Coronavirus

Testing only the unvaccinated may do little to curb spread of omicron

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Jan 2022 23:20:29 +0000

Testing only the unvaccinated may do little to curb spread of omicron Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 01/06/2022 - 16:20

New �� research suggests while unvaccinated-only testing policies make sense when the unvaccinated population is large, they have little impact on transmission when there are few remaining unvaccinated people to test.

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Behind the Masks: Revealing heroes in COVID-19 research

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Nov 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Behind the Masks: Revealing heroes in COVID-19 research Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 11/08/2021 - 00:00

Grace Wilson

In June of this year, the �� highlighted the work that Mark Hernandez, professor in the Environmental Engineering Program at CU Boulder, and Odessa Gomez, a senior researcher in Hernandez’ group, have been doing to measure air ventilation and filtration in Denver public schools. They weren't alone in their efforts.

The lab's field technicians were all students from populations historically excluded from engineering, and who have their own dreams and ambitions for its future.

"This was no small feat for these young people, who fearlessly went into Denver metro public schools, masks and gloves on, day after day, during the heart of the pandemic," Hernandez said.

Here are the stories of four of those technicans, Halle Sago, Sylvia Akol, Jeronimo Palacios Luna and Ximena Duenas Ibarra, and what they're working for.

Halle Sago: To make walls without mold

Halle Sago (EnvDes'20), now an environmental design alumni of CU Boulder, had never considered field work before Mark Hernandez and Anna Segur reached out to her. "I was pretty close-minded. I was focused on residential work, but through the project, I realized the importance of community buildings, like schools," she said.

Working in Mark's lab and doing field technician work broadened Sago's perspectives on how the built environment affects the health of students. "It's great research that I'm very appreciative to be a part of," she said.

Sago is Native American. Her mom's side of the family is Zuni Pueblo, her dad's side is Mescalero Apache, and she has wanted to pursue architecture from a young age. Though she grew up in Boulder, she frequently traveled back to her families' reservations and saw the disparities in access to quality housing.

"It hit me beginning in middle school that this is not normal. They should not have mold, or holes in the roof, and they should have access to the resources that they need for a healthy environment."

That desire became Sago's pathway to college, and everything, including the air quality research with Hernandez' team, has helped her learn more about the systems that go into building those healthy environments.

The research with Hernandez' team was a refreshing change, she said. In the program she said there were few people of color, especially instructors. She enjoyed working with folks from similar backgrounds to her own, especially people who were so positive and hard-working.

Challenges were swiftly worked through, and though there was a wide range of ages and experience levels, the group felt like a community, she said.

"While we were driving to the schools to do research, we would talk about our family and friends," Sago said.

Reflecting on her family, Sago said that through college, she has realized she never wants to take family time for granted.

"Family is a core I have, hand-in-hand with my communities. Sharing a meal and engaging in conversation is something I hold very deeply. It will always be important to me," she said.

Halle Sago (CU Boulder, EnvDes, '20); Sylvia Akol (CU Boulder, Environmental Engineering Sophomore); Ryan Carroll (CU Boulder, EnvDes, '20)

Sylvia Akol: To take a seat at the table

Environmental engineering is something Sylvia Akol has more than academic passion for.

Growing up in Kabata, a village in the Kumi District of Uganda, her village experienced significant droughts as a result of insufficient infrastructure. Though there was a nearby lake, there weren't pipes to bring water.

"There were a bunch of Europeans who came and wrote papers, but there was no solution," she said, until around two years ago when Kumi was finally able to bring clean, piped water to the village.

Akol realized that environmental engineering was an access point to providing quality, clean water everywhere, and she knew that her presence at the table where decisions are being made was essential.

"I'm confronting systemic racism… It's the only way I can be able to be part of the decisions that are made when people who look like me are not present. If I'm there, I can represent," Akol said.

Shortly after she transferred from Front Range Community College to Metro State University, she heard about Hernandez' research and became involved. The research was rewarding, Akol said, in part because of the diversity of the students the research team was serving.

“COVID really affected the Black community, the Latino community and other minority communities, and it was great to know that we were contributing part of the solution," Akol said.

When she told her family and friends about the efforts, they appreciated the care and concern the team was giving to the schools.

