Ed Barbier, a University Distinguished Professor of economics at Colorado State University, has been honored with the 2026 Planet Earth Award hosted by the Alliance of World Scientists. He is the first economist to win the award.
Colorado State University’s College of Liberal Arts is a vibrant community of artists, thinkers, storytellers, and scientists who examine the human experience. In a special podcast version of our Liberal Arts Magazine, our faculty share their areas of expertise and talk about why their work matters in our world today.
Simone Ross (B.A., ’04; MBA, ’14) is redefining what leadership looks like. From scaling complex organizations to delivering a powerful TEDx talk on authentic leadership, Ross blends operational strategy with a deeply human lens. Now CEO of the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce, she challenges traditional corporate culture and encourages leaders – especially women – to show up fully and unapologetically.
Abigail Rolbiecki has been named the director of the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences at Colorado State University. An internationally recognized expert in meaning-centered narrative interventions and trauma-informed therapeutic processing, Rolbiecki has overseen more than $8M in funded research and led both interdisciplinary teams and multi-institutional partnerships that integrate the social sciences into ambitious, transformative scientific and scholarly projects.
Doug Yarrington, an associate professor of History in the College of Liberal Arts recently published a sweeping history of Venezuela that explores the ways corruption and efforts to combat it shaped the national state during the years of its formation.
University Distinguished Professor of Economics Ed Barbier and Associate Professor of Economics Jo Burgess recently published their first co-authored textbook, intended to invite students with little or no knowledge of economics to explore the field of environmental economics. The book uses extensive case studies to introduce concepts including sustainable development and the inextricable relationship between the natural world and the global economy.
The two-part exhibition examines how Warhol’s 1981 visit impacted the campus landscape, as well as how his photos were eerily predictive of social media.
The April 9-11 conference will focus on changing household composition and livelihood strategies, particularly in the wake of mass foreclosures, evictions, migration and public health crises across urban, rural and transnational settings.
Meet CSU student and alumna Nikki LaRochelle, an accomplished skimo athlete, who will play a role in introducing it to millions of viewers as an analyst for Olympic Broadcasting Services.
Published by Pantheon on Jan. 20, ‘How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder’ centers on two sisters growing up in rural Wyoming and explores girlhood in the 1980s, identity, trauma and cultural memory. The novel is already earning praise from critics and readers.
