News

Joseph O'Leary named new Dean of the Warner College of Natural Resources

Colorado State University's world-renowned Warner College of Natural Resources has named Joseph T. O'Leary as its new dean. He will start his new job in May. Colorado State's Warner College of Natural Resources offers a comprehensive range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs that focus on critical environmental management programs. The college, which includes the departments of Fishery and Wildlife Biology; Forestry, Rangeland, and Watershed Stewardship; Geosciences; and Natural Resources Recreation and Tourism, is responsible for the international leader in environmental science - the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory - as well as the unique Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands, the Colorado State Forest Service and the newly established Center for Collaborative Conservation.

Global warming will have mixed effects on eastern Colorado's grasslands

New research results from Colorado State University suggest that the effects of rising atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and global warming will lead to an increase in grass production and a decline in forage quality for grasslands of eastern Colorado and Wyoming. Study results suggest that both elevated CO2 and warming will increase grass production but the quality of the vegetation will decrease due to lower nitrogen concentration in the forage. William Parton, researcher from Colorado State's Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, or NREL, and researcher Jack Morgan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, USDA ARS, studied the effects of warming, increased CO2 levels and the combination of both factors on eastern Colorado grasslands to predict how global warming will affect these ecosystems.

Parton co-author in Science Magazine article on nitrogen release from rotting leaf litter

The researchers found that the dominant drivers of nitrogen release were the initial concentration of nitrogen and the remaining mass of the leaf and root litter. The equations and how the researchers developed them are described in the Jan. 19 issue of the journal, "Science." "The most important component of this study is that we've developed a generic global law that can predict large-scale patterns in litter mass decay rates and nitrogen release from litter," said William Parton, senior research scientist at the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory at Colorado State University and co-lead author of the study. "There are a lot of global nutrient cycling models out there, but the model we've developed is based on only two parameters and thus is more scientifically elegant and more widely applicable than the models currently being used."

Greg Newman- NREL Research Associate: summits 22,840 ft Cerro Aconcagua

Members of CSU's Outdoor Adventure Program, including NREL's Greg Newman summit Cerro Aconcagua in Argentina. (pg 8)

The third edition of NREL Senior Research Scientist Dr. Eldor Paul’s book "Soil Microbiology, Ecology and Biochemistry"

Now in its third edition, this classic textbook includes basic concepts and applications in agriculture, forestry, environmental science, and a new section entirely devoted to ecology. This revised and updated edition guides students through biochemical and microbial processes in soils and introduces them to microbial processes in water and sediments. Soil Microbiology, Ecology, and Biochemistry serves as an invaluable resource for students in biogeochemistry, soil microbiology, soil ecology, sustainable agriculture, and environmental amelioration.