Communication & Media

Five CU Innovators Changing the World

Anna Tolette — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 20:04:07 +0000

Five CU Innovators Changing the World Anna Tolette Mon, 07/07/2025 - 14:04

CU Boulder is teeming with innovation, curiosity and thought leadership. And the people who comprise the university — CU Buffs — make global impact.

We’re highlighting five stellar Buffs — CU Boulder students, alumni and faculty whose work is relevant, leading-edge and promises to create ripples out into the world. Their stories were written by five equally outstanding CU affiliates, who personally know and understand the importance of their work.

As journalist Tom Costello (Jour’87) wrote in his essay on his NBC colleague Savannah Sellers (Jour’13), she “breaks through.”

Many Buffs are breaking through — they bridge traditional silos, strive to think differently, and take huge risks. And just as many credit the university for equipping them to pursue their passions. CU Boulder is more than its stunning location — this university is the people who push for more.

Idowu Odeyemi (PhDPhil’27)

Charting New Paths as a Rising Philosopher

Idowu Odeyemi came to CU Boulder to refine his philosophical acumen while carving a path for young Africans like him who aspire to study philosophy.

Beyond his research, he said, “I want to challenge and expand the traditional boundaries of the discipline so that the philosophical community must either engage with African thinkers or justify why not.”

Idowu’s work — centered on oppression and blame — delves into how oppressive systems like patriarchy, colonialism, Nazism and slavery affect moral agency. He invites us to consider haunting questions such as why a battered wife doesn’t simply leave while her husband is out, illustrating how the threat of severe harm to one’s welfare can override considerations of morality and compel individuals to remain in oppres-sive circumstances.

Consider a battered wife who faces an oppressive double bind: resisting her abuser risks her safety, while compliance perpetuates the very system that oppresses her. This leads to an untenable situation where she is damned if she revolts, and damned if she doesn’t. In Idowu’s view, this dilemma complicates blaming oppressed individuals for not revolting.

Another facet of Idowu’s scholarship introduces the term “epistemic disgust” — a neglected psychological response that prompts us to reject certain beliefs and utterances because they repulse us. If someone says, “All white men smell like hot dog water,” for instance, many listeners feel revulsion that blocks such an utterance from entering our belief system. Idowu’s ground-breaking theory on how disgust can shape belief formation was published in the prestigious journal Episteme.

He also ventures beyond academia: His essay “On Accent and Confidence” in Isele Magazine was nominated for the 2025 non-fiction prize and recognized as one of the 50 notable essays from Africa in 2024, and another piece, “Living in America, Leaving Nigeria” (published by The Republic), was named among the 18 notable essays by a Nigerian in 2023.

As a graduate student, Idowu has published four peer-reviewed papers in leading journals — an achievement typically expected of faculty. Recently, he delivered a philosophy colloquium at the University of Missouri — uncommon for a graduate student. He was a Harper PhD Fellow at the Benson Center, a fellow at the Center for African and African American Studies and, in 2023, a fully funded fellowship took him to the University of Oxford. This summer, he will be visiting the National Archives in London through a research award from CU Boulder’s Center for African and African American Studies.

Through Idowu’s compelling research and prolific achievements, he exemplifies how CU Boulder’s nurturing environment fosters tomorrow’s transformative thinkers.

CU Boulder philosophy associate professor Ajume Wingo serves as Odeyemi’s advisor. Ajume is a member of the royal family in the Nso kingdom, located in the northwest region of Cameroon. In addition to being widely published in political and social philosophy, he is the founder of several NGOs, including PridePads Africa and Pathfinders4peace.

Photo by Alastair Norcross

Savannah Sellers (Jour’13)

Serious, Fun, Whimsical — and Never Dull

As the face of “the Generation of Now,” Savannah Sellers co-anchors the streaming morning newscast of NBC News NOW, then reports for The Today Show and NBC Nightly News. She demonstrates how a journalist can break through a saturated news market and reach a new generation of consumers who crave accurate information on their own terms.

While transitioning from CU Boulder to NBC News in New York could have been daunting, Savannah quickly established herself as smart and determined, yet easy-going and relevant. This rare combination made her a natural choice to help lead NBC’s outreach to younger viewers, where they are — on social media.

