What’s happening at CSU Spur
Stay up to date on all the latest developments and exciting changes as CSU Spur continues to grow.

Introductory biology courses for nontraditional students launching at CSU Spur
This fall, the Department of Biology will roll out its first offerings of LIFE 102 and LIFE 103 biology courses, which will be based both online and in-person at CSU’s new Spur campus in Denver. The first courses available to students will launch in fall 2023.

Science takes the stage at CSU Spur
Visitors to CSU Spur have the opportunity to engage with science from the moment they enter each building. For scientists at CSU Spur, the frequent need to communicate with different audiences reflects a decade-long planning and design process that centered on developing a new model for connecting the public with researchers and the steps they take to address societal problems.

Colorado Water Center working to create pipeline for more diverse water workforce
One-third of the U.S. water workforce will be eligible to retire within the decade, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Expanding and diversifying the U.S. water workforce is one of the Colorado Water Center’s goals.

How to Spur Innovation with Jocelyn Hittle [PODCAST]
Jocelyn Hittle, associate vice chancellor of the CSU Spur campus, joined The EdUp higher education podcast to discuss innovation at CSU Spur and the future of higher education.

CSU Spur welcomes visitors for 2nd Saturdays in 2023
A year of “2nd Saturdays at CSU Spur” begins on Saturday, Feb. 11, with a day of free, family-oriented programs, activities, and demonstrations centered on the campus’s core themes of food, water, and health.

Video: Visitors’ reactions at Hydro grand opening
From cat and dog surgeries to equine sports medicine demos, visitors of all ages enjoyed the excitement of the Jan. 6 grand opening of Hydro at the CSU Spur campus.

New lab at CSU Spur will use 6 types of water to test innovative treatment solutions
The Water Technology Acceleration Platform (Water TAP) lab is housed in the newly opened Hydro building on the CSU Spur campus. Here, a team of researchers led by CSU Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Sybil Sharvelle will test a variety of water treatment technologies on six different sources.

CSU Day at the Stock Show and CSU Spur
From roping and riding to photos with CAM the Ram, CSU Day returned to the National Western Stock Show on Jan. 14.

Denverite: CSU opens final building at Spur campus providing a hands-on experience in food, health and water
The newest building’s focus is in the name: it’s all about water. There are exhibits throughout the building focused on water from basic properties to information on the South Platte River.

Hydro opening marks realization of vision for innovation at CSU Spur
Cowbells and the escalating rumble of stock show activity punctuated a Friday afternoon celebration marking completion of the CSU Spur campus and the opening of Hydro, a building focused on water research, innovation, and engagement.

CSU Spur: What a difference a year makes
In one day short of a year, the CSU Spur campus in Denver will open all three of its buildings in a first-of-its-kind campus made for the public and offered by a higher education institution.

With opening of Hydro, CSU Spur fills out a “menu” for creativity, collaboration
The opening of Hydro, the largest of CSU Spur’s three buildings, rounds out an urban campus that was created as a sort of laboratory aimed at finding new ways to engage, inform, and inspire the broader community.

CSU Spur opens third and final building on Jan. 6; campus offers free, year-round, public education in Denver
The CSU Spur campus will soon be complete with the opening of the third and final building at CSU Spur, the Hydro building. A public ribbon-cutting and grand opening event will be held at 1:15 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023, at CSU Spur, 4817 National Western Dr., Denver, 80216.

Western Daughters Kitchen to open at CSU Spur, becoming a second location for the popular Denver-based company
Western Daughters Butcher Shoppe will maintain its shop in LoHi and launch a second location in North Denver – Western Daughters Kitchen, within CSU Spur’s new Hydro building when it opens on Jan. 6.

Hydro building and completion of CSU Spur campus create innovation opportunities
The opening of CSU Spur’s Hydro building on Jan. 6 represents the launch of a new engine of invention and innovation relating specifically to water and marks the culmination on a decade-long process to imagine and create the CSU Spur campus in Denver.

The Colorado Sun: How to heat Denver’s buildings with sewage. And no, it doesn’t smell.
National Western Center and Colorado State University Spur campus exchange effluent heat to clean water pipes for a low-carbon, renewable flow.

