|
Hello, SoGES and Climate Initiative community,
Thank you for all of your support this semester—for our ongoing work and for me personally as I transitioned into the role of Director. It’s an honor to serve in this capacity— to support our campus and students, work with the incredible staff here, and build on Dr. Diana Wall’s remarkable legacy.
We have exciting news for the coming academic year! We’ll be increasing funding for individual faculty research and expanding support for our Global Challenge Research Teams. We’ll also be starting our work with our 15th cohort of Diana Wall Sustainability Leadership Fellows and look forward to working with these amazing scholars.
We’re also launching a new funding call for Sustainability Collaboratories: year-long, faculty-led communities designed to foster collaboration across disciplines, explore critical sustainability and climate change topics. Keep an eye out early in the fall semester for more information and a fast turnaround on applications and funding.
On the academic side, we’re actively updating our undergraduate minor and graduate certificates, with more news to come in the next year. And we’re thrilled to be welcoming some new faces to SoGES this fall (more soon). We’re also finalizing our new strategic plan—thank you to everyone who shared ideas and feedback to help shape it.
Thank you for being part of this vibrant and evolving community. At this pivotal moment in human and planetary history, it’s a privilege to work alongside you to build a more sustainable, inclusive, and just future—one grounded in mutual respect, dignity, and care for each other and the Earth.
Wishing you a restful and restorative summer break,
Dr. Courtney Schultz
Director, School of Global Environmental Sustainability
| | Visioning for SoGES and the Climate Initiative | | |
Open House Presentation
In case you missed it, Director Courtney Schultz shared a brief presentation at our open house on the future plans for SoGES and CCI. View a copy of the presentation here.
| | |
Opportunities for Affiliate Faculty and University Level Service
As part of the integration of SoGES and the Climate Initiative, we are reimagining our Affiliate Faculty program and enhancing our approach to faculty engagement across campus. We invite all interested faculty to complete this brief form to express their interest in becoming an affiliate. Affiliates gain access to distinctive resources and collaborative opportunities to help shape the strategic direction and impact of SoGES. For additional details on the benefits, opportunities, and expectations of affiliate participation, please visit HERE.
| | Sustainability and Climate News and Highlights | | |
Science Societies Take Action
The American Geophysical Union and the American Meteorological Society are teaming up to support climate science in the US and fill the vacuum left by the cancellation of the support team and dismissal of the authors of the Sixth National Climate Assessment. Specifically, they "invite manuscripts for a new, first-of-its-kind special collection focused on climate change in the United States." View the details HERE.
| | |
Colorado Water Plan Grants
The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) offers Colorado Water Plan Grants to support projects that align with the state’s water plan objectives. These grants fund initiatives to enhance water conservation, improve water quality, increase water storage, and promote watershed health. The grant amounts vary depending on the project’s scope and impact. For detailed information on application deadlines, funding amounts, and eligibility requirements, please visit the CWCB’s official website.
| | |
Trees in the West
May 20, 8:30am-4:00pm Confluence Theater, CSU Spur, Denver, CO
For people interested in the relationship between trees and people in communities throughout the western US, a one-day conference exploring climate change adaptation in urban forestry from diverse perspectives. Featuring talks from Scott Denning, Alessandro Ossola, and Melissa McHale among many others. Register HERE.
| | | | |
You're Invited to Read & Reflect: What If We Get It Right?
What if the future is not something to fear, but something we can shape for the better? We invite you to join us in reading What If We Get It Right?—an inspiring exploration of hope, possibility, and the power of imagining a future that works. Read Along This Summer: take your time over the next few months to dive into the book, reflect on its ideas, and consider what “getting it right” could look like in your own life and community.
Book discussion early fall: We’ll gather for a lively and thoughtful discussion in early fall (exact date TBD) to share insights, questions, and hopes sparked by the book.
| | Advancing Impact: Highlights from FY25 and what's ahead for FY26 | | |
Diana Wall Sustainability Leadership Fellows
The 2025-2026 cohort of 20 PhD students and postdoctoral scholars have been announced and will receive training beginning in September. The incoming cohort has fellows across 7 colleges and from 18 different departments across campus. Over 250 early career scientists have completed the fellowship and have applied their skills to develop noteworthy careers across the globe. Keep this fellowship in mind for prospective and current students who may be interested in the future. LEARN MORE
| | |
Curriculum Innovation
These grants were established to enhance and broaden interdisciplinary sustainability and climate change content throughout the CSU curriculum. During the 2024–2025 academic year, they supported the creation of new courses and the revision of existing ones, impacting a total of eleven courses and labs. These grants have reached hundreds of students across campus, significantly enriching their academic experience. Looking ahead to 2025–2026, grant recipients plan not only to continue developing new courses but also to launch a new academic certificate and undertake a comprehensive revision of an existing major to more fully integrate sustainability and climate-related content.
| | |
Global Challenges Research Teams (GCRT)
These interdisciplinary faculty teams are designed to confront some of the most urgent sustainability challenges facing both regional and global communities. Our 2024-2026 GCRT teams are completing their first year of funding addressing global issues of Anthropocene migration, pollinator education, and the economic impacts of climate change. The newly selected 2025-2027 GCRT will address an equally pressing array of topics including circularity in the construction industry, climate-smart micro-farming, forest and water challenges in the western U.S., animal migration patterns to inform conservation strategies, and smoke monitoring for air pollution from natural disasters.
| | |
Resident Fellows
In 2024-2025 we funded five resident fellows across five different departments and four colleges. This funding enabled interdisciplinary sustainability research and innovative problem-solving efforts that extend beyond the scope of their traditional faculty roles. The Fellows pursued a diverse range of critical topics, including the geopolitical and economic impacts of fossil fuel dependency on low- to middle-income countries, sustainable tourism practices, protein design in crop plants for long-term atmospheric CO₂ removal, strategic futures planning for Colorado’s agricultural landscape, and the advancement of community resilience.
| | Interdisciplinary Credentials | | |
Please help us spread the word about our interdisciplinary credentials. For our minors, visit the SoGES education and training webpage to learn more, download the minor course check sheets, and set up an advising appointment. Information on the Climate Change and Society certificate is here; contact Sarah Badding for more information. We made this slide to share with your classes; please help us inform students about these offerings.
Climate Change and Society Certificate *NEW*
Students enrolled in this certificate will be introduced to the major implications of climate change on people and earth systems with the purpose of building a person's climate change literacy, empowering them to reduce impacts of climate change, and giving students awareness of climate change mitigation/adaptation strategies to bring to their workplaces.
Global Environmental Sustainability Minor (GES)
Our flagship minor, the GES program provides a deep understanding of the complexity surrounding the problems we face and the solutions that we need to implement to address climate change, biodiversity, pollution, public health, oceans, food security, and development on a global scale.
Sustainable Water Interdisciplinary Minor (SWIM)
Jointly offered by the Colorado Water Center and SoGES, this minor focuses on water issues from social, political, economic, and ecological perspectives. Students gain knowledge of the complexities of water use and management.
Sustainable Energy Minor (SEM)
Jointly offered by the CSU Energy Institute and SoGES, this minor focuses on the many dimensions of sustainable energy and breaking down traditional barriers that separate the science and engineering of energy from the social, economic, and political aspects of energy.
| | Building a Sustainable Future | | A Note About the Newsletter: Since this comes from a non-CSU email address, you may need to click "trust content from this external sender" in Outlook to see content, or you could be missing important information! | | 108 Johnson Hall | Fort Collins, CO 80523-1036 | | | | |
