Ram Talks
Bring your curiosity and energy, grab a cold one, and spend Wednesday happy hour with Ram Talks. Explore, learn, and create with CSU experts downtown at the new Fort Collins Welcome Center!
Ram Talks are a mashup of CSU expertise and active community conversation, unleashing the creative insights and eye-opening shakeup that comes from taking a fresh look at the world around us.
Location
Fort Collins Welcome Center
7 Old Town Square, Suite 100 (next door to Coopersmith’s Pub and Brewing)
Time
5:00 – 6:30 p.m. Program starts at 5:30
Dates
Wednesdays 2x/month (see schedule below)
Drinks and Eats
Light snacks & non-alcoholic beverages provided
Spring 2025 Ram Talks Lineup:
We are excited to launch our Spring 2025 Ram Talks Series and look forward to having you join us this spring!
Feb 12: “Storm Chasing from Space”
Sue van den Heever – University Distinguished Professor, Nicholas M. Falk – Graduate Student, & Allie Mazurek – Engagement Climatologist at the Colorado Climate Center
Have you ever wondered why some thunderstorms produce large hail, flood-generating rainfall, powerful winds, and tornadoes, while other thunderstorms do not? Do you question why daily forecasts of intense weather are not more accurate? Thunderstorms are driven by rising air motions that control storm intensity, but our observations of such motions are limited. We will explore innovative techniques developed at CSU on how best to observe storm motions from the ground using near-surface uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) and instrumented balloons, as well as from space with trains of radar-carrying small satellites comprising the upcoming CSU-led NASA INCUS mission. Join us at 5:00 p.m. for an outdoor weather balloon and drone launch demonstration!
Feb 26: “How Beer Changed the World”
Charlie Hoxmeier – Assistant Professor & Chief Brewing Officer at Gilded Goat
Get ready to take a journey through history and discover how beer helped shape the world we live in today. We will take a historical tour of brewing and demonstrate how as our understanding of the brewing process advanced, so did our understanding of the industrial and natural world. We’ll explore how brewing has helped to drive innovation for centuries and how those technologies are now a part of our everyday lives. Join me for an engaging and lively exploration of how the humble pint of beer has played a pivotal role in shaping our modern world!
March 12: “Tiptoeing Through the Tulips: Exploring a Colorful History”
Chad Miller – Associate Professor
When thinking about spring and flowers, there is one flower that many instantly recognize—the Tulip. With its vibrant petals and striking shapes, the tulip isn’t just a flower; it’s a true harbinger of Spring and a cultural icon. But did you know that the Dutch have spent centuries perfecting the art of growing and breeding thousands of tulips? Join us for this week’s Ram Talk as we dive into the legendary history of the tulip. Discover the secrets behind these blooms and uncover a story as vibrant as the flowers themselves!
March 26: “Artificial Collaborative Intelligence: How AI Can Help Humans Be Better Teammates”
Nikhil Krishnaswamy – Assistant Professor
The rise of generative AI, exemplified by large language models (LLMs), has kickstarted a rapid integration of AI systems into our personal lives, businesses, education, and even government. However, careless users of AI may uncritically accept what the system tells them, with consequences that may range from inconvenient to catastrophic. Dr. Krishnaswamy advocates a better approach to AI adoption: human-AI collaboration where AI plays a unique role in supporting teams. Rather than replacing human judgment, AI can enhance teamwork by helping to productively reconcile conflicting views and avoid groupthink by intervening to make teams deliberate and reconsider available evidence at strategic moments. This talk will explore a vision for AI’s role in collaborative intelligence that helps humans’ reason better together.
April 9: “Notes from the Underground: A Discussion About the Skin of the Planet Earth”
Gene Kelly – Professor & Deputy Director of the Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station
The discussion explores the critical role of soil as Earth’s living, breathing skin. This thin, fragile layer supports life by providing nutrients, filtering water, regulating temperature, and storing carbon. Like human skin, soil is dynamic—constantly forming, aging, and interacting with its environment. It is home to an extraordinary diversity of organisms, with a single teaspoon containing more life than the entire human population. Yet, unsustainable practices threaten this vital resource, eroding its ability to sustain ecosystems and humanity itself. This talk delves into the science of soil, its ecological significance, and the urgent need to protect and restore this foundation of life for a sustainable future.
