A modern Western Land Grant
We’re a place where students learn science by practicing it. Our programs span environmental science and environmental studies, forestry, wildlife biology, geology, water, and the many ways people connect with nature, from policy and leadership to adventure tourism. That breadth matters. Today’s environmental challenges, like climate resilience, wildfire, water scarcity, and changing landscapes, don’t fit inside a single discipline, and here, the ecologists, geologists, social scientists, and land managers needed to solve them work side by side.
Hands-on fieldwork and rigorous coursework prepare our students for careers protecting and managing land, water, wildlife, and the communities that depend on them. Our research centers and institutes work with agencies, landowners, and communities across Colorado and around the world, giving students access to applied research, field jobs, and professional experience before they graduate.
Here, what you learn becomes what you do: real science, real places, real impact.
Mission
We advance and integrate scientific disciplines with transdisciplinary approaches that enable effective solutions to critical global challenges and make a positive difference in the world.
Vision
We are a leader in creating a sustainable and equitable world for all humankind by discovering and sharing knowledge of the Earth and its systems, including land and water, and the life they support. We deliver transformative solutions to society’s urgent challenges and enlightened answers to crucial scientific questions.
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Ecosystem Science and Sustainability
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120-year legacy
It began with a single course.
In 1904, as Colorado’s forests fell to make way for new towns and railroads, Colorado Agricultural College offered its first forestry class. More than 120 years later, the same purpose drives Warner College: meet today’s natural resource challenges and make a lasting difference in the world.
Growing with a young nation.
The College trained some of the nation’s first forest rangers in 1907 and awarded its first four-year forestry degree in 1909. In 1914, College leaders chose land at Pingree Park for field study. It’s now the CSU Mountain Campus, where generations of students have learned by doing. Range management, geology, wildlife, fisheries, and watershed science soon followed.
“Ranger Factory.”
As park systems grew, so many of our graduates became rangers and park managers that the College earned the nickname “Ranger Factory.” Our faculty were also early in studying the human side of natural resources: how people value and connect with land and wildlife.
Thinking in systems.
From the 1960s on, the College helped pioneer ecosystem-based approaches to natural resources. That work produced the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory and helped establish the field of ecosystem science. It also led to research centers and institutes that still take our science to agencies and communities.
A name and a home.
In 2005, alumnus Ed Warner (Geology, ’68) gave $30 million, and the College now carries his name. At the time, it was the largest gift from an individual to CSU and the largest ever to a natural resources college. In 2018, we opened the expanded Michael Smith Natural Resources Building, made possible by energy entrepreneur Smith, Warner, and other generous donors.
Key dates
- 1904 – First forestry course at Colorado Agricultural College
- 1907 – First forest ranger short course
- 1909 – First four-year forestry degree
- 1912 – Burton Longyear becomes Colorado’s first State Forester
- 1914 – Pingree Park (now CSU Mountain Campus) selected; first forest lodge built
- 1923 – First formal geology course
- 1924 – First Foresters’ Day (today’s Natural Resource Days)
- 1936 – Forestry Building completed
- 1938 – Division of Forestry established; J. Lee Deen named first dean
- 1947 – Colorado Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit established; first watershed management course
- 1957 – Colorado A&M becomes CSU; the School of Forestry and Range Management becomes a college
- 1967 – Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory established
- 1968 – Land acquired for the Environmental Learning Center
- 1976 – Natural Resources Building completed
- 1991 – Renamed the College of Natural Resources
- 2004 – Joyce Berry named the College’s first woman dean
- 2005 – Ed Warner’s $30 million gift; College named in his honor
- 2008 – Watershed Science program marks its 50th anniversary
- 2011 – Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability created, the College’s fifth department
- 2018 – Michael Smith Natural Resources Building opens
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