Science and technology

Arts

From the Met to Durango

Lewis College teams up with Indigenous artists, the Met to explore Southwest textile art

July 6, 2025 • Scout Edmondson — Herald Staff Writer

Forestry and timber

Sticks in snow

Snowtography sites in the southwest could foster more climate-resilient forests

October 16, 2023 • Reuben M. Schafir — Herald Staff Writer

Aerospace

Durango rocket club aims for the sky in national competition

Students must launch hen egg 850 feet up, keep it aloft, and land safely

May 19, 2023 • Tyler Brown — Herald Staff Writer

Durango High School

Durango High School robotics team uses state competition as educational experience

Students shift focus toward summer aerospace event

March 13, 2023 • Tyler Brown — Herald Staff Writer

Durango High School

Durango High School robotics team heads to state competition

Students take on challenge and make strides in their first year competing

February 17, 2023 • Tyler Brown — Herald Staff Writer

Climate

Southwest Colorado a playground for research scientists

Landscape diversity invites study of desert groundwater, alpine permafrost and prehistoric wildfires

July 14, 2022 • Aedan Hannon — Herald Staff Writer

Durango

How citizen scientists are testing our streams and rivers for contamination

Mountain Studies Institute, Fort Lewis College partner to measure E. coli in San Juan National Forest’s waterways

July 6, 2022 • Aedan Hannon — Herald Staff Writer

416 Fire

Can we replace fire with mechanical thinning in Southwest Colorado?

ecologists argue prescribed burns are necessary even as they have caused blazes this spring

June 4, 2022 • Aedan Hannon — Herald Staff Writer

Big Picture High School

MakerLab leaves Powerhouse for bigger location

Science center explores possibility of hosting Big Picture High School

May 7, 2022 • Christian Burney — Herald Staff Writer

Fort Lewis College

Chemical reactions light up Fort Lewis College science show

Demonstration, experiments hosted at first open house since pandemic

April 9, 2022 • Christian Burney — Herald Staff Writer

Air transport

La Plata County settles on location for radar

Equipment will likely look like a four-legged water tower with large golf ball on top

February 19, 2022 • Aedan Hannon — Herald Staff Writer

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Fort Lewis College students research vitamin D as a treatment for long COVID-19

Monthlong study will test if the supplement can offer an over-the-counter solution to growing problem

February 9, 2022 • Aedan Hannon — Herald Staff Writer

Climate

New climate normals show drier, hotter Southwest Colorado

decade scientists with NOAA update temperature and precipitation averages across the U.S.

February 3, 2022 • Aedan Hannon — Herald Staff Writer

Colorado

Mapmakers combine science and art to show us the world

data and creativity, cartographers create vital tools

January 27, 2022 • Aedan Hannon — Herald Staff Writer

Climate

Can you see climate change? Mapping tools turn millions of data points into visual representations

Scientists use maps and graphs to help analyze data and visualize impacts

December 13, 2021 • Aedan Hannon — Herald Staff Writer

Climate Change

Durango nonprofit helps build mapping tool to visualize climate, biodiversity of public lands

Program was created for policymakers, but can also inform local conservation efforts

November 20, 2021 • Aedan Hannon — Herald Staff Writer

Animal science

In Colorado’s rivers, genetic research helps rainbow trout rebound

CPW’s approach to fighting whirling disease could be a model for the future

November 18, 2021 • Aedan Hannon — Herald Staff Writer

Climate Change

Data gaps in Southwest Colorado limit what we know about local climate change

of radar and spotty ground monitoring make long-term forecasting difficult

November 15, 2021 • Aedan Hannon — Herald Staff Writer