April 23: “How to Talk to your Doc – Health Care Communication to Get the Care you Need”
Jane Shaw – Associate Professor & Kat Sutherland – Assistant Professor
No matter what the setting, healthcare interactions are complex for everyone involved. How can you as a patient be your own best advocate to receive the care you need? This interactive workshop will equip you with four communication skills— agenda setting, open-ended inquiry, asking permission, and summary— to enhance conversations with your healthcare providers. We will define each communication skill, highlight what can be gained, and generate questions and phrases for practical use. Then we will practice the skills with engaging exercises, so you can implement them during your next healthcare visit.
Sept 4: “Hidden hurdles – Inventing new approaches to old problems by re-thinking systems”
Jeni Cross – Professor
Are you striving to improve your organization or make a difference in the world, but find yourself feeling stuck? Do you see opportunities for people to change their behavior and feel frustrated that they don’t? Dr. Cross will talk about a new framework for creating meaningful social change, challenge you to see your work in new ways, and highlight the latest insights from social science about how to be an effective catalyst for change. References and resources
Sept 18: “Elephant names: What we can learn from how elephants communicate”
George Wittemyer – Professor
It’s a new discovery from CSU, that elephants appear to have individual names for one another. But this discovery is lifting the veil on not only how elephant communicate, but how they understand their world. Learn the science behind how studying the vocalizations of elephants and other species helps us understand how they think, and what it may teach us about what made humans into what we are today. Explore ideas on how important vocal communication is among social animals, allows them to thrive and develop in unexpected directions, and imagine where it could lead.
Oct 2: “Taking on the challenge of toxic polarization: better conversations in a hyper-partisan world” Martin Carcasson – Professor
Explore the key challenges posed by information disorder and toxic polarization, and the growing movement to counteract their impact. Dr. Carcasson, a faculty member in Communication Studies and director of the CSU Center for Public Deliberation, will review research on polarization – its types, causes, and effects – and introduce tools and resources for individuals and communities to address these challenges and elevate the conversations needed for democracy to thrive.
Oct 16: Pre-Halloween special: “Morbid Trickery – What science is learning from CSU’s Corpse Flower” Jessica Metcalf – Professor, Valerie Seitz – Postdoctoral Fellow & Tammy Brenner – Plant Growth Facilities Manager
On the evening of Saturday May 25th of this year, the CSU corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanium) began blooming and attracted over 8,600 people to CSU’s campus to catch a glimpse, and a whiff. The flowering of this unique and rare Sumatran plant not only brought together members of the Fort Collins and Front Range community, but also CSU scientists from across different departments who had previously not collaborated. Join us for a talk about Cosmo, the CSU corpse flower and some of our discoveries. We promise some interesting sensory opportunities!
Nov 6: “Muscles Alive! – Your electric muscles are movers and sensors” Brian Tracy – Associate Professor
An impossibly large number of nerve and muscle cells are involved in generating even the simplest human movement. The function of these cells can change dramatically with aging and disease. This evening, we will briefly discuss the physiology of movement, followed by a lengthy period where everyone will be subjects in VERY engaging “experiments”. These demonstrations are designed to 1) display in real time the actual electrical signals that activate your muscle, 2) produce attention-getting reflexes and proprioceptive sensory illusions, and 3) assess your postural control with a smartphone. Participants may also be able to “control the professor” with signals from
their own brain.
Nov 20: “CSU’s super-laser technology and the quest for fusion energy” Ken Reardon – Professor and Associate Dean for Research
Fusion energy, the process that powers the sun, has long been a goal of researchers seeking a clean, limitless energy source with zero carbon emissions and no long-lived radioactive nuclear waste. Yet it has been difficult to achieve – until now. Recently, thanks to high-powered lasers, fusion energy was accomplished. CSU is one of the few places in the world that has the technology and expertise to make laser-driven fusion energy feasible. Join us to learn more about fusion, lasers, and “big numbers”. Discover why Fort Collins is a hotbed for laser research in the US, and how CSU is helping shape the future of clean energy.
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