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It’s easy to feel hopeless when faced with a complex set of problems. Alex Budak wants to give people the tools they need to feel empowered instead. Budak, an educator, entrepreneur, speaker, and author who teaches at the University of California Berkeley, is a renowned expert on the concept of changemaking, otherwise known as the process of taking intentional, creative action to solve social and environmental problems.

On campus, visitors have the opportunity to try everything from using VR headsets to learning about animal anatomy to seeing vertical gardening in action on the Terra building’s rooftop greenhouses. Many of these experiences wouldn’t be possible without Spur’s team of nearly 30 active volunteers who have provided the campus with more than 1,450 hours of service this year alone.

The first startup based at the Colorado State University Spur campus has officially graduated to a larger space to better accommodate its steady growth. AEMS Corp began as an agricultural technology but has since become a biotechnology startup, and that’s thanks in part to guidance from the team at CSU’s Ag Innovation Center.

When Jocelyn Hittle started at CSU on Jan. 2, 2014, she worked with now-CSU President Amy Parsons, who was the executive vice chancellor of the CSU System at that time, and other leaders to envision what a learning destination in the heart of Denver’s National Western Center could look like. Over the ensuing years, Hittle played a key role in creating the master plan for what would become the National Western Center and CSU Spur.

These unprecedented times call for the unique conversations sure to happen throughout the day on Nov. 13 during the eighth annual Colorado State University Spur Water in the West Symposium. The 2025 theme is “Uncharted Waters: Navigating Change and Building Resiliency.” Registration is currently available online, and the agenda and speaker bios are being updated regularly.

Set to officially launch in October, the CSU Spur Climate Hub is part of the university’s larger effort to become a global leader in climate education, research and engagement. Based at the CSU Spur campus in the regional economic epicenter of Denver, it offers a menu of climate services meant to help everything from local governments to industries find sustainable solutions to their problems.

Hundreds of families have made its free 2nd Saturday events a monthly tradition, startups have taken advantage of its lab space to create innovative products, and dozens of CSU scientists are using the campus as a hub to conduct high-impact research that is making a difference in Colorado and beyond.

From vegan ice cream to ayurvedic chai, there’s always something new and unique cooking at the Food Innovation Center at Colorado State University Spur. These delights will be on full display during a special farmer’s market-style event during the September edition of 2nd Saturday.

CSU Spur is a place of seemingly endless possibilities and the perfect place for discovery. This summer, the campus was home base for 11 undergraduate CSU students (10 from Fort Collins, one in Pueblo) who wanted to hone their skills at the art of research.

Encouraging creativity and inspiration is the music lab’s focus. This unique program, which is entirely free, happens every second Saturday at CSU Spur, and lets anyone who stops by try a variety of different instruments with instruction from area music teachers as well as catch performances from local artists.

Wiz Kid is the perpetually curious host of CSU’s educational YouTube series, which shares the science happening at the university with a global audience. The newest episode, released July 10, focuses on energy. In addition to exploring different types of energy, the episode features quick lessons from CSU experts on topics ranging from how muscles work to the science behind a special toilet that turns human waste into power.

The Hydro lobby at the CSU Spur campus has a tranquil upgrade thanks to the ingenuity of three mechanical engineering students who redesigned the workings of a prominent art installation. The installation features a swirling stream of water that falls 40 feet from the ceiling of the building’s third floor, through the center of a circular stairwell and into a large vase in the entryway.

Colorado State University Spur’s Wiz Kid is back for a second season! Join CSU’s perpetually curious educational host as she showcases the wonders of science alongside researchers from Spur, the main campus in Fort Collins, and partners from across the state. The first episode focuses on the importance of pollinators.

Starting in fall 2025, there will be another pathway for students to start their CSU education thanks to CSU Spur Start, a program that will bring a cohort of first-year students to the University’s innovative campus just north of downtown Denver at the National Western Center and allow them to complete the first year of their CSU degree at the satellite campus before completing the rest of their bachelor’s at the flagship Fort Collins campus.

Dozens of high school students came to CSU Spur for the Colorado GROW Youth Institute on April 8. Now in its second year, the event empowers Colorado students to propose solutions to problems involving food insecurity in the countries of their choice. Their ensuing research papers are eligible for scholarships from the CSU College of Agricultural Sciences, and the top students have the opportunity to represent Colorado in Des Moines, Iowa, at the World Food Prize’s Global Youth Institute.

Prodigy Coffeehouse has two locations in the Globeville and Elyria-Swansea neighborhoods near the CSU Spur campus, and it has trained more than 250 young adults since its inception in 2015. Along the way, these apprentices have earned more than $2.5 million in wages and tips – supporting their families and stimulating the economy in the local community.

