Faculty Research
DU's professors are dedicated to research that improves our society. Howard Markman, a psychology professor and co-director of the Center for Marital and Family Studies, is internationally known for his research on one of American society’s greatest issues—divorce.
DU professors are breaking new ground across the disciplines. They're hunting down viruses, finding the genes behind learning disabilities and creating video games with a conscience. They're even founding entirely new fields of study.
One hallmark ties together all of this work, regardless of what field it's in. Ultimately, all research at DU has one common purposeĀto have a real impact on people's lives.
Meet just a few of the professors whose work is changing the world.
Anna Sher—protecting Colorado's riverbanks
For all its winter snow, Colorado is essentially arid, and water is precious here. So when an foreign species of plant like the tamarisk tree invades the state and sucks up more water than it should, it can devastate the landscape.
Anna Sher, an assistant professor of biology, discovered that the thirsty tamarisk, which has taken over many of Colorado's riverbanks, can't compete with other plants when it's a seedling. Sher's discovery led to an a new technique that eradicates the invading trees. Now she's now studying a beneficial fungus that can rejuvenate depleted soil after tamarisks are removed.
Rahmat Shoureshi—making smart technology
Rahmat Shoureshi is dedicated to making complex technical systems work better using artificial intelligence.
Shoureshi, who's dean of the School of Engineering and Computer Science, has spent more than 20 years investigating the human body's motor control system and applying what he's learned to all kinds of large-scale systems. He's worked on intelligent control systems, smart civil structures, automated electric power systems, active noise and vibration control, robotics, health monitoring systems, and biomedical devices. The technology he's created is already being built by several start-up companies.
Larry Conyers—uncovering history
It turns out RADAR can help us with more than navigation and speeding tickets. Larry Conyers, an associate professor of anthropology, is a pioneer in using ground-penetrating RADAR to find and map things buried underground.
Conyers has traveled the world and looked into the depths of human history in Scotland, Peru, Jordan and Israel. Stateside, he's mapped tortoise burrows in Florida, searched for a murder victim in California and looked into 5,000-year-old pit-house villages in Oregon—and that's only the beginning. Read more...