"It was amazing to hear how grateful they were, and to see that the kids are going to feel safer in this school where we are studying how to improve their environment,” she said

For Akol, the future is all about water. "I am resilient, strong and passionate," she said, and she will be using those strengths to bridge the infrastructure divide and provide equitable solutions everywhere.

Sylvia Akol (CU Boulder, Environmental Engineering Sophomore), Christian Sorel (Front Range Community College)

Jeronimo Palacios Luna: To reforge his path

Jeronimo Palacios Luna was excited to start working for Mark Hernandez' air-filtration research project in the spring of 2020, but at first, his family felt it was too dangerous.

"It was just barely when the pandemic was breaking out. The vaccines were uncertain; no one knew what was happening. The only thing we had were face masks," he said.

He waited until he was vaccinated, and when the team reached out to him again, Palacios was thrilled. While the job had initially meant money for college and a great research connection, he said it now held deeper meaning. During his first semester of college, all of Palacios' classes were online.

"I struggled so much. The HEPA equipment was a positive light, a piece of equipment that could help out the schools and other institutions we set them up in have a safer space to work in person," he said.

He said he also appreciated the opportunity to get out of the house and do something that felt meaningful. He was given a lot of responsibility, and with it, respect.

"We didn't have to talk that much about the work we were doing because everyone was doing it right. There wasn't really a necessity to pressure everyone or micromanage people," he said.

Having a team that was entirely people of color from diverse lived experiences was definitely fun, he said. The team often rode in the car together from Denver’s Union Station to the school they were surveying, sharing music and memes.

"You get out of your comfort zone and talk to more people. One of the first days, Sylvia told me that in Uganda, folks don't have last names. The family takes them because of globalization, but originally they didn't have last names, and I was like, ‘Oh, that's so funny because in Mexico we have three last names,’ and we were both sharing our culture and how we perceive everything," he said.

Palacios also gained more perspective on the work he was doing in school, and decided to switch majors from mechanical engineering to creative technology and design. Living in Boulder, Palacios would frequently go to Building61, the Boulder Public Library makerspace. He even presented at the 4th Annual Maker Educator Convening on "Making as a Tool of Social Justice "in San Jose, California, as a high schooler.

The pandemic broke Palacios' path, forcing him to re-examine everything he thought he knew about what he wanted to do and who he wanted to be, he said.

Now, in the light of the research he's been doing, the friends he's made, and the new opportunities ahead, he says he's reforging himself, focusing on his strengths as someone who can connect between disciplines and people.

Ximena Duenas Ibarra: To help the helpers

Ximena Duenas Ibarra is the youngest researcher on Mark Hernandez' team. Still in high school and facing her senior year, she wants to be an environmentalist to give back to the natural world, which gives so much to us.

"Think about trees. They're these real, living beings. They give to everyone, even bugs, and we're destroying them. I want to help them. I want to help the helpers," she said.

Duenas Ibarra had just gotten a job as a house cleaner when she was given the opportunity to work with Mark Hernandez' team. Duenas Ibarra decided to give it a try before deciding between the two positions and realized that she really enjoyed the research.

Everyone else on the team was older than she was, but she was held to the same standards of professionalism as everyone else. This also meant that, as a researcher, she was encouraged to ask questions and able to be herself.

"My inner Latina-ness was coming out. Usually I've had to hold it back all these years but here I was, like, ‘Wow, I can speak Spanish without having a teacher worry about what I'm saying.’ It helped me grow a lot. It shouldn't be a big deal, but it is, because you get to know yourself a little more," she said.

In a classroom, sitting and taking measurements, IDuenas Ibarra found herself wondering about many things. How did HEPA filters really work? What would happen if someone suddenly breathed a lot of carbon dioxide? She would ask another team member and often immediately get an answer.

"Sometimes people don't understand me or they don't want to answer, but this time I actually got my questions answered, which is weird. I was like, ‘Oh, I can ask questions!’" she said.

Duenas Ibarra also did her own research into the effects of carbon dioxide and found herself listening deeply to her teammates. She was relieved, she said, that she was still treated with respect, even when she was quiet. In large groups of non-Latinos, being quiet and Latina, she said people think she's dumb, but in Hernandez' team, people understood.