She helped map a new look and pacing for NBC News. The target age: 20-to-40- somethings who want news on the go for their 24/7 lifestyle. Almost immediately, the audience was there. The newscasts moved fast. They were serious, fun, whimsical — and never dull.

Savannah took Snapchat viewers to Parkland, Florida, hours after a former student murdered 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Her coverage was raw and real. A record 18 million people tuned in: mostly kids seeking information about a tragedy affecting other kids they didn’t know, but who were their age.

She has documented America’s heroin epidemic with an Emmy award-winning Nightly News series, revealing that the victims are not always stereotypical drug addicts — they could be your own neighbor or family member.

She has detailed and explained the confusing fight over banning TikTok, the app-of- choice for her younger audience, led honest discussions on diversity, equity and inclusion, and shared the deeply personal and painful struggle she and her husband have faced with fertility.

To meet Savannah is to discover a person of tremendous warmth, charm and insatiable curiosity who wants to know your story — what motivates you, and why. Those are the traits of a great broadcast journalist.

As one NBC exec put it, “She breaks through! She pops!”

It delights me to see a fellow CU alum become such a trusted voice and valued colleague at The Peacock. Go Buffs!

Tom Costello (Jour’87) is the senior correspondent at NBC News. With nearly 30 years of experience at CNBC and NBC News in London, New York and ��Ĺ��ý, D.C., he reports daily across all NBC News platforms.

Photo by Nate Congleton

Dania Arayssi (MPolSci’22; PhD’26)

Vital Work in Transnational Politics

Dania Arayssi doesn’t just care deeply about the big social and economic problems that affect people’s everyday lives — she rigorously studies them and takes action.

Before coming to CU Boulder, she participated in the U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) at the U.S. State Department and earned multiple advanced degrees. She then founded the Gleam of Hope Group, which works with thousands of young people and women to address food and health needs. For many, these accomplishments would constitute an entire career. For Dania, this was just the beginning.

Dania brought her passion for understanding pressing socioeconomic and political issues to CU Boulder in 2021. Her dissertation work centers on remittances, money sent by those working abroad back to their families in their home countries. Remittances are an important source of income for families around the world. Dania’s research seeks to explain how these remittances affect people’s incentives to be politically active. Does the added economic security make people more likely to pressure the government for change? Or does economic security dampen any potential dissent, making people less likely to vote or protest? What issues do people who receive remittances care about the most?

Dania uses a rigorous combination of interviews, focus groups and original survey data to study these questions in her home country of Lebanon. Her work helps us understand how diaspora communities affect politics around the world. In an era of transnational politics, her work is vitally important.

Dania represents the best of CU Boulder. After completing her dissertation, she plans to work at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy in ��Ĺ��ý, D.C. During these politically contentious times plagued by myriad challenges, I personally find enormous hope that CU alumni like Dania will be out in the world contributing their expertise, knowledge and wisdom.

Sarah Wilson Sokhey works as an associate professor in CU Boulder’s Department of Political Science, a faculty associate at the Institute of Behavioral Science and the founding director of the Studio Lab for Undergrads in the College of Arts and Sciences. Her current research focuses on the local provision of public services in Ukraine during wartime. In 2024, she was inducted into the President’s Teaching Scholars Program, one of the highest CU teaching awards.

Photo courtesy Dania Arayssi

Jun Ye (Physicist, JILA Fellow)

Using Quantum for High-Tech Innovation

My friend and colleague Professor Jun Ye is an ever-flowing fountain of scientific and technological innovation.

One of the greatest laser scientists in the world, he and his students have built several generations of record-setting optical clocks. The technology has advanced to the point where Jun’s clocks would gain or lose less than a second in the whole age of the universe. These highly accurate clocks are tied into technology improvements to support better navigation, communication and the ability to sense unseen things (for example, small changes in gravity associated with objects buried underground). Additionally, his lab created the world’s first nuclear clock.

Through his research at JILA, Jun uses lasers to detect slight traces of unusual elements in gas samples. His group is now examining the air exhaled by people with various diseases to find tiny traces of certain chemicals associated with a particular disease. If this works, one day cancer testing might be as easy as puffing some air into a soda straw.

