CSU's The Audit

Imagine being a sailor in the 1700s and suddenly in the pitch black of the night, the sea begins to glow a fluorescent green, illuminating the ocean like a giant nightlight. Today, this peculiar occurrence is known as “milky seas,” but more than 300 years later researchers still don’t know much more about the phenomenon than those sailors did.
Now Colorado State University researcher Justin Hudson is using centuries wor...

In 2020, after burning for three months, the Cameron Peak Fire scorched more than 200,000 acres, making it the largest wildfire in Colorado history. Five years later, and more than a thousand miles away, a series of devastating wildfires continues to burn in Los Angeles. 

Anne Mook, senior team scientist at CSU's Institute for Research in the Social Sciences, along with Pilar Morales-Giner, a postdoctoral researcher at Spai...

It may not be considered "polite conversation," but Jordan Kraft Lambert thinks we all need to be talking more about poop. In fact, the director of ag innovation at CSU’s Spur campus has made it her mission to bring this and other “icky” topics to the table – figuratively and literally. Lambert spoke with CSU's The Audit podcast about how poop is actually a pretty powerful commodity, and why liver gets such a bad (and larg...

Since the COVID 19 pandemic began in 2020, same day/next day delivery — something that was previously considered a premium service — has become a normal, and even expected, way to shop, largely thanks to Amazon.

In this encore episode of CSU's The Audit, associate professor of operations and supply chain management Zac Rogers shares how this model of shipping works, why brick-and-mortar stores will never go away and the sur...

Fifty years ago, the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons was created, and despite some initial controversies, it has endured to become a beloved pastime and cultural touchstone for many. But for Colorado State University political science instructor James “Pigeon” Fielder, it’s much more than that.
To Fielder, D&D — as it’s more commonly known — is a master class in political strategy, everything from diplomacy...

Most people have experienced déjà vu at one time or another, that eerie feeling that you've been in a situation before when you know that you haven't. But what is déjà vu? And why does it happen? Colorado State University Psychology Professor Anne Cleary, who researches human memory and specifically déjà vu, says the reasons are a lot more normal than paranormal. Cleary recently spoke with The Audit about what actually hap...

In 1983, Spirit Halloween stores began popping up with a very unique business model — rent out a large, vacant store front; fill it with Halloween costumes and temporary employees for about eight to 10 weeks; and then as of Nov. 1 — poof! They vanish like a ghost. 

Colorado State University College of Business Associate Professor Zac Rogers researches the financial impact of supply chain sustainability, emerging logistics t...

Comedians have been joking about politics for probably as long as there have been politicians. But in the past few years, there's been a noticeable shift in political comedy. 

No longer just a spotlight for the Democrats, more and more conservatives are getting in on the act, too, from the rise of comic and podcaster Joe Rogan to Fox's answer to “The Daily Show,” "Gutfeld," right-wing conservative comedy is on the rise. Co...

Can you put a price on nature? Or maybe the better question is, should you put a price on nature?

It may sound like a bizarre concept, but it’s one that renowned environmental economist Ed Barbier says could be key to saving the planet.

Barbier is a University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Economics at Colorado State University, as well as a Senior Scholar in the School of Global Environmental Sustainability. ...

There are lots of different types of friends. Best friends, work friends. Facebook friends, even frenemies. Each has an important role in our lives that has been shown to impact our mental and physical health.

Now the American Friendship Project, a new program co-led by Colorado State University communication studies researcher Natalie Pennington, provides one of the most complete looks at this highly critical — but rarely ...

Despite its landlocked location, Colorado State University is well known all along the Atlantic coast for its seasonal hurricane forecasts. Each spring, these forecasts predict the total amount and potential strength of storms for the upcoming hurricane season.
The forecasts were first developed and shared by pioneering atmospheric science researcher William Gray, and are frequently used by media, officials and communit...

In March, a New York state judge ruled that a lawsuit could go forward against several social media companies alleging that the platforms contributed to the radicalization of a gunman who killed 10 people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York in 2022. 

The lawsuit claims companies like Meta, Reddit and 4Chan “profit from the racist, antisemitic and violent material displayed on their platforms in order to maximize user en...

Methane is odorless, colorless, and invisible to the naked eye. But it's also one of the most damaging greenhouse gases impacting climate change. 

Colorado State University biology professor Joe von Fischer researches how humans, plants, soil and soil microbes influence greenhouse gas emissions, including methane. Today, we're talking with Von Fischer about how methane compares to the more notorious carbon dioxide, his rese...