The work was hard, she said, requiring accuracy, accountability and consistent attention across hours of data gathering, but Duenas Ibarra was also able to see the effects of the HEPA filters. She said it was amazing how air, which flows all around us, can cause harm or help us.

At this point, Duenas Ibarra isn't sure what kind of environmentalist she wants to be, but she knows that things need to change.

"There are environmental engineers out there working to make the world safer for us, and there are people out there who don't really care, and I'm like, ‘The world is dying! We have to do something about it.’ I think that's what pushed me to be an environmentalist. We're not going to be here long if you keep doing this!" she said.

When asked what she wanted people to know about her, Duenas Ibarra was quiet before giving her answer, "I'm a Latina and yes, I did the work right," she said.

Lab technicians, all from populations historically excluded from engineering, collected data during the height of the pandemic at Denver public schools for environmental engineering professor Mark Hernandez's air ventilation research. Here are the stories of four of those technicans, Halle Sago, Sylvia Akol, Jeronimo Palacios Luna and Ximena Duenas Ibarra, and what they're working for.

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Type of ultraviolet light most effective at killing coronavirus is also the safest to use around people

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 16:41:46 +0000

Type of ultraviolet light most effective at killing coronavirus is also the safest to use around people Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 10/27/2021 - 10:41

Professor Karl Linden explains his new research findings in The Conversation.

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CU Boulder spinoff company develops technology that could treat COVID-19 complications

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Oct 2021 14:50:29 +0000

CU Boulder spinoff company develops technology that could treat COVID-19 complications Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/19/2021 - 08:50

After a year when the nation experienced a shortage of mechanical ventilators to help treat patients with severe COVID-19 complications, Professor Mark Borden's company Respirogen presents another treatment option: oxygen microbubbles.

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Simple safety measures reduce musical COVID-19 transmission

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 20:08:30 +0000

Simple safety measures reduce musical COVID-19 transmission Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 08/27/2021 - 14:08

Published today in the journal ACS Environmental Au, �� and University of Maryland researchers have found that while playing musical instruments can emit the same levels of potentially COVID-laden airborne particles as singing, simple safety measures, such as masking instruments, social distancing and implementing time limits, significantly reduce this risk.

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Mutation-mapping tool could yield stronger COVID boosters, universal vaccines

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Mutation-mapping tool could yield stronger COVID boosters, universal vaccines Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 08/10/2021 - 00:00

Researchers in chemical and biological engineering have developed a platform which can quickly identify common mutations on the SARS-CoV-2 virus that allow it to escape antibodies and infect cells.

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International student Chieri Kamada reflects on COVID experience

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 15:05:24 +0000

International student Chieri Kamada reflects on COVID experience Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 07/28/2021 - 09:05

Ashley Schoenbauer

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. in March 2020, college students around the nation were forced to quickly change gears, debate whether to travel home and adjust to remote learning.

This unexpected and turbulent time was difficult for many students, but international students were often met with even more challenges and considerable roadblocks. Chieri Kamada was among them.

As the campus prepares for a more typical fall semester, Kamada is finding new strength from her experiences – and a desire to help fellow international students.

Kamada is a sophomore at CU Boulder studying aerospace engineering with minors in computer science and space. Originally from Saitama, Japan, Kamada moved to the U.S. three years ago when her father’s job relocated. When her parents later returned to Japan, Kamada stayed in Colorado.

Kamada began her college experience at CU in fall 2019. At the time, she was living with a host family in South Boulder and really enjoyed her first semester. Kamada made friends and built connections with other students through her involvement in the CU marching band.

By spring 2020, Kamada had been hearing inklings about the coronavirus from her parents and how it was impacting Asia, but she did not expect it to impact the U.S. to the extent it did.

Discrimination fuels fears

As cases spiked and the situation became more pressing, Kamada became worried about the lack of a mask-wearing culture in the U.S. and about the possibility of discrimination. Through friends and social media, Kamada had heard stories of Asians and Asian Americans being the targets of racism and xenophobia, and she did not want to increase the risk of experiencing that herself.

“I just heard too many of those stories. I know Colorado is a really safe place in general, but I was just scared. I’m still scared now,” Kamada said. “I couldn’t expect how people would react when they saw me.”