Much of his research is built around using the properties of quantum mechanics to do high-tech research — precision measurement, secure communication, exotic material design — that eludes the reach of “old-school” classical mechanics.

Perhaps as impactful as anything else he does, Jun has trained an entirely new generation of elite scientists and engineers, who are now the beating heart of Colorado’s, and the nation’s, high-tech industry. When I visit high-tech Colorado companies, it often seems that the technical leadership are CU Boulder alums who earned their degrees while working in Jun’s group.

On top of his research, Jun is working with me on a joint project to understand why there is more matter than antimatter in the universe. It sounds like a very abstract topic, but it is part of a bigger question: How are the conditions in the universe such that the development of humankind is possible? I feel very privileged to collaborate with Jun. I’ve learned a lot from working with him. Sometimes I wonder if the man ever sleeps!

Eric Cornell has been at CU for 34 years and wears many hats. He teaches first-year physics for the CU Boulder Department of Physics; he is a Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA) fellow; and a scientist with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. In 2001, he and CU Boulder professor Carl Wieman won the Nobel Prize in Physics for creating Bose-Einstein Condensation, the “world’s coldest stuff.”

Photo courtesy Jun Ye

Steve Swanson (EngrPhys’83)

Space Commander Gains and Gives Respect

Steve Swanson was one of the most highly respected members of the NASA astronaut office during the Shuttle and Space Station Programs in the 1990s and 2000s.

Steve and I met in the late 1980s when we were both in the aircraft operations division at Johnson Space Center. I was an instructor pilot in the space shuttle training aircraft. Steve was a software wizard and the flight simulation engineer responsible for managing the computer that enabled a Gulfstream II business jet to fly like a space shuttle. We were both interested in becoming astronauts. I was selected in 1992, and

Steve was named an astronaut in 1998 after obtaining a PhD in computer science from Texas A&M University.

Steve excelled right away in the astronaut office and was selected as one of the four extra-vehicular activity (EVA) crewmembers to install one of the four solar array elements of the station. It was considered an honor to be chosen for such a significant mission on his first flight — he was clearly a rising star!

I began working at CU Boulder thanks to Steve. He talked to me after his post-flight trip to Boulder to visit with the students and return items he had flown for the university. CU asked him to consider a professor position in the CU aerospace department, but he wanted to fly more for NASA and so asked if I might be interested instead.

Steve also led the EVA team to install the final solar array element two years later. His final mission in 2014 was serving as a station crewmember and the mission commander.

That fall, I was proud to arrange a live video conference in the Fiske Planetarium so Steve could talk to the students while he was on the Space Station. Today, Steve shares his experiences at Boise State University, leading and advising student teams participating in NASA’s Artemis Challenges, inspiring them to do great things in science and engineering.

Joe Tanner is a retired NASA astronaut, Navy pilot and CU Boulder teaching professor. During his 16-year career as an astronaut, he flew four missions on the space shuttle, one to the Hubble Space Telescope and two to the International Space Station. He also mentored astronaut Sarah Gillis (AeroEngr’17) when she was a CU student; Gillis traveled to space in fall 2025 with SpaceX.

Photo courtesy NASA

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From quantum science to journalism, these five CU Boulder students, alumni and faculty are making bold, world-shaping contributions.

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Summer 2025

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News Briefs from CU Boulder

Anna Tolette — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 19:59:39 +0000

News Briefs from CU Boulder Anna Tolette Mon, 07/07/2025 - 13:59

100 Launches for BioServe

CU Boulder’s BioServe Space Technologies is a research center that uses space-based research to help improve life on Earth. On April 21, it celebrated its 100th orbital launch. A SpaceX Dragon capsule carried BioServe equipment for three different projects, including colonies of billions of bacteria and algae. BioServe has collaborated with global science experiments in space since 1987, and its research has contributed to advancements in the understanding of medical conditions like bone loss and cancer.

New Master’s Program in AI

CU Boulder will be among the first universities nationwide to launch a new master’s program in artificial intelligence (AI) this fall. Students will gain theoretical and hands-on experience to prepare them for the rapidly developing AI landscape. Courses will include subjects such as machine learning, statistical learning, natural language processing and AI ethics. The program will be available online its first year and in person the following year.

