The CSU Board of Governors approved the formation on February 17, 2011. It is the only program in Colorado that focuses exclusively on scholarship and discovery in the area of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability. Sustainability is a critically important concept to the future quality of American society, and training in ways to think about sustainability is beginning to be conducted at only four o
ther universities in the United States. This department is joined with the world premier Watershed Science program, which was originally part of the Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship. Watershed Science is the study of the natural processes and human activities that affect fresh water resources. Water is a critical component of Earth's ecosystems and is used for human consumption, agriculture, energy production, transportation, and recreation. Management of fresh water resources is an increasingly important and complex challenge in Colorado and worldwide. Ecosystems include the many processes of life that support and enrich humankind. These processes include interactions among organisms and species, the flow of energy and the cycling of matter, and the maintenance of diverse and complex communities of microbes, plants and animals. Our responsibility is to understand the world’s ecosystems and the effect of human societies on ecosystem processes and their long-term sustainability. Research and education are central to that understanding, enhancing our ability to manage for the sustainability of ecosystems, societies and the biosphere. There are seventeen faculty members fully dedicated to students, working side-by-side with them in the classroom, in the laboratory and in the field. This faculty brings together over forty years of leading research at CSU's Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory.