Due to these worries, Kamada did not leave her Boulder home for any reason other than to get groceries every once in a while.

International policies cause concern

In May 2020, Kamada flew home to Japan. She planned to return to the U.S. in the summer or fall, but as the COVID-19 situation escalated in the States, she had to reconsider.

As an international student, Kamada faced additional concerns about what catching COVID-19 would mean for her. She worried about having proper access to medical help, dealing with costs of care and insurance, and being so far away from her parents.

“It just felt like there was just not enough support to make me feel comfortable enough to live through this pandemic in the U.S.,” she said.

Kamada faced additional stress as the U.S. government sent mixed messages regarding student visa regulations, which historically required international students to enroll in in-person classes to maintain their visa status. Although this policy was eventually relaxed to allow international students to attend classes virtually, the uncertainty caused significant stress for Kamada and international students across the nation. This stress was further exacerbated by border closures and international flight cancelations.

Remote classes bring isolation

With so many factors in play, Kamada officially decided to take all her fall classes from Japan -- on a 16-hour time difference.

Although Kamada reached out to her professors and was offered the ability to watch lectures asynchronously on her own schedule, she knew it would be difficult to keep up without a fixed schedule. So Kamada woke up at 4 a.m. for classes for 16 weeks straight.

Throughout the semester, Kamada struggled at times with her exhausting schedule. She also struggled to keep in touch with her friends.

“I was virtually cut off from all my friends,” Kamada said. “That made me feel isolated and like no one could help me, but it was all happening because of my decision.”

Using her experiences for good

Looking back, Kamada credits this situation for leading her to join the college’s International Student Advisory Board. By doing so, Kamada has been able to connect with students who fully understand the extent of what she went through and who can relate to the difficulties that come with being an international student.

“

There’s an internal voice, saying ‘You’ve got no excuse, you’ve gotta work hard, you’re representing your family,’” Kamada said. “There’s that mentality that we all have, and COVID really amplified that.”

The difficulties Kamada endured during the fall 2020 semester provided her with hindsight on various topics and ideas of how the university can better support international students going forward. She said she wished she had reached out to Counseling and Psychiatric Services at CU for support but felt that others needed the help more.

Kamada finished the semester without any significant grade drops. She said that her time feeling isolated in Japan made her realize that she wants to be more active in reaching out to make connections with other people. She also gained new communication and time-management skills.

Overall, Kamada said she feels that her current self is better than it would have been had she stayed in Boulder, and she plans to use her experience as a strength going forward.

“Everything that was happening was total hell, but I feel really proud of myself,” she said. “Talking about it now, I’m thinking, ‘Wow, that is such an accomplishment.’

“Being an international student is hard, but that means you’ve got a story to tell and an experience like no one else. You can use that to connect with people, and that’s the thing that’s really awesome.”

This unexpected and turbulent time was difficult for many students, but international students were often met with even more challenges and considerable roadblocks. As the campus prepares for a more typical fall semester, Kamada is finding new strength from her experiences – and a desire to help fellow international students.

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International design challenge builds global engineering skills for CU students

Anonymous — Mon, 03 May 2021 22:20:57 +0000

International design challenge builds global engineering skills for CU students Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 05/03/2021 - 16:20

Ashley Schoenbauer

When the pandemic hindered the original plans of the Engineers Without Borders team, Christian Lamb's team transitioned to pursue an international design challenge assisting two towns in rural Peru.

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To safely return to 'normal,' 70% of Coloradans must get COVID vaccine

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Apr 2021 22:27:49 +0000

To safely return to 'normal,' 70% of Coloradans must get COVID vaccine Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 04/28/2021 - 16:27

Results come from a new mathematical study led by researchers at two University of Colorado campuses, who explore what it might take for the state to safely shed mask mandates, limits on indoor dining and a range of other restrictions.

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How one restaurant’s experiment may help diners breathe safely

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 16:33:41 +0000

How one restaurant’s experiment may help diners breathe safely Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 04/14/2021 - 10:33

The Washington Post looks at how an air monitoring system designed by CU Boulder's Mark Hernandez is helping a California restaurant keep its patrons safer during COVID.

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