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1980-1993. Maturity: The Years of Broadening and Deepening

Research Achievements and Program Growth

With approximately 500 students, scientists, and staff at work, advances in knowledge have been inevitable and expected from CIRES. During the years described in this chapter, a few stand out as especially noteworthy in terms of their impacts on society and national policy, but many others could be mentioned. The list of over 3,000 CIRES publications documents these contributions.

One person who made a significant, internationally recognized difference is Professor John Birks, fellow and author of chapter eight. He and Paul Crutzen, then of NCAR, worked out the effects on the atmosphere that would result from a global nuclear war, a result that came to be known as "nuclear winter." Their demonstration of the fact that there could be no winner in a full nuclear conflict may well have changed the course of history. They made clear to policy makers that there must not be a nuclear conflict, and this result may have been one of the strong motivations for reaching détente and nuclear stand-down. Birks was also a close scientific adviser to Sievers and played a major background role in the development of the Institute. He served as acting director of CIRES when Sievers spent a sabbatical semester at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Student relax in the atrium.

Charles Archambeau, a theorist in seismology and related subjects, received a MacArthur "genius" award in 1988 for pioneering research on the foundations of methods of monitoring underground nuclear tests. His and his colleagues' work was responsible in part for the development of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, a long-sought goal still to be ratified by the U.S. Senate. Archambeau's other important work related to the highly controversial Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository proposed for development in Nevada.

The Creation of Interdisciplinary Research Centers. The University authorized the establishment of research centers as a means of promoting studies in specialized areas that would clearly benefit from the interactions of investigators coming from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds. As of 2001, five such centers had been formed within CIRES. The first was the NationalSnow and Ice Data Center [ About NSIDC ] , approved in 1982, which is described in detail in chapter seven. The next was the Center for the Study of Earth from Space, CSES, the hub of CIRES-based applications of remote sensing techniques to a wide variety of problems, to which chapter six is devoted. The Colorado Center for Chaos and Complexity, known as C4, 1996, evolved from studies in solid-earth science to a much broader range of investigations of complex systems. It is discussed briefly in chapter five. The Center for Limnology was created outside of CIRES, but then moved into the Institute, as described in detail in chapter nine. The fifth center, the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research, was formed in 2001 and represents the frequently debated and long-delayed entry of CIRES into the realm of public policy and social science issues in the environmental sciences.

The Introduction of Biological Sciences. Although the inclusion of biological sciences was recognized from the earliest discussions leading to the creation of CIRES as essential to a well-rounded effort in environmental science, it was not until the 1980s that actions were taken to bring in this area. Professor William Lewis, Department of Environmental, Population, and Organismic Biology (EPOB), was the first in this field to affiliate with CIRES, as he accepted election as a fellow in 1988. His interests are in aquatic chemistry and environmental biology. He is the author of chapter nine. Ray Fall and Shelley Copley brought their expertise in environment-related biochemistry into the Institute. Carol Wessmann, a biologist specializing in forestry, first worked as a Research Associate in the Center for the Study of Earth from Space, 1987-1991, then became a faculty member in EPOB and a fellow of CIRES in 1991. The contributions of these scientists are described in chapters eight and nine.

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