Sustainability Centers, Collaborations, and Networks at Colorado State University
The Africa Center
The Africa Center’s members are actively involved in research, education, and collaborative engagement between institutions in Africa and the United States to promote sustainable ecosystems and societies.
Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education
CSU is a member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education Member (AASHE), a network of colleges, universities, businesses, and nonprofits working to attain sustainability goals at their institutions. As an AASHE member, Colorado State University achieved the first Platinum rating in the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) in 2015. This self-reporting tool offers a comprehensive look at campus wide sustainability efforts. A CSU representative serves on the STARS Steering Committee and CSU faculty, staff, and students often present at the national AASHE conference.
Bike Advisory Committee
Established in 2008, the CSU Campus Community Bicycle Advisory Committee (CBAC) offers support and guidance to enhance the bicycle experience for the CSU campus community as well as technical and planning assistance to CSU facilities and safety services. The committee is comprised of bicycle enthusiasts, police services, City of Fort Collins transportation personnel, CSU faculty, staff, and CSU students.
Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands
The Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands (CEMML) has supported military readiness and resource conservation on federal lands for nearly four decades, working primarily with the Department of Defense, as well as other federal departments and agencies. CEMML employs a team of full-time, in-house principal investigators. Our team of natural, physical, and social scientists is skilled in project management and implementation in the federal context.
Center for the New Energy Economy
The Center for the New Energy Economy convenes policymakers at the state level, providing technical assistance and fostering dialogue that connects energy policy leaders, experts, and communities. Our efforts include the creation and maintenance of publicly available tools and resources, and energy policy research.
Colorado Joint Forestry
The Joint Forestry Team’s purpose is to make recommendations that result in coordinated interagency delivery of forestry and conservation assistance for working forests, farms, and ranches. Team participants seek to improve the sustainability of the nation’s forests in order to provide optimum levels of public benefits and ecosystem services. In 2010, four of Colorado’s leading natural resources organizations announced a first-ever official interagency Memorandum of Understanding between the Colorado State Forest Service, Colorado Association of Conservation Districts, Colorado Natural Resources Conservation Service and Rocky Mountain Region of the U.S. Forest Service to improve resource stewardship in Colorado.
Colorado Energy Research Collaboratory
The collaboratory is a research partnership among the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Colorado State University, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the Colorado School of Mines. The collaboratory works with public agencies, industry partners, and other universities and colleges to develop renewable energy products and technologies for rapid transfer to the marketplace; supports economic growth with renewable energy industries; and educates energy researchers, technicians, and workforce.
Colorado Water Center
The Colorado Water Center (CoWC) brings together the work of the Colorado Water Institute and the CSU Water Center. The CoWC serves to lead interdisciplinary research, education, and engagement to address today’s most pressing water issues in Colorado and beyond, and connect diverse water stakeholders to resources and expertise. CoWC is one of 54 Water Resources Research Institutes created by the Water Resources Act of 1964, which collectively form the National Institutes for Water Resources. The Center is a division under CSU’s Office of Engagement, and supported by CSU Extension, CSU’s Office of the Provost, Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station and the U.S. Geological Survey.
CSU Energy Institute
The Energy Institute delivers real-world energy and carbon solutions that address society’s most pressing global challenges. The Institute is a horizontally-integrated organization within the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) with a mission to develop energy and carbon solutions at-scale that achieve global impact. Focus areas include carbon and energy solutions, experiential learning, and entrepreneurial scale up.
Denver Water
Denver Water houses its water quality lab at the CSU Spur Hydro building. Currently, Denver Water performs more than 70,000 tests annually to monitor water quality in its watershed as well as its treatment and distribution systems. The new laboratory will have the capacity to conduct more than 200,000 tests each year to keep up with increasing regulatory requirements, as well as allow for more state-of-the-art equipment and more efficient workspace for technicians. Its location at Spur will provide more opportunity for Denver Water to collaborate with researchers on areas of innovation, policy, and education related to water challenges in urban, rural, and watershed environments.
Dumb Friends League
The Dumb Friends League Veterinary Hospital at CSU Spur (inside Vida), advances the League’s mission by providing high-quality and donor-subsidized veterinary services to pets of families who otherwise wouldn’t have access to care. The CSU Spur facility is also a teaching hospital, providing essential veterinary procedures “on view” for the public and hosting 4th year veterinary student externs from CSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. The League also offers internships at CSU Spur for new veterinary graduates interested in accessible care.