CSU and CSU Spur looking for volunteers during National Western Stock Show
As CSU Spur opens Hydro, its third and final building of the campus located on the grounds of the new National Western Center, both CSU and CSU Spur are looking for volunteers to help engage visitors with the university.

Groundbreaking new partnership between College Track and the CSU System will focus on equity, building community
College Track works with about 250 Colorado high school students, most of them aspiring first-generation college graduates, at centers it operates in Aurora and Denver. Now, the organization’s work in the state is poised to expand significantly under a new, multi-dimensional partnership involving College Track and the CSU System.

Veterinary hospital at CSU Spur provides real-world lessons for future vets
The Dumb Friends League Veterinary Hospital at CSU Spur is an educational hub for students from CSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences to complete an externship in community veterinary services as part of the year-long series of clinical experiences that concludes the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) program.

BizWest: CSU Spur nears completion near Stock Show complex
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word “spur” could mean “a goad to action, a stimulus.” It also could refer to “a pointed device secured to a rider’s heel and used to urge on the horse.” And finally, it could describe “a railroad track that branches off from a main line.”

The Denver Gazette: Denver’s Livestock Exchange Building becomes historic landmark
Denver City Council designated the National Western Center’s 1916 Livestock Exchange building an official historic landmark, the National Western Center Authority announced in a release Tuesday.

CSU Spur wraps up construction in January; Hydro building opening announced
The entire CSU Spur campus will be complete in January with the opening of the third and final building at CSU Spur, the Hydro building. A public ribbon cutting will be held on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023.

KUNC: As Denver pushes to green its rooftops, a CSU professor takes agrivoltaics to new heights
Jennifer Bousselot is a gardener, but her crops aren’t on the ground – they’re on the roof of one of the Colorado State University buildings in downtown Denver.

Water in the West symposium offers solutions, and a sense of urgency
The CSU System’s annual gathering of policymakers, residents, and leaders from the agriculture, business, and non-profit sectors spoke to the potential to address many western and global water challenges through coordinated action, creativity, and a willingness to adapt.

Water in the West symposium will bring global perspective to local challenges
When he speaks on Wednesday at the CSU Spur Water in the West symposium, Jay Famiglietti, executive director of the Global Institute for Water Security at the University of Saskatchewan, will provide a big picture view on how the global availability of freshwater is changing.

Water in the West Symposium will look globally for lessons and ideas
The Water in the West Symposium will open on Wednesday, Nov. 2, with a keynote by Jay Famiglietti, a water researcher who leads the Global Institute for Water Security at the University of Saskatchewan.

Symposium will bring together global experts in water
This year’s CSU Spur Water in the West Symposium, to be held Nov. 2-3 in downtown Denver, will bring together policymakers, researchers, and experts from the business, nonprofit, and agriculture sectors to look globally for lessons and strategies with the potential to inform how Colorado and other western states respond to the region’s water challenges.

Interactive map portrays CSU System’s global impact
The CSU Impact Map—or Impacto, in Spanish—provides a glimpse of the System’s global reach while providing a chance for users to explore specific ways CSU System faculty, staff, students, and alumni are working to solve problems, support communities and create impact in far-flung corners of the world.

International partnership focuses on global food security
Leaders from Mexico, Canada, and the United States gathered at the new CSU Spur campus in Denver on Sept. 26 for a ceremony formalizing an arrangement for the Colorado State University System to serve as host of the North American Agricultural Advisory Network (NAAAN).

CSU Spur of the Moment podcast launches 2nd season
The first season of the CSU Spur of the Moment podcast featured 14 diverse guests, each bringing expertise to the topics that CSU Spur is built upon: food, water, and health. Season two launches Sept. 13.

Nearly 40 CSU programs to be hosted at CSU Spur in Denver
The CSU System announced 37 projects originating from Colorado State University will be located for at least the next year at CSU Spur, the CSU System’s new public-facing campus in Denver.

Research green roof thriving at CSU Spur campus
The research green roof at the CSU System Spur campus has now produced 204.5 pounds of produce in its initial growing season at the recently opened Terra building.

Help name the CSU Spur kitten!
The public is invited to help select a name for the CSU Spur kitten, with voting options online and in-person – the contest will run Aug. 13-26.

