91����Ƶ

This year's Signature Work Showcase, held on May 13 in the Community Commons, highlighted research and other signature work developed by DU students in collaboration with faculty mentors and community partners.��

The more than 100 projects reflected hands-on learning and public good engagement across disciplines. We spoke with five students whose work explored topics ranging from data center policy and climate impacts on agriculture to environmental education and sustainable theater.

Zoe Lopez

Eco-Engagement Through Youth Programming in the Next Generation of Climate Leaders

Lopez, a second-year student majoring in public policy (pictured, far right), worked with co-authors and fellow second years Susan Land, Grace Doolittle, and Jon Engebretsen to develop this community change project as part of the Pioneer Leadership Program. Mentored by Joe Walsh, teaching assistant professor in Leadership Studies, and guided by community collaborator Christopher Aaby, program manager of Generation Wild at Great Outdoors Colorado, the team focused on “eco-disengagement” among youth and how to address the environmental education gap in Colorado schools. The result was a Nature Day curriculum and event for elementary school students, where hands-on mini labs like a sound safari and an urban heat walk showed the kids—in an engaging and fun way—how their actions impact the environment.

What drew you to this topic?

I grew up outdoors—my parents had to beg me to come inside. We went to state and national parks, and I always got Junior Ranger badges. But, working as a nanny for the past eight years, I have watched as kids become more disengaged with the outdoors and more technology centered. Our goal was to help kids understand that not only is being outside fun, but nature is fun.��

What did you learn during this project?

We learned that engaging young people is more difficult than it seems. If we wanted to do something in classrooms, for example, we needed parental consent and school board approval. So, we came up with a Nature Day that parents and kids could opt into as the best way to make an impact. Generation Wild gave us pivotal feedback, like we should tie the curriculum more to science and ground it in evidence.

Did anything surprise you during the process?

I was surprised that, even though there are so many organizations that do this work and offer activities for free, it’s still difficult to engage families. There are a lot of reasons, like busy schedules and lack of accessibility. Some neighborhoods don’t have parks, the parks are unsafe, or families lack transportation to get them into natural environments—or they can’t afford the gear they need. But I think it's really important to make the effort to teach children about nature, especially if they're not learning it in school.

Nissa Tapper��

Geographic History of Dairy Farming in Minnesota

Originally from Minnesota and a senior environmental science major with a minor in Geographic Information Science (GIS), Tapper researched and created a graphic history of dairy farming in her home state from 1860 to 2022. Using county-level data and GIS methods of analysis, the project compares areas with high and low levels of farming to historical and modern land-cover patterns. By examining how farming relates to prairie land, forests, wetlands, cropland, and water resources, Tapper highlights connections between environmental conditions, land-use change, and the development of the dairy industry over time. Tapper’s faculty mentor was Guiming Zhang, associate professor in GIS in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

What drew you to this topic?

My extended family are all dairy farmers. Going through the environmental science program, I learned a lot about farming and how it has affected the environment. For example, dairy farming uses a lot of water, which is one of the reasons a lot of people think the practice should die out. [Farmers] keep creating ways to recycle water and be more environmentally conscious about water usage, but yes, you could also say it's moving at a slower pace than it should. I wanted to know more about its impact over time and how this could inform the future of dairy farming as human activity continues to change the landscape.

What did you learn during this project?

Everyone thinks there’s an abundance of water in Minnesota—it’s the Land of 10,000 Lakes—and that makes Minnesotans feel like they have a safety net, but there have been more droughts recently. So, I think that, while Minnesota is doing better than some parts of the Midwest, they could be doing a lot more. As temperatures rise, dairy farms may face greater challenges from heat stress and increased cooling needs. Understanding the relationship between dairy farming and geography can help us anticipate whether production may shift toward cooler parts of the state in the future.

Did anything surprise you during the process?

One thing that surprised me was seeing just how much of Minnesota’s native prairie has disappeared over time. When you look at the maps, the change is pretty striking—areas that used to be prairie are now mostly cropland. It makes sense historically, since prairies offered fertile soil and open land that was easy for settlers to farm. Even though my project focused on dairy farming, it gave me a broader perspective on how much Minnesota’s landscape has changed and how much native vegetation has been lost as agriculture expanded.

Chaz Contag

Race-to-the-Top Data Center Policy: Electricity, Water, and Ratepayer Protections Across States

A senior majoring in environmental science and international studies with minors in sustainability and public policy, Contag explored how the rapid growth of large data centers is affecting communities nationwide in terms of energy and water use and costs. He compared policies in 10 states, highlighting approaches that support clean energy procurement, water conservation, ratepayer protections, and environmental justice and ��and creating a scorecard for each state. Contag’s faculty mentor was Michael Kerwin,��director of the Environmental Science Program and an associate professor in the Department of Geography and the Environment.