During his first stint with CSU, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack played a central role envisioning CSU Spur as a new kind of university campus that would engage learners of all ages in problem solving and discovery related to food, water, and human and animal health. Now Vilsack is returning to CSU, this time to establish a unique course that will provide students with insight and experience to counter a challenge he knows well from his time as Agriculture Secretary: the steady disappearance of small to mid-size farms.

The 2024 Water in the West at CSU Spur brought together more than 150 stakeholders representing everything from the state and federal government to academia and tribal nations. One common theme rang through: progress through collaboration isn’t always easy, but it is possible. Here are some other key takeaways.

In April, the CSU System’s international agriculture team hosted the first-ever Colorado GROW Youth Institute to engage high school students from across the state in studying and proposing solutions to global food security challenges. Thirty students gathered at CSU Spur for the one-day event, presenting research on a country and global food issue of their choosing while interacting with experts from the community and from academia.

Helping entrepreneurs develop products and find markets is among the ways that CSU Spur supports innovation and drives economic development. The Food Innovation Center, based in CSU Spur’s Terra building, includes the Ardent Mills Teaching and Culinary Center commercial kitchen, a sensory testing lab, the soon-to-open Leprino Foods Dairy Innovation Center, and other multi-purpose labs.

The Colorado State University System’s role promoting educational access and opportunity through its three degree-granting campuses and related activities and initiatives is among the central themes highlighted in the 2024 Impact Report, released by the System this month.

A new documentary film series called First Degree illuminates the personal and academic journeys of first-generation students at CSU System campuses. The series portrays the doubts and challenges first-generation students face in college, the benefits they hope to realize for themselves and their communities, and the ties between first-generation student success and Colorado State’s land-grant mission.

This summer, 1.5 million fans attended the Calgary Stampede to experience the annual rodeo show filled with concerts, cattle and circus performers. Those 10 days were a record turnout for the Canadian city’s marquee event, and officials are trying to emulate that vibrancy for the other 355 days of the year. Similar moves are taking place in other cities known for their cowboy culture including Denver, Houston and Kansas City, Mo.

Mya Kevil is passionate about science and wants to ensure everyone around her is too. That’s why the sophomore horticulture student decided to minor in agricultural literacy, and that’s also how she ended up spending her summer mentoring the next generation as a full-time undergraduate student employee on the Colorado State University Spur education team.

Summer drone camp, offered for free to Colorado high school students and select educators, is designed to reach a broad audience while exposing young people to careers ranging from drone-assisted research or photography to commercial aviation. The week-long program mixes intensive flying lessons and a behind-the-scenes airport visit with finely tuned test-prep sessions focused on the Federal Aviation Administration’s Part 107 exam, which must be passed by those wishing to receive compensation for operating a drone.

This summer, 11 CSU System undergraduate students participated in a summer research program at the CSU Spur campus in Denver, offered through CSU’s Office for Undergraduate Research and Artistry, or OURA. After an initial 2-week immersion in lab techniques from Gram staining to pipetting, the students, representing a range of majors and two campuses, spent six weeks embedded in one of the labs at Spur.

DPS describes its Launch Internship Program as “a professional internship program where students gain first-hand experience in a high-interest career.” Bruce Randolph School junior Caryela Ruiz works in a lab at the CSU Spur, testing soil content and generating reports for customers, often farmers. Sophomore Evangelyna Romero, who also works in the science lab at the CSU Spur, said the internship is the highlight of her day.

The CSU System Board of Governors has voted to transfer operational oversight of CSU Spur from the CSU System Office to the flagship campus in Fort Collins, with continued funding by the CSU System. The administrative shift will have minimal impact on Spur’s core mission and day-to-day operations. It also will not impact salaries and reporting lines for Spur staff.

CSU this month launched a new YouTube series, Wiz Kid, based out of the Spur campus near the National Western Complex. In the series, Wiz Kid explores the free, interactive educational center and questions in-house experts and researchers on kid-friendly topics.

Wiz Kid, in addition to being a fan of bedazzled lab coats and colorful bandanas, is the host of six new YouTube videos aimed at connecting kids – and the young at heart – with the wonders of science. These episodes dropped on April 4 and feature a variety of at-home science experiments and activities for everyone, furthering CSU Spur’s mission to break down barriers and provide inclusive, accessible education for future generations.

CSU’s Dr. Sybil Sharvelle joins the discussion of a bill under discussion targeting rules over in-home recycling of “graywater,” lightly contaminated water from the laundry, shower, bath, or bathroom sink that can be treated and reused for toilet flushing and outdoor watering.

Twelve full-time students started the Agribusiness and Food Innovation Management masters program in the fall of 2023, taking classes on food innovation, marketing, and accounting on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights.

Sign up to become a CSU Spur taste tester to participate in various sensory science experiments. In return, you’ll get to try a variety of foods and receive snacks, and sometimes even cash, as compensation. The Sensory Lab is part of the Food Innovation Center located on the first floor of the Terra building.