1190 Gets FM Debut in Denver

After going of the air in 2022 to modernize its technologies, CU’s student-run Radio 1190 can now be heard on Denver’s radio airwaves at 92.9 FM. In February, Radio 1190 debuted on its new channel, ready to reach new audiences with a wide range of independent music. Listeners also can visit 1190.radio online to hear the station.

Heard Around Campus

“When I mention her name, people would say, ‘Oh, Professor Casey on TikTok,’ or ‘I watched her videos on YouTube...’”

– Shamika Klassen (PhDInfoSci’24) on the announcement of Casey Fiesler as the first William R. Payden Endowed Professor of the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information (formerly the College of Media, Communication and Information).

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Photo by Patrick Campbell

DIGITS

College of Music Pianos

Earlier this year, the College of Music introduced a new Steinway & Sons model D concert grand piano — made possible, in part, by a donor gift — which will enhance student and faculty performances.

170

Approximate number of pianos in the College of Music fleet

Average age, in years, of the college’s pianos

Number of Steinway pianos at CU

~203K

Approximate cost of the new Steinway D

50%

Of new Steinway covered by a single donation

Jack Armstrong, news director for Radio 1190

CU Boulder’s BioServe Space Technologies, the launch of an AI master’s program and Radio 1190.

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Summer 2025

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The Stories that Sustain Us: Phaedra Pezzullo's Unique Approach to Sustainability

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 20:30:53 +0000

The Stories that Sustain Us: Phaedra Pezzullo's Unique Approach to Sustainability Anna Tolette Mon, 03/10/2025 - 14:30

Joe Arney

When you’re trying to change the world — in Phaedra C. Pezzullo’s case, by improving the environment — you need more than scholarly publications to create impact.

It’s why one of her favorite stories involves the fact that her first solo-authored book, Toxic Tourism, inspired the lyrics to a punk-rock song by the band The Holland Dutch.

“Something like that reaches people in more profound ways than just talking about policy or politics,” said Pezzullo, CU Boulder communication professor in the College of Media, Communication and Information (CMCI).

In early 2025, Pezzullo opened CMCI’s Sustainability and Storytelling Lab. And while an academic lab in a formal university setting may sound out of step for someone whose work galvanizes protesters and inspires musicians, she sees it as an exciting next step in the shifting conversation around sustainability.

“The lab is already becoming a space where people from a range of disciplines who study sustainability — students, staff, faculty and community partners — can build relationships and consider the role of storytelling in the field,” she said.

“Something like that reaches people in more profound ways than just talking about policy or politics.”

As with any university lab, creating high-impact learning opportunities for students is key.

Activist Becomes Academic

Pezzullo’s formative educational experiences inspired her teaching philosophy. While a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she interviewed activists and community members in Warren County — known as the birthplace of the environmental justice movement — where landfill toxins were poisoning the water source serving a predominantly Black community.

Listening to their voices and adding her own to the cause helped Pezzullo to see how a single story could unlock millions of dollars to clean a landfill. Cleanup work began as she completed her studies.

“I became hooked on stories,” she said. “When we put storytelling into practice in service of complex problems, like sustainability, we discover why communication is captivating.”

It’s part of why Pezzullo doesn’t limit her storytelling to scholarly publications. Her public-facing work on sustainability includes a podcast, Communicating Care, where she explores sustainability issues like plastic bag bans, disability justice and environmental treaties with other voices from the field.

One of these voices was Emy Kane (IntlAf’13), managing director of Lonely Whale, an organization that raises awareness about and offers alternatives to problematic plastics through partnerships with brands and engagement with companies, scientists and the global youth movement.

“When we put storytelling into practice in service of complex problems, like sustainability, we discover why communication is captivating.”

“What inspired me most about Phaedra is her commitment to sharing stories borne from empathy and action,” said Kane. “I’m thrilled to see my alma mater support her platform and research so that the next generation of leaders are equipped with the stories they need to reimagine the systems that run our world.”

Conversations on the podcast helped inform Pezzullo’s 2023 book, Beyond Straw Men: Plastic Pollution and Networked Cultures of Care, which won three national book awards. Highlighting success stories, she said, is important to counteract the defeatism and fatalism that typically accompany sustainability stories — and she’s seeing such sentiments rising, even in her classroom.