What drew you to this topic?

Data centers are here to stay, so states have an opportunity to encourage their growth while also setting strong standards for energy use, water consumption, ratepayer protections, and environmental justice. My analysis of 10 states found that only a handful have meaningful policies in place, even though many others are already seeing rapid data center expansion. The landscape is changing incredibly fast—just in the six months since I started this project, new policies have been proposed, enacted, and revised as states try to keep up with the scale of demand.

What did you learn during this project?

I learned that data center policy is not just about whether states should allow or restrict development but how they can shape that development responsibly.�� My main takeaway is that states need to move beyond simply competing for data centers through tax incentives and instead create standards that ensure these projects do not shift costs and externalities onto ordinary ratepayers or harm surrounding communities and the environment.

Did anything surprise you during the process?

I was surprised at how quickly the policy landscape is changing as states try to attract data centers while setting stronger standards. In Minnesota, for example, [lawmakers] passed policies requiring data centers to align with the state’s clean electricity goals, encourage sustainable approaches, and not pass infrastructure costs on to ratepayers. Some companies’ proposals appear to align closely with this policy and, if executed correctly, they could serve as examples for other companies and states to follow.

Tatiana Peccedi

Evaluating PurpleAir Flex and SD Sensor Performance for Particulate Matter Monitoring at the Kennedy Mountain Campus

Peccedi, a senior environmental science major with minors in environmental chemistry and geographic information systems (GIS), examined whether low-cost air quality sensors can provide reliable data in places where traditional monitoring equipment is limited or too expensive. Using sensors installed at the Kennedy Mountain Campus, she tracked particulate matter in a rural, high-elevation forest environment and compared the performance of two PurpleAir sensor models. The research helps improve understanding of local air-quality trends while evaluating whether affordable sensors can expand access to air pollution monitoring.

What drew you to this topic?

I decided to be an environmental science major because I loved science and wanted a career that also makes a positive impact. After taking an environmental chemistry course my second year, I became more interested in chemistry and the connections between the environment, air quality, and human health. That interest led me to this project, and it’s made me even more passionate about understanding how environmental changes affect people.��

What did you learn during this project?

One of the most important parts of this project is evaluating how well low-cost air quality sensors work. Many communities don’t have access to expensive monitoring equipment, so affordable sensors could be a valuable way to provide people with reliable information about local air quality. Our results have been promising so far, and if these sensors continue to perform well over time, they could help communities better understand air pollution and make informed decisions about their health and environment.

Did anything surprise you during this process?

One thing that surprised me was how much work goes into determining which data is actually reliable. Most of the measurements matched what we’d expect in a rural, forested environment, but occasionally we saw extremely high pollution spikes that were likely caused by things like nearby vehicles, sensor issues, or other localized factors. A big part of the project has been figuring out what’s a real environmental signal and what’s just noise in the data.

Rhianna Lewis

Sustainability on Stage: A Case Study in Carbon-Neutral Theatrical Productions

Lewis, a senior majoring in theatre and Spanish with minors in sustainability, English, and leadership studies, took on this hybrid portfolio-thesis project to address two questions: How does environmental sustainability intersect with live theatre? And how do we emphasize the importance of environmental sustainability in the theatre department here at DU? For her senior capstone production, she worked with the tech and costume shops in the theatre department as well as the local nonprofit Greener Theatre Colorado to create DU’s first-ever completely sustainably sourced show. Lewis’ mentor for the project was Janice Bening-Lacek, associate professor of theatre costume design and technology.��

What drew you to this topic?

As a theatre major and sustainability minor, I became interested in the intersection of theatre and environmental responsibility. When I started looking into it, I found that many theatres—including at the university level—don’t have clear sustainability metrics, even though there are organizations working to make theater more environmentally friendly. That made me want to explore whether sustainable practices could be implemented in smaller productions with limited budgets and resources.

What did you learn during this project?

In general, sustainability efforts are definitely more concentrated in theaters that have a lot of funding and resources. The Denver Center for the Performing Arts and other local theaters have initiatives in place, and in New York City, there’s the Broadway Green Alliance. But at DU, I couldn’t find any sustainability reports or metrics on what emissions are given off specifically by the theatre department or the Newman Center. So, it was cool to discover I’m not the only person who cares about this—and that if it can be done at DCPA, it can be done here, if we’re willing to have the conversations and prioritize it.

Did anything surprise you during this process?

What surprised me most was realizing how much we could accomplish using materials we already had. We spent less on costumes and scenery than any other production in my cycle because I reused existing materials or sourced them locally. In design classes, we’re often told that something can be convenient, cheap, or sustainable—but not all three. This project showed me that it is possible.

��