New 2nd Saturdays at CSU Spur offer free, family fun
Beginning Saturday, Aug. 13, CSU Spur is launching “2nd Saturdays at CSU Spur” – while every day at Spur is free and open to the public, each 2nd Saturday of the month will offer extra programming and family-friendly fun for visitors.

Fence Post: Setting the table for rural-urban collaboration at Spur
Op-ed from Tony Frank, CSU System Chancellor, and Kathay Rennels, Special Advisor to the Chancellor for Rural-Urban Initiatives, on the disconnect between urban and rural cultures over a wide range of issues and how CSU Spur — and specifically the new Terra building — can hope to help bridge the gap.

Grand opening marks beginning of endless possibilities at CSU Spur’s Terra building
Many of the first visitors to the newly-opened Terra building on the Colorado State University Spur campus left with their own soil, garden plants and ready-to-bake bread dough – but most importantly, with newfound knowledge about the science behind the food they eat every day.

The Denver Gazette: “Terra” building opens at CSU Spur campus in Denver
Metro Denver area youth will get the chance to find out where their food comes from and connect with the state’s agriculture industry, with the Wednesday opening of Colorado State University’s second building on its Spur campus downtown.

Morgridge Family Foundation gifts $3M to CSU Spur and College of Agricultural Sciences
The Morgridge Family Foundation has imparted a transformational gift of $3 million to support the Colorado State University College of Agricultural Sciences and educational programming at the new public-facing CSU Spur campus in Denver.

Terra Blossoms
The science of food is sprouting in Terra – the second of three buildings to open at the new CSU Spur campus in Denver – and the public can get a taste of new programming at the unique, urban setting starting in early June.

Jasmine Godinez, first Equine Sciences intern at CSU Spur, reflects impact of new campus
Growing up in Globeville on Denver’s northern side, the opportunity for Jasmine Godinez to make connections with horses simply did not exist. Now a graduating equine science student, Godinez is wrapping up the first-ever internship at the Colorado State University System’s new Spur Campus.

9 News: National Western Center opens wastewater heat recovery system
The National Western Center and its partners recently launched the largest wastewater heat recovery system in the United States.

CSU Spur: Bring on the school buses
Field trips at CSU Spur are custom-built to fit the needs of educators and their classes. In the first CSU Spur building – Vida, which opened Jan. 7 – experiences can include watching therapy with horses that live onsite as part of the Temple Grandin Equine Center, trying virtual reality programming, exploring interactive exhibits, seeing equine athletes walk on underwater treadmills, and more.

The Denver Gazette: Colorado State University bringing agriculture, veterinary education to downtown Denver
Vida, which is Spanish for “life,” is the first of three buildings on the Spur Campus. Coming later this year are the Terra and Hydro buildings. Officials describe it as a “free educational year-round public destination in Denver focused on engaging K-12 students, families, and visitors around food, water, and health.”

Together we grow
Diversity inspires innovation. So, this think tank based at CSU Spur draws together some of the world’s largest food and agriculture companies to promote a skilled and diverse workforce for the industry that feeds the world.

Oh, the places you’ll grow
Glimpse the future of urban agriculture at CSU Spur. Displays explore city spaces as logical places to grow fruits and vegetables, with the aim of sustainably delivering fresh produce right where it’s most needed.

A window on veterinary medicine
A nonprofit veterinary hospital run by the Dumb Friends League at CSU Spur will offer sorely needed care for the pets of local residents, while also training CSU vet students. Visitors are invited to observe it all – even surgeries.

What a river reveals
A revitalized South Platte River will be a major feature of the National Western Center – and the site of many water programs at CSU Spur. Already, scientists are tallying a surprising variety of plants and animals as the riverway undergoes restoration.

A gift horse
The Temple Grandin Equine Center honors a renowned CSU professor who struggled with autism and found her footing with horses. At CSU Spur, the center will host 7,500 therapy sessions a year to help people with a range of disabilities and challenges.

Ties that bind
No wonder the CSU System jumped to build the educational anchor at the National Western Center: CSU and National Western Stock Show have partnered since the iconic event began in 1906. Read about people, events, and programs that have defined the partnership for 116 years.