Oftentimes, in the wake of a victory, “people point out just how much is still wrong with pollution, with our climate, with the world,” she said. “Success isn’t that there won’t be more disasters — it’s that, with more thoughtful choices, future disasters may be less impactful. And that is a more challenging story to tell.”

Science Demands Better Stories

Amid news of rising temperatures, invasive microplastics and melting glaciers, it might seem frivolous to talk about sustainability in terms of good storytelling. But experts argue that we’ve struggled to make progress on environmental issues because the deeply scientific nature of these problems makes it hard for the general public to relate.

Robert Cox — Pezzullo’s mentor at UNC Chapel Hill, where he remains an emeritus professor — credited his protégé with laying the basis for how understandable stories can change the course on climate.

“All the work being done to communicate climate science in the public sphere is now being talked about in terms of relatable stories that demonstrate the impact of climate change,” said Cox, a three-time president of the Sierra Club environmental organization and co-author (with Pezzullo) of a textbook on the discipline. “Those stories resonate far beyond just the pages of an academic article. Phaedra’s work really laid the basis for the importance of narrative, of storytelling, to make complex environmental issues approachable.”

“Success isn’t that there won’t be more disasters — it’s that, with more thoughtful choices, future disasters may be less impactful. And that is a more challenging story to tell.”

In her lab, Pezzullo is searching for that impact by forging partnerships within CMCI and CU Boulder to bring different kinds of expertise to the challenge of impactful storytelling — something she’s already doing as director of the university’s graduate certificate in environmental justice. She’s lectured at universities across the globe and has collaborated extensively with Colorado’s Department of Public Health and Environment on climate change. In the meantime, she and her students build digital “story maps” that illustrate how Colorado communities are affected by environmental and climate injustice.

Pursuing Stories with Confidence

Independent reporter Anthony Albidrez (MJour’24) took a foundational course in environmental justice with Pezzullo to better understand how journalism supports sustainability through storytelling and rigorous news reporting standards.

Because of his class experiences, Albidrez turned a course project about a stream cleanup in Honolulu, where he lives, into a report detailing how the local unhoused population was blamed for a mess that, when cleaned, amounted to 16 tons of trash being removed from the Makiki Stream.

“I don’t think a group of homeless people can drag tons of trash into a streambed, but from my research, they were receiving the brunt of the blame,” Albidrez said. “Phaedra’s course helped give me the confidence to go beyond the government numbers and explanations and find the real story.”

Pezzullo’s ability to encourage that sort of intellectual curiosity is what Cox most appreciates about her impact. Though he’s quick to credit her with pushing the boundaries of their field, Cox most admires how Pezzullo has guided the next generation of thinkers as they seek to advance sustainability through storytelling.

“So many of her students are pursuing academic, business and nonprofit work in this area, and that speaks to her strength as a mentor,” Cox said. “She is such an unselfish person in terms of contributing her labor to the field of environmental communication — and that’s the kind of champion a story like this needs.”

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Illustrations by Scott Bakal

Professor Phaedra Pezzullo aims to make sustainability issues more relatable by integrating storytelling into environmental communication.

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Breaking the News: A Journalist's Perspective

Anna Tolette — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 20:50:53 +0000

Breaking the News: A Journalist's Perspective Anna Tolette Tue, 11/12/2024 - 13:50

Cynthia Barnes

In 2022, Allison Sandza (Jour’09) became the executive producer for the CBS News Streaming Network’s coverage for ��Ĺ��ý, D.C. She has also served as a senior producer for Meet the Press, the longest-running show in television history, after stints at PBS and CNN. Born and raised in the capital city, Sandza is committed to reaching an audience that increasingly turns to digital devices for their news.

What led you to journalism?

I grew up in a news household: My parents met in a newsroom before my mom became a lawyer. I grew up with framed newspapers on the walls. So, to say politics and news is in my blood is probably an understatement. It is what I was meant to do.

How do you see streaming platforms evolving for political news coverage, especially in this election cycle?

We are the live and breaking news arm of CBS News. We rush toward the stories, and in this news cycle — especially this political news cycle — it’s just faster than ever.

