University of Colorado Boulder
Search
Close this search box.
Institute of Behavioral Science

IBS Biography

Women’s History Month Feature: Anni Magyary

by
Image of Anni Magyare wearing a lime green button down. A graphic of the flatirons and Women's History Month are in the background.

Our next Women’s History Month Feature is with Anni Magyary! Anni joined IBS and CU Boulder in July of 2019. She works as a Proposal Analyst/Outreach Specialist for the CU Population Center and the Health and Society Program.

What do you like most about your position at IBS?

Magyary: So many things! I really enjoy assisting and guiding researchers with their proposal submissions and the appreciation they show me, always making me feel like I’m part of their team and not an outsider. Of course, when their project is chosen to be awarded, that makes it 10x more special and worthwhile! I also LOVE being able to utilize my journalism degree by writing and reporting about all the groundbreaking, cutting-edge research being done for our “CUPC Highlights” newsletter; it makes my job so much fun and enriching.

What has been the most impactful IBS research you’ve learned about? 

Magyary: So much of IBS research is found in the headlines of our nation’s current events – but if I have to choose one area, it’d be what’s dear to my heart – research that’s trying to understand climate change and how it affects us as a population, whether it be our health, vulnerability to natural hazards, and climate migration and equity. Oh, and who doesn’t love gazing at those amazing GIS maps of human settlement, urbanization, and spatial-temporal modeling, especially the animated ones!   

What’s one thing you hope never changes about IBS?

Magyary: Great question: the strong feeling of being part of a community full of talented people with a shared mission!

What have you read lately that you’d recommend to a friend?

Magyary: The million-dollar question – you’re asking somebody who works at the Boulder Public Library downtown on the week-ends! Just stop on by, find me at the front desk, and I’ll recommend a great book according to your taste, whether it be fiction or non-fiction. I just finished the fiction book “Horse” by Geraldine Brooks (a Pulitzer prize-winning author) and couldn’t put it down – loved the historical aspects of a real racehorse during the mid-19th century Kentucky. It won the indie book award last year.

________

Tune in next week for another interview with another phenomenal IBSer!

Secrets from the Grave: A Portrait of Sharon Dewitte

by
Sharon Dewitte wears a white lab coat and holds a skull with both hands. She stands near a desk.

Professor of anthropology and faculty/fellow of the Institute of Behavioral Science, Sharon Dewitte, was recently featured in the Coloradan Alumni Magazine. Author Lisa Marshall shares how Dewitte’s research helps us learn more about pathogens, their effects on the body, and the structural inequalities that historically led some groups to be more vulnerable to pathogens than others. Read more about Dewitte and her work in the article here.

Women’s History Month Feature: Lori Hunter

by
Lori Hunter smiles with a green and blue scarf. In the background, a graphic of the flatirons and Women's History Month text.

Next up in our Women’s History Month celebration is Director of IBS, Lori Hunter! Lori shares about her history with IBS and CU Boulder, her vision for IBS, and hints at an exciting event for IBSers in the works.

_______

When did you join IBS?

Hunter: I came to CU Boulder in 2000, after four years as an assistant professor at Utah State University following my PhD at Brown in 1997. I have been an IBS Fellow since coming to CU Boulder. I was originally affiliated with the E&S Program given my work in environmental sociology, but I eventually was also affiliated with the Population Program given my training as a social demographer and my research on population-environment interactions.

What do you like most about being director of IBS?

Hunter: Being Director of IBS is my favorite job in 23 years at CU Boulder – actually, it’s my favorite job ever! I have loved becoming more familiar with all the important and innovative research across the Institute and I so appreciate having the opportunity to advocate on behalf of our investigators doing that important and innovative research. I also enjoy reaching across campus — and beyond — to think creatively about bridges we might build to enhance our research and our impact. Finally, I’ve also appreciated the chance to think carefully about how we do our business and how the Institute might better serve our investigators and better support our staff.

What’s something you’re most excited about for IBS?

Hunter: Potential. As I look to the future, I see an Institute that has been responsive to investigator and staff concerns and is poised to step into a future that includes even greater impact and innovation. There are partnerships just waiting to happen. Some are on the Boulder campus – Engineering, Earth Lab, RASEI, CNAIS, and more. Some are at the Colorado School of Public Health – environmental health, indigenous health, rural health, and more. Some are further afield and responsive to funding opportunities at NSF, NIH, and other agencies that are seeking to develop impactful national and international collectives on substantive areas like climate & health. It is my hope that the Institute can support investigators in developing these larger scale initiatives which hold the potential to enhance the sustainability and impact of our important efforts.

What’s one thing you hope never changes about IBS?

Hunter: Community. Even though we’ve been through challenging times, I think our topical foci bring people together out of a desire to expand knowledge and impact across a vast landscape of social challenges. I also hope we have a lot of fun bowling together! (I am hoping to schedule a bowling social later this month).

________

Stay tuned for a social invite from Lori, IBSers! And check back soon for another interview!

Women’s History Month Feature: Angela “Angie” Branson

by
Angela Branson holds a camera and is looking at us. In the background, it is springtime in Vail, Colorado with bright green foliage everywhere and a road winding into the trees.

Happy International Women’s Day from IBS! In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re interviewing some of our amazing IBS staff. Up first is Senior Program Manager, Angela Branson! Branson joined IBS in September 2022 and helps manage the Health and Society Program, the Population Program, the Program on International Development and the CU Population Center. 

_______

What do you like most about your position at IBS?

Branson: I love the people that I work with along with supporting the impactful research mission of the programs that I support and in IBS as a whole.

What has been the most impactful IBS research you’ve learned about? 

Branson: It’s hard to pick just one, but I’m very supportive of the research work Amanda Stevenson and the Colorado Fertility Project are doing. It seems that women’s (as well as transgender people’s) rights to bodily autonomy are currently under attack in our nation’s politics, especially at the state level in several states and I feel strongly that women and transgender people should have the right to choose what happens with their own bodies with the guidance from their personal physicians, without the government stepping in. I am also partial to any research leading to policy influence related to climate change. 

What’s one thing you hope never changes about IBS?

Branson: I hope that the passion for positive change in the world through the research done and supported by IBS never changes. Every Program and Center is doing highly impactful work all striving toward a better ‘tomorrow’ by looking to the past, present and future for collaborative solutions to real world problems and I love that.

What do you like to do most outside of IBS?

Branson: My favorite pastime outside of IBS is photography. I have been interested in photography since I was a child but have gotten serious about my art starting in about 2014. I have my own company and website, Angela Branson Photography, LLC. I specialize in wildlife art photography as well as portraits/headshots and events professionally as a side gig. If anyone is interested in checking out my work, they can follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angelabransonphoto/.

________

Tune in next week for another interview with another phenomenal IBSer!

DONATE

PROGRAMS

CENTERS