Presenting: CSU Spur
It began as a concept in 2008. Now, the new, one-of-a-kind campus will rev up innovation through public education, research, and community outreach – all focused on the critical global needs of food, water, and animal and human health.

See, do, learn
Visit the CSU Spur campus when it opens in January, and you’ll find veterinary patients, therapy horses, and a virtual reality lab teaching anatomy, among other attractions. Here’s a guide to all the campus offerings and coming attractions.

CSU opens initial building in first-of-its-kind free, public campus
On Jan. 7, the Colorado State University System will open CSU Spur, a year-round and first-of-its-kind public destination in Denver, located at the National Western Center.

Coming soon! The Dumb Friends League Veterinary Hospital at CSU Spur!
In early 2022, the Dumb Friends League will expand their inclusive approach at their new Veterinary Hospital at CSU Spur.

CSU Spur water symposium shares scaleable solutions
As the Fourth Annual CSU Spur Water in the West Symposium convened experts from across the country on Wednesday, the focus was on learning from one another’s successes and finding solutions at-scale to water issues.

Feeding people matters
Chancellor Tony Frank’s keynote address to the North American Agricultural Advisory Network in conjunction with the World Food Prize.

Fourth annual Water in the West Symposium offered virtually to seek scalable water solutions
CSU Spur will open its first building in January, but will host its fourth annual Water in the West Symposium on Nov. 3-4, hosting speakers to discuss solution of scale. The 2021 Symposium will be hosted virtually, but plans to return to in-person in 2022.

The Denver Post: CSU’s “non-degree” Denver campus will be used to attract the 37% of kids who don’t go to college
Colorado State University Chancellor Tony Frank is fixated on the 56,505 babies born around the state in 1997. One-third of them graduated by age 25 from college, data analyzed by CSU administrators shows, and 37% never enrolled.

The final building, the final beam: CSU Spur campus hits major construction milestone
The final steel beam will be laid on the Hydro building at the new CSU Spur campus on Sept. 16, marking a milestone for the largest and final building at CSU Spur.

CSU goes vertical on final building at new Denver campus
Vertical steel construction is underway at Hydro – the final of three buildings at the CSU Spur campus in Denver to hit this major construction milestone.

CSU announces new Master of Agribusiness and Food Innovation Management program at Spur campus in Denver
Beginning Fall 2022, students can enroll in CSU’s new Master of Agribusiness & Food Innovation Management (MAFIM). The face-to-face program will be hosted at the new Spur Campus at the National Western Center in Denver.

When Vida opens at CSU Spur in January, get ready to see it all
One of the first things you’ll notice when you arrive at CSU Spur is all the glass. The new Colorado State University System campus at the National Western Center in Denver will be home to research collaborations, student engagement opportunities, and industry partnerships. but more than anything, it’s being built for the public.

CSU Spur hires general manager for Denver campus
Michelle Kelley started Monday as the general manager of CSU Spur, bringing more than 20 years of property manager experience in managing multi-use campuses and a commitment to creating excellent experiences for both visitors and staff.

CPR: ‘Sewer heat’ could be hidden ally against climate change. Here’s how Denver is pulling it to the surface
The largest sewer heat-recovery project in North America is now under construction in Denver at the National Western Center redevelopment, all of which will be heated and cooled with a heavy dose of heat from sewer pipes below the 250-acre campus.

The Denver Post: Birds, bugs, invasive plants and beaver endure along Denver’s polluted South Platte River
Coordinated by CSU as construction crews build a CSU campus and re-develop the National Western Stock Show site on 250 acres just east of the South Platte, the “bioblitz” survey data is building a baseline biological inventory of plants, bugs, and animal species as development transforms the city.

Denverite: Scientists are counting South Platte critters to see what happens as the river gets redeveloped
The third-annual South Platte BioBlitz is a regular count of all kinds of wildlife that thrive where the Platte passes the National Western Center, a massive construction project that’s turning historic stockyards and this isolated stretch of river into a center of commerce and culture.