How did your time at CU and in Boulder affect what you’re doing now and what’s happened in your career?

In my last semester at CU, I took what ended up being my all-time favorite class: a media ethics course. I still think about that class. Every day, every single day, I think, “Is this fair? Is this sourced enough?”

We try to make sure that we are explaining the context and analysis of the whole picture, all while it’s happening in real time. I learned those nuts and bolts in journalism school at CU.

How do you balance breaking timely political coverage with the desire for, as you said, more nuanced, in-depth reporting on complex issues?

Every day, it’s a conversation and an internal struggle. I do think CBS News is unique in that it’s a place that’s known for taking a beat, for taking context into account with every story. It’s the home of 60 Minutes. It’s the home of in-depth reporting and analysis. So I think we’re very careful — we admit in real time when we still don’t know something. That is really the only way to operate. And I think it’s authentic, which audiences now crave.

Any final thoughts?

It’s a privilege to be able to cover this election, to be able to really write this first draft of history. That’s such a journalism cliché, but I think it’s a cliché for a reason.

Editor’s note: This interview was conducted prior to the November 5 election.

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Photo by Hugo Ross/ CBS

In 2022, Allison Sandza (Jour’09) became the executive producer for the CBS News Streaming Network's coverage for ��Ĺ��ý, D.C. Here's why she's committed to reaching an audience that increasingly turns to digital devices for their news.

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Filming the Frontlines: Jordan Campbell’s Journey Into Ukraine

Anna Tolette — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 20:44:53 +0000

Filming the Frontlines: Jordan Campbell’s Journey Into Ukraine Anna Tolette Tue, 11/12/2024 - 13:44

Audrea Lin

Journalist, photographer and filmmaker Jordan Campbell (Comm’91) is no stranger to the harshness of international conflict. He has reported from South Sudan, Libya and Iraq for publications like National Geographic and Men's Journal. He also founded Ramro Global, a film production company that documents the work of global health and humanitarian initiatives.

But his latest project, an upcoming documentary titled Ukraine Under Fire, is a personal labor — the origins and experiences of which are unlike anything he’s ever undertaken.

International storytelling

After graduating from CU, Campbell started working with outdoor company Marmot as a communications director. Always one to seek out new and interesting perspectives, he befriended a few of the company’s international representatives, becoming close to his Ukrainian colleagues Iryna Karagan and Pavlo Vasianoych.

Over the course of the next decade, Campbell found himself drawn to bigger stories, fueled by his university training in storytelling, geopolitics and political science. His career segued into global journalism and film.

Still, he remained friends with Karagan and Vasianoych. And when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, he quickly reached out to Karagan. Concerned, he asked if she would flee. Karagan’s answer was resolved: Not only was she staying put, she was staying “to defend our country.”

Her determination highlighted what Campbell saw as “the most incredible injustice, a David and Goliath story — of resistance, resilience and the quest for freedom, democracy and European integration.”

Documenting conflict

A month later, Campbell crossed the Polish border heading to Kiev, his camera in tow and post-apocalyptic sirens blaring. “It was a ghost town,” he remembered. In areas near Bucha that Ukrainian soldiers had just liberated from Russia, he saw evidence of violence alongside the burnt remains of tanks, buildings and cars.

He returned again that summer and embedded at a military hospital in Pokrovsk, a grisly scene of battered and injured soldiers. “It was a life-changing event,” he said. Campbell decided that the footage he shot would become part of a film, Ukraine Under Fire, that documents Russia’s invasion and Ukraine’s resilience, and includes Karagan and Vasianoych as subjects.

Between visits, Campbell spoke up about what he had seen. At the U.S. Senate Building, he presented before an audience of global politicians during the Parliamentary Intelligence Security Forum, speaking about Russia’s use of cluster bombs on civilian targets and what he believed was evidence of war crimes and genocide.

“What he’s doing by humanizing the conflict encourages people to take an interest and support the cause of the Ukrainian people,” said Dan Martinez, a retired Foreign Service Officer and Ramro Global advisory board member who facilitated Campbell’s participation.

Despite the inherent risks, Campbell continued to return to Ukraine, mitigating the dangers by following a few simple rules: “Make the best decisions you can possibly make, given where you are and who you're with,” and, “Pick the people you're going to be with very carefully.”

