A university-wide collaboration to address climate change

By harnessing world-class educators and experts working on all aspects of climate change, Colorado State University is making a strategic investment to become a leading educational institution for climate education, research, and engagement in the United States and globally. In 2025, the CSU Climate Initiative will merge with the School of Global Environmental Sustainability, combining our strengths to enhance and unify interdisciplinary climate and sustainability efforts at CSU.

Click here to read our Annual Report.


   Invest in Climate Education

The CSU Climate Initiative sincerely thanks our generous donors for making our climate change education credentials and interdisciplinary faculty training programs possible. Your support allows us to harness the world-class expertise on our campus to create meaningful educational opportunities, empowering faculty and students to build a more climate-resilient future.

We’re in a matching campaign with $6,000 raised toward our $25,000 goal! The funds will support our Climate Across the Curriculum Training, which equips CSU faculty with essential skills to teach climate change within any discipline. Explore our program’s success from its inaugural semester. This year, we will offer our training to other universities to replicate the program across the country, and expand our reach to public schools in Colorado. 


Leadership Team

Headshot of Courtney Schultz

Courtney Schultz

Director, CSU Climate Initiative

Professor, Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship

Sarah Badding

Sarah Badding

Education Lead, CSU Climate Initiative

Nancy Richardson Design Center

Veera Mitzner of the CSU Spur Climate Hub

Veera Mitzner 

Director, CSU Spur Climate Hub

PC_2025

Paúl Cisneros 

Program Support, CSU Climate Initiative

Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship

Headshot of Eliisa Carter

Eliisa Carter

Program Support, CSU Climate Initiative

Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship

Headshot of Peter Backlund

Peter Backlund

School of Global Environmental Sustainability

Lauren Gifford

Lauren Gifford

Soil Carbon Solutions Center

Portrait of Pat Keys, research scientist in The School of Global Environmental Sustainability. June 7, 2017

Pat Keys

Department of Atmospheric Science

Scott Shrake

Scott Shrake

Institute for Entrepreneurship

Headshot of Jill Zarestky

Jill Zarestky

School of Education


Climate Initiative Advisory Council

The Climate Initiative Advisory Council is made up of individuals from across Colorado State University who are committed to advancing the university’s work on climate.


Climate Initiative Information and Resources

Find out about Climate Initiative-related events, updates, and resources.


Programs & Offerings


The Climate Change & Society Certificate!

Students in this 12-credit interdisciplinary certificate program will be introduced to the implications of climate change on human-earth systems, empowering them to reduce climate change impacts.
 

The Online Climate Adaptation and Risk Management Graduate Certificate!

Colorado State University is pleased to announce the online Climate Adaptation and Risk Management Graduate Certificate. Gain a scientific foundation and learn contemporary methodologies to identify, evaluate, and implement climate adaptive management and community engagement strategies. Advance your career with this highly flexible online graduate certificate.

CSU Climate Initiative Resources

Want to receive updates from the CSU Climate Initiative? Sign-up here!

 
CCI Directory (Internal to CSU, sign-in required) – We encourage CSU students, faculty, and researchers to fill out this spreadsheet. We are stock-taking the diverse and tremendous amount of expertise across all colleges, departments, and centers at CSU to build up new and support existing climate-related research and education programming.

All news and events

Our Program Collaborators

Center for Environmental Justice Logo
Center for Environmental Justice
Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere Logo
Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere
Colorado Climate Center Logo
Colorado Climate Center
One Health Institute Logo
One Health Institute