Second building at CSU Spur hits major construction milestone
The final steel beam is scheduled to be placed on the second building at the CSU Spur campus at 11 a.m. on April 20, signaling a major construction milestone for the Colorado State University System project. The moment – called a “topping out” – will be captured via livestream.

CBS: BioBlitz program to help study, restore South Platte River
Plants and wildlife along the South Platte River are getting an annual check up this week. A program at Colorado State University called Bio Blitz takes place April 15 and 16.

CBS: Food from newly-planted school garden to be available to Denver students
Juniors at Bruce Randolph planted their new school garden just in time for Earth Day on April 22. The garden help provide healthy options to students. It’s part of the Denver Public School district’s agriculture program.

The Coloradoan: ‘Diamonds in the rough’: Rescued horses training to become therapy animals at CSU equine center
CSU’s Right Horse Program began in spring 2019. In the program, students are paired with horses and help train them to become therapy horses, lesson horses or personal horses for individual adopters.

Together We Grow spring series continues April 6
Together We Grow, headquartered at the future CSU Spur campus, will host a webinar exploring innovative strategies around food equity and food security, on April 6.

Denver Post: Denver ready to spend $274 million in bonds for upgrades to National Western Center and Colorado Convention Center upgrades
The Denver City Council agreed Monday evening to issue those bonds, which voters approved in a 2015 measure. The council unanimously approved the package as part of its consent agenda, signaling a lack of controversy about the bond issue.

CBS: CSU celebrates topping out of Spur building at National Western Complex
Construction crews added the final steel beam on Friday to the first CSU Spur building in Denver — Vida. The topping out marked a major milestone for the campus located at the National Western Complex.

A conversation with new U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack
The U.S. Senate has confirmed Tom Vilsack — the former governor of Iowa who served as strategic adviser of food and water initiatives at CSU Spur for the Colorado State University System — for his second stint as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

Denver Post: New arena, public market and other National Western Center upgrades put on hold as Denver faces economic woes
City officials plan to use $274 million in bonds — yet to be approved by the City Council — for long-planned early-phase upgrades and expansions to the National Western Center and the Colorado Convention Center. But later phases at the National Western Center including a new 10,000-seat arena, an exposition hall and a public market in the to-be-renovated 1909 Stadium Arena are on hold.

Expert in experiential education joins CSU Spur team
Kathryn Venzor has joined the CSU Spur team as the Director of Education, bringing more than 17 years of experience in curriculum and program development, environmental conservation, and community engagement.

CSU Spur campus hits major construction milestone
The final steel beam will be laid on the first building on the CSU Spur campus in Denver on Feb. 26, and all are invited to sign the beam and take a tour of the construction site.

GFRAS update Jan. 2021
January update from the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS), including the official launch of the NAAAN (North American Agricultural Advisory Network), the newest of the GFRAS-affiliated regional networks, in partnership with CSU Spur.

Denver Post: Hoof prints out, tire tracks in: Canceled 2021 Stock Show leaves room for construction project
Officials have pointed to a silver lining around the cancellation, and it’s playing out on the National Western Campus right now. No stock show means more time and flexibility to make progress on the $1 billion redevelopment project underway on the 250-acre, city-owned property.

16 things we can’t wait to see at the 2022 National Western Stock Show
CSU has partnered with the National Western Stock Show since the beginning and even used to close the campus during the Stock Show to let students compete in show events. The partnership has always been strong, and in 2022, CSU System will open CSU Spur on the grounds of the Stock Show.

Third annual CSU Spur water symposium goes virtual, emphasizes power of storytelling
This year’s program focused on the critical role storytelling plays in building and driving social and environmental movements — specifically, how stories and various media can lead to greater public awareness around water issues, and also inspire actions necessary to solve and address them.

New CSU campus in Denver fully under-construction, will open in 2022
Today, the CSU System breaks ground on Hydro — the final of three buildings at its CSU Spur campus, focused on water. The CSU Spur Terra building, focused on food and agriculture, broke ground in September. Vida, the building focused on animal and human health, broke ground in May.

Student profile: Tyler Wagner, CSU Spur construction intern
Tyler Wagner, a 22-year-old Construction Management student, will graduate from CSU in December 2020, and already has professional experience working on behalf of the University. This summer, he took on an internship with JE Dunn, the general contractor for CSU Spur.