One such person he shadowed was Peter Fouché, a South African combat medic. During a frigid morning in early 2023, the two men patrolled a quiet hamlet near the front line, peering up at the sky for incoming drones. Fouché, burly and hardened, a Rambo-like figure cradling an AK-47, emerged from the broken shell of a little stone house. Then, he broke into tears.

“The West will be remembered for what they have done or have not done in this war,” Fouché said, staring directly into Campbell’s lens.

Capturing reality

The summer of 2023 was Campbell’s fifth visit to Ukraine — one he now describes as “disastrous.” He was with Fouché at the time, and their nerves were shot from exhaustion, PTSD and a relentless, soggy heat. He didn’t know it, but it would be the last time he’d see his friend.

As Campbell made plans to return, to embed with Fouché and his Ukrainian colleague Tatyana Millard, he learned that the two were killed near the frontlines. The duo were evacuating injured soldiers from the combat zone “like a superhero team,” Campbell said.

“That’s Peter’s essence right there,” Campbell remarked weeks after Fouché’s death, while reflecting on the footage he captured of the heroic medic and his piercing statement about the West’s role in the war. “That's the power of documentary film. It's that close.”

Campbell’s documentary, Ukraine Under Fire, is set to release in December 2024.

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Photos courtesy Oleg Avilov

In 2022, journalist, photographer and filmmaker Jordan Campbell (Comm’91) headed to Ukraine to report on the war. Now, he’s sharing his experiences in his documentary, Ukraine Under Fire.

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Amping Up Radio 1190 at CU Boulder

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 06:00:00 +0000

Amping Up Radio 1190 at CU Boulder Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 07/16/2024 - 00:00

Christie Sounart

Radio 1190 KVCU, CU Boulder’s volunteer-based student radio station, has been broadcasting on campus since November 1998. Recently, it’s been gaining attention on a national scale.

In less than two years, Jack Armstrong (StComm’25), news director for Radio 1190, has grown the student radio team from three people to 40 active volunteers, amping up the broadcast from weekly to daily. The station now features daily news programming, in addition to shows, music and podcasts.

“I had a drive to make something much larger than what we currently had at the station,” said Armstrong, who will be a senior in the fall.

In March, the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System honored the radio station with two national awards: Best Public Affairs Program and the 2024 Best News Director.

“It was validating that the program I put together worked,” Armstrong said. “I want working for Radio 1190 to be a coveted learning experience for students — and one that employers will see and value.”

When he graduates, Armstrong plans to continue in a new capacity with the station, which is located in the University Memorial Center on campus.

“I will consult with the second news director to make sure they’re beginning on the right path,” he said. “After that, I’m choosing to promote myself to the role of listener.”

Listen to the station at 1190 AM or at 1190.radio.

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Photo by Patrick Campbell

Radio 1190 KVCU, CU Boulder’s volunteer-based student radio station, has been broadcasting on campus since November 1998. Recently, it’s been gaining attention on a national scale.

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Communication & Media

Five CU Innovators Changing the World

Jump to:

Idowu Odeyemi (PhDPhil’27)

Savannah Sellers (Jour’13)

Dania Arayssi (MPolSci’22; PhD’26)

Jun Ye (Physicist, JILA Fellow)

Steve Swanson (EngrPhys’83)

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News Briefs from CU Boulder

100 Launches for BioServe

New Master’s Program in AI

1190 Gets FM Debut in Denver

Heard Around Campus

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The Stories that Sustain Us: Phaedra Pezzullo's Unique Approach to Sustainability

Activist Becomes Academic

Science Demands Better Stories

Pursuing Stories with Confidence

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Breaking the News: A Journalist's Perspective

What led you to journalism?

How do you see streaming platforms evolving for political news coverage, especially in this election cycle?

How did your time at CU and in Boulder affect what you’re doing now and what’s happened in your career?

How do you balance breaking timely political coverage with the desire for, as you said, more nuanced, in-depth reporting on complex issues?

Any final thoughts?

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Filming the Frontlines: Jordan Campbell’s Journey Into Ukraine

International storytelling

Documenting conflict

Capturing reality

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Amping Up Radio 1190 at CU Boulder

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