Federal Agency Partnerships
Colorado State University has forged a strong partnership with federal agencies that share research interests with the University and have located branches in Fort Collins or the region to facilitate this strong collaboration with CSU and other research partners. Federal agencies located in the region include the:
- U.S. Geological Survey Fort Collins Science Center (FORT)
- National Center for Atmospheric Research
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- United States Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station
- Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland (ARP)
- National Wildlife Research Center
- Natural Resources Conservation Service
- United States Agricultural Department
- National Parks Service
- Center for Disease Control
- National Center for Genetic Resource Preservation
Future Earth
Future Earth is a global network of scientists, researchers, and innovators collaborating for a more sustainable planet. Based at CSU’s School of Sustainable Futures (Sustainable Futures) and several other hubs and offices around the world, Future Earth supports a vast network of researchers and practitioners involved in sustainability research, science communication, co-design and transdisciplinary research, and science policy engagement.
Global Biodiversity Center
The Global Biodiversity Center is a network of faculty working on biodiversity research at the University encouraging knowledge transfer and cross-campus collaboration.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
CSU researchers served as Lead Authors on current and previous Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment reports and have led the development of the soils components of the IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. CSU faculty contributed significantly to the Panel’s analyses in climate modeling, greenhouse gas inventory and mitigation, carbon cycle science, terrestrial carbon stocks, and more. Their work contributed to the Panel’s sharing in the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
Rocky Mountain Sustainability and Science Network
The Rocky Mountain Sustainability and Science Network (RMSSN) brings together federal and state agencies, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations to collaborate in research relevant to sustainability with a commitment to diversity in both faculty and students.
Salazar Center for North American Conservation
The Salazar Center for North American Conservation bridges the gap between academic research and community involvement to advance global conservation and sustainability initiatives. They emphasize breaking down barriers between sectors and stakeholders to foster collaboration, aiming to address urgent sustainability challenges. Numerous national, state, and local organizations collaborate with the Salazar Center in their efforts.
Student Sustainability Center
The Student Sustainability Center, housed in CSU’s School of Sustainable Futures (Sustainable Futures), serves as the center of our campus’s constellation of student led sustainability work! Half resource center, half club, the SSC is the creative incubator for student sustainability clubs, teams and projects working on campus and in the community.
Temple Grandin Equine Center
The Temple Grandin Equine Center’s second location of CSU’s equine-assisted services is located in the CSU Spur Vida building. Research is conducted while providing related services to individuals faced with a broad range of special challenges and disabilities. Services include physical, occupational, and speech therapy, behavioral counseling and therapy, and adaptive horsemanship activities.
UN Biodiversity Convention
Sustainable Futures is responsible for managing CSU’s participation as an official observer organization in The Convention on Biological Diversity. CSU can request that a small number of people receive credentials for the annual meetings of the Conference of Parties (COP), which is the international body in which negotiations for a global biodiversity agreement take place.
UN Climate Change Conference
Sustainable Futures is responsible for managing CSU’s participation as an official observer organization in The Convention on Climate Change. CSU can request that a small number of people receive credentials for the annual meetings of the Conference of Parties (COP), which is the international body in which negotiations for a global biodiversity agreement take place.
U.S. Green Building Council
In FY02, CSU Facilities Management joined the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The USGBC is committed to transforming the way our buildings are designed, constructed and operated through LEED — the top third-party verification system for sustainable structures around the world. Every day USGBC is helping advance spaces that are better for the environment and healthier for us to live, work and play in. Today, CSU has more than 40 LEED certified buildings on campus, including three Platinum certified buildings.
Water Education Colorado
Water Education Colorado (WEco) is the leading organization for informing and engaging Coloradans on water. Founded as an independent, nonpartisan nonprofit in 2002, as the state was steeped in a historic drought, WEco’s mission is to ensure Coloradans are knowledgeable about key water issues and equipped to make smart decisions for a sustainable water future. WEco works statewide to provide policy-neutral news and informational resources, engaging learning experiences, and empowering leadership programs. WEco’s vision is a vibrant, sustainable and water-aware Colorado, in which people of all backgrounds and perspectives, in all localities, are learning, listening, engaging, and working together on collaborative water solutions.
Western Collaborative Conservation Network
The Western Collaborative Conservation Network (WCCN) addresses environmental and sustainability issues in the Western U.S. by considering environmental, social, and economic factors. Operating across ten states, WCCN promotes collaboration between organizations and communities, focusing on both environmental preservation and human well-being. Through advocacy, leadership training, research, and partnerships, WCCN supports regional hubs called Collaborative Conservation Centers (CCC). Affiliated with organizations like the Nature Conservancy and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, WCCN collaborates with entities such as Peaks to People Water Fund, 1% for the Planet, and various Colorado State University departments.
Workplace Charging Challenge Partner
CSU is a Workplace Charging Challenge Partner and a charter member of Drive Electric Northern Colorado – a partnership to achieve deployment of electric vehicles. CSU has 42 charging stations and has previously received grant funding from the Colorado Energy Office to install two dual chargers in the Lake Street Garage, an International Parking Institute (IPI) Green Garage Council Demonstration Site.