impact airports have on native plants and animals.

As she interviewed airport managers, Miller learned about the financial, policy, ecology and safety challenges they face. She also identified four ecological systems common to the Minnesota airports she visited: fields, forests, water and wetlands.

Using those habitats as a starting point, she proposed four designs to help those managers rehabilitate the landscape. For example, a busy airport near fields may need more cutting or mowing, while a manager of a quieter airport could allow more native flora and fauna to flourish.

“Instead of immediately proposing to decommission airports, she’s suggesting something that could be done alongside functioning ones, which is a really nuanced view,” Matson said.

Miller’s dedication and thoroughness paid off: She earned top honors for her project and presented her research at this year’s Environmental Design Research Association conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

She’s still figuring out the next move for her career, but hopes to keep this project in the air. She credited her education with giving her perspective on her future.

“My environmental design education proved what a huge range design can offer, and how it can apply to anything, like communication or journalism,” Miller said. “There are so many directions my degree could take me in.”

“Her thesis is, in many ways, a love letter to airports, nature and the people who work in those spaces.”

Jota Samper
Associate Professor
Environmental Design

Hannah Stewart graduated from CMDI in 2019 with a degree in communication.

A recent graduate’s love of flight helped her senior thesis reach new heights.

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10 for 10: Alumni who impress

Amanda J. McManus — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 21:25:06 +0000

10 for 10: Alumni who impress Amanda J. McManus Fri, 09/26/2025 - 15:25 Malinda Miller

CMDI counts alumni from disciplines like journalism, communication and advertising as part of its history, meaning its impact goes back more than a century. But even in just the 10 years since its official founding, the college has produced some incredible graduates and amazing stories. Here are some of our favorites.

Drake Brown (StratComm’18)
Manager, Digital and Social Media, KPMG US, Philadelphia

Brown tells KPMG’s story through social and digital media channels. Experiences from classes and an Ogilvy & Mather internship helped him land an agency job after graduation.

“My capstone class was a value-add to my career. At my first agency job, I was thrown into multiple new business pitches, and it didn’t feel like it was my first time interfacing and presenting to an external client.”

Troy Fairbanks (CritMedia’18)
Owner of both Fairbanks Films and Rise Aerials, Denver

When Fairbanks entered college he was already freelancing, and he now owns and operates two companies. Fairbanks Films specializes in video production for sports, corporate work, documentaries, livestreams, and event coverage; Rise Aerials focuses on high-end aerial cinematography.

“All the different projects for class were exciting, and it felt so fun and fluid. Many were projects I wouldn't normally create on my own, so it was a really good exercise to broaden my skills. When I graduated, I had 10 to 15 videos for my portfolio.”

Jasi Les (Comm’18)
Enterprise Account Director, LinkedIn, San Francisco

After nearly a decade in tech—from startups to global brands— Les manages more than $4 million in business for LinkedIn across 30 strategic enterprise accounts. She works with executives to understand their challenges and gaps, then builds business cases of how LinkedIn products can help.

“My degree has made me a multidimensional communicator. I can speak very technically with a development team, then meet with a Fortune 500 executive and translate that message.”

Sophie Burgess (EnvDes’19)
Senior Landscape Architect, SLR Consulting, Edinburgh, Scotland

Since joining SLR in May, Burgess has worked on the best way to implement onshore substations for offshore wind farms across the United Kingdom while doing justice to the historical and local character of the areas where those projects are installed.

“It goes back to everything I learned in ENVD and at college—making sure your designs and the way you implement things are thoughtful and intentional, and trying your best to problem solve with the codes you're given.”

Katy Fetters Gaastra (MMediaSt’19)
Founder, Cerebral Palsy Strong, Portland, Oregon

Gaastra runs a nonprofit for adults with disabilities that includes an online platform based on sharing stories and connection, and a growing number of in-person events.

“I came to �� with a very specific goal—to understand how to become a better community organizer, storyteller and leader. The master’s in media and public engagement allowed me to explore how to do that with more intention, and how to build a narrative around a social justice movement to increase disability representation in a positive way.”

Cole Pates (CritMedia’19)
Global Video Director, The North Face, Denver

Pates’ day-to-day involves managing production for seasonal campaigns within the company. It’s a job that often requires on-the-spot problem-solving as the team tackles outdoor shoots under changing conditions.

“When I was in college, I assumed as long as I had a camera and something to go take a picture or video of, I was fine. But as you gain experience, and the productions get larger, you realize there’s a time and a place for what you learned in class. You start to understand roles and responsibilities, and how those factor in to accomplish the goal.”

Cheyenne Smith (StratComm’20)
Creative Producer, Chey Smith Media LLC, Boulder

Smith manages campaigns, produces commercials and creates social media content for outdoor brands—such as REI, Osprey and Teva—as a freelancer. She has also stayed connected with Pathways to Excellence, CMDI’s summer intensive program that prepares students for college.

“I love watching Pathways students find what they are passionate about, because that’s what helped light me up when I was in the program.”

Vinay Simlot (Jour, AeroEngr’21)
Washington Correspondent, Nexstar TV, Washington, D.C.

Following three years at a local station in Tennessee, Simlot now covers national politics and produces stories for local stations. Once in a while, he gets to use his aerospace engineering background for stories on space.

“I was ready to jump into local news because of NewsTeam. We learned how to work on the fly. We learned how to put stuff together on deadline. We learned to be flexible. And we learned every job in the newsroom—to report, anchor, produce, everything.”

Janghee Cho (PhD Info’23)
Assistant Professor, College of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore

Cho researches and teaches in the areas of human-computer interaction and social computing with a focus on the role of future technologies in our everyday lives—research he began as a Meta fellow. He also directs the Joyful Experience in Design and Interaction Lab.

“The information science department studies emerging technology from a sociocultural—not just a technical—perspective. It opened my eyes to understanding humans in a different way to influence design—to think more critically about the design.”

Bianca Zamora Perez (Comm, MediaSt’24)
PhD student, University of Pennsylvania Annenberg School for Communication, Philadelphia

Perez is continuing research she started at CMDI. Through the lens of copyright and labor, she studies authorship in relation to how an individual’s images and text—especially wage workers with marginalized identities—are training generative A.I. models without compensation.

“My time in CMDI gave me the books, theories and knowledge I need to perform academically. The college also introduced me to professors who saw me as both a student and a person they cared about. They supported me throughout the journey of finding my voice and using it.”

Malinda Miller graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences with a degree in English in 1992 and Master's in Journalism in 1998.

CMDI boasts more than a century of history—meaning alumni in journalism, advertising and communication have gone on to truly incredible careers. But even just looking at graduates from the 10 years the college has existed showcases some amazing stories. Here are some of our favorites.

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