While CSU Spur is always free and open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the week, it opens its doors from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every second Saturday of the month for a variety of activities and special events. Dates for 2nd Saturday in 2024: Feb. 10, March 9, April 13, May 11, June 8, July 13, Aug. 10, Sept. 14, Oct. 12, Nov. 9, and Dec. 14.

During this year’s National Western Stock Show running Jan. 5-21, more than 12,000 people visited Spur at the National Western Center. That includes close to 1,500 people who stopped by during CSU Day at the Rodeo on Jan. 13 in spite of a stubborn arctic air mass that kept temperatures from climbing above zero.

The Exceptional Rodeo, a more than four-decade-old adaptive rodeo, allows kids of all abilities to be a cowboy or cowgirl for a day, be it by riding a real mechanical bull, roping and barrel racing with interactive props, or petting the two miniature horses that live on the CSU Spur campus.

If you’re a Colorado State University Ram, you don’t skip the National Western Stock Show just because it’s below zero degrees outside. Instead, you throw on your green-and-gold beanie and make the trek to Denver to celebrate a partnership that began in 1906 and is still going strong.

Wiz Kid is CSU Spur’s newest host. Her job is introducing kids – and the young at heart – to the wonders of this Denver-based learning destination, and to share her excitement about all things science. In fact, the initial season of the Wiz Kid educational series will premiere on April 4.

To get better acquainted with CSU Spur, here are 39 facts about one of the coolest places in the Mile High City.

CSU Spur is at the heart of the National Western Center, with a focus on agriculture that includes innovation in research and entrepreneurship.

More than 200 attendees attended the 6th Annual CSU Spur Water in the West symposium, which took place Nov 8-9. The event was held at CSU Spur’s Hydro building.

Close to 200 agricultural leaders and global experts in extension and rural advisory services gathered in Denver in October for the 14th Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS) Annual Meeting, sharing ideas and exploring strategies for producing the next generation of agricultural leaders.

Mark your calendars for 2nd Saturdays at CSU Spur each month, when fascinating, fun, and free entertainment awaits you and your family, whether that involves playing musical instruments, tasting and rating varieties of green chile, or even grooming stuffed animals while the real thing is undergoing surgery a few yards away.

Three panelists will address water and the state’s outdoor industry at this year’s CSU Spur Water in the West Symposium. The theme of the day-long event is “Next Gen Water: From AI to Gen Z.” three panelists who will address water and the state’s outdoor industry at this year’s CSU Spur Water in the West Symposium. The theme of the day-long event is “Next Gen Water: From AI to Gen Z.”

The 6th Annual CSU Spur Water in the West Symposium, occurring Nov. 9 in Denver, will bring participants together to explore artificial intelligence, demographic trends, and other factors that will be critical in addressing the region’s water challenges and crafting responses within agriculture, the outdoor industry, and other sectors.

The informal and sometimes serendipitous leaning that occurs at CSU Spur on 2nd Saturdays or during week-day visits falls on an educational spectrum that extends from school programs and adult learning to professional development and degree options.

Colorado bills itself as the epicenter of entrepreneurship and innovation, and the three CSU Spur buildings in the heart of the National Western Center in Denver illustrate how one university is looking to retain its original mission while preparing for the future.

CSU Spur, fully open since January, is being held up as a national model of sustainability and innovation in higher education. CSU President Amy Parsons accepted a 2023 Excellence in Sustainability Award at the annual meeting of the National Association of College and University Business Officers.

Agricultural start-up AEMS Corp is now operating out of CSU Spur – becoming the first industry partner to lease wet lab space through the CSU Spur Agricultural Innovation Center.

The fact that Colorado is among the top states in the country in the percentage of adults who have completed at least a bachelor’s degree is a great bragging point for educators and boosters of our communities. But it’s also misleading.

As the first-of-its-kind educational campus marks 18 months since opening the doors to the first building, Colorado State University announces 14 programs that will launch at the CSU Spur campus in the coming year.

Denver artist Anthony Garcia Sr. recently completed an enormous mural, titled “Whirlpool,” at CSU Spur. The mural, which took months to complete, fills a breezeway at the Hydro building.

On June 8, CSU Spur celebrated the opening of The Backyard and Denver Water’s new state-of-the-art water quality laboratory at the Hydro building. Check out all photos from the event.

The National Western Center recently celebrated the opening of the “Riverfront,” six-acres of open green space alongside the South Platte that was once inaccessible due to wastewater pipes, freight rail lines and livestock pens.

Along a stretch of the South Platte River once blocked by above-ground sewer pipes, visitors to the National Western Center in north Denver will soon find meandering trails, playground equipment, and an open-air amphitheater.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

National Western Center and Colorado State University Spur campus exchange effluent heat to clean water pipes for a low-carbon, renewable flow.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.”

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.

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.