Water in the West Symposium looks to inspire action
True to its mission as an initial offering of the CSU Spur campus opening in 2022, the Water in the West Symposium brings together diverse speakers to discuss water issues in the West and beyond — a topic of increasing importance as fires and droughts top headlines.

CSU Spur: Anchored in community
Even before construction on its CSU Spur campus is completed in 2022, the CSU System has been following an anchor institution model of engaging and working with the communities surrounding the future site.

Art students complete mural at CSU Spur campus during CRUSH Walls event
As part of a partnership with the CSU System, eight students in CSU’s Department of Art and Art History painted images of Colorado’s official state fish, bird and flower on a building that will be renovated and eventually attached to the water building at the CSU Spur campus.

CSU art students to paint mural at Spur campus during CRUSH Walls event Sept. 14-20
Eight Colorado State University graduate students have been invited to paint a mural on a building that will become part of the future CSU System’s Spur campus, as part of this month’s CRUSH Walls, a street art festival in Denver’s River North (RiNo) Art District.

David Axelrod joins 2020 CSU Spur Symposium
David Axelrod — former chief strategist and senior advisor to President Barack Obama — will join the lineup of speakers for the CSU Spur Water in the West Symposium, to be held virtually Nov. 18-19.

Together We Grow convenes thought leaders to foster diversity and inclusion in higher ed, agriculture
On July 30, five higher education thought leaders convened virtually to share their stories and perspectives on the future of higher education, focusing primarily on the role colleges and universities can and should play in diversifying the U.S. agricultural workforce.

Food for Thought: Kerri Wright Platais [AUDIO]
Kerri Wright Platais, special advisor to the chancellor on international agriculture for CSU Spur, and host Matt Barry of the National Western Center discuss Kerri’s work creating the North American Agriculture Advisory Network (NAAAN), its role in disseminating biodefense best practices, and how these efforts relate to current and future pandemics.

CSU System selects artists for installations at the Spur campus in Denver
Eight artists, including four from Colorado, will create large-format artworks for the new campus, which opens in 2022.

Salazar Center e-newsletter: Issue 7
Explore the intersection of conservation and COVID-19, meet our Connectivity Challenge judges, learn more about our ongoing webinar series, and more.

CSU System breaks ground on Spur campus in Denver; to be complete in 2022
Colorado State University System broke ground today on a new Denver campus — called Spur — which will invite the public to explore and interact with educational content around water, food, and health.

CSU System selects CDR Associates to lead strategic planning for water policy institute at Spur campus
Colorado State University System has selected CDR Associates as the lead consultant to conduct strategic planning for a water policy institute at the future Spur campus at the National Western Center in north Denver.

Together We Grow appoints first members to its Board of Directors
Together We Grow (TWG), a consortium of some of the world’s largest agribusiness interests focused on building a skilled, diverse, and inclusive agricultural workforce, today announced the appointment of its board of directors.

CSU System announces date for Spur campus groundbreaking celebration
On April 30 at 1:30 p.m., the Colorado State University System will host a groundbreaking ceremony for its planned Spur campus, a major component of the future National Western Center in north Denver.

CSU earns STARS Platinum sustainability rating for record third time
Colorado State University is building upon its global reputation as an innovative leader in sustainability by becoming the only institution in the world to earn three Platinum ratings from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.

Second “Road to CSU” event expands to reach all students at Denver’s Bruce Randolph School
On Jan. 31, CSU System campuses and partners hosted the annual event designed to prepare more than 750 students for college and life after high school.

CSU Denver Extension partners with Denver Public Library to support after-school STEM programs for youth
Denver Extension’s community outreach efforts and youth development programs are opportunities to bridge the rural-urban divide.

Inaugural Colorado Food Summit seeds rural-urban dialogue, collaboration
On Jan. 7, CSU hosted the Colorado Food Summit, which included conversations resembling those that will happen at CSU System’s future Spur campus at the National Western Center.

Spur announces first call for artists
Colorado State University System’s Spur campus at the National Western Center, in partnership with Denver-based art consulting and curatorial firm NINE dot ARTS, today announced the first call for artists