Two Geography professors were selected for the University of Colorado Boulder’s Sustainability Research Initiative Fellowship
Katherine Siegel, and Keith Musselman along with 18 other researchers will participate in a year-long incubator designed to bring ̽Ƶ researchers together to collaborate and conduct research that addresses complex, multidimensional, boundary-spanning sustainability issues.
The SRI Research Fellowship is built on a simple premise: when talented people are given the space, time and community to dream big together, transformative ideas emerge. Sustainability challenges are complex and multidimensional, and addressing them requires intellectual approaches that cross boundaries, challenge assumptions and leverage diverse perspectives.
This fellowship is designed to cultivate exactly that environment. This first cohort of fellows includes 20 researchers from departments and research institutes across campus. Through a series of intensive trainings and retreats, the fellows will spend the year building community, practicing future-oriented thinking, and forming transdisciplinary teams capable of shaping the next generation of sustainability scholarship and solutions.
“This new fellowship is emblematic of ̽Ƶ’s strong campuswide commitment to sustainability, and it demonstrates how SRI is elevating and connecting CU’s sustainability researchers in creative and unexpected ways for greater impact,” said ̽Ƶ Vice Chancellor for Sustainability Andrew Mayock.
SRI conducted a series of focus groups in the fall of 2025 and a resounding theme emerged: researchers are eager to collaborate across disciplines, but institutional structures make that collaboration challenging.
“Comments like ‘Where can we think together?’ and ‘Can we buy faculty time for creative thinking?’ underscored the urgency,” said SRI Director Jane Zelikova. “The SRI research fellowship directly responds to these needs by carving out time and space for intentional community building across intellectual and departmental silos and for creative, non-proposal driven conversations. We aim to foster a space where serendipity can seed new ideas and collaborations and where researchers feel supported to explore bold, unconventional approaches.”