Organization:Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

Short description: Research institute

Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

Formation	1967
Type	Research institute
Location	United States

The Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) is one of the largest research institutes at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU) and hosts NOAA's largest cooperative institute, CIESRDS. CIRES scientists study the Earth system, including the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, biosphere, and geosphere, and communicate these findings to decision makers, the scientific community, and the public.

History and research

At CIRES, the Cooperative Institute for Research In Environmental Sciences, more than 950 people work to understand the dynamic Earth system, including people’s relationship with the planet. An institute of the University of Colorado Boulder, we have partnered with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) since 1967; our current collaboration with the agency is called CIESRDS, the Cooperative Institute for Earth System Research and Data Science. CIRES' areas of expertise include weather and climate, wildfire and water, changes at Earth’s poles, air quality and atmospheric chemistry, water resources, solid Earth sciences, and more. The current director of CIRES is former NASA Chief Scientist, Waleed Abdalati.

Our mission is to conduct innovative research that advances our understanding of the global, regional, and local environments and the human relationship with those environments, for the benefit of society.

Our vision: CIRES is an international leader in conducting cross-cutting environmental research of the highest quality while bridging fundamental science and service to society. We build leaders, scientists, communicators, and teams dedicated to developing sound and trusted information to address environmental challenges. We embrace a positive and inclusive culture, recognizing that CIRES thrives when our people do.

Centers and programs

CIRES centers and programs bridge scientific disciplines, institutions, and geographies, enabling rapid scientific response to emerging challenges, and fostering collaboration. They also represent some of our institute’s major research areas.

• Center for Microbial Exploration
• Center for Social and Environmental Futures
• Earth Lab
• Earth Science and Observation Center (ESOC), focusing on the development and application of remote sensing techniques for studying all aspects of the Earth system
• Education & Outreach Program
• Environmental Data Science Innovation & Inclusion Lab
• National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), which studies Earth's frozen realms (called the cryosphere), including floating sea ice, lake ice, glaciers, ice sheets, snow cover, and permafrost.
• North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center: One of several USGS partnership programs across the country
• Western Water Assessment: One of several NOAA-funded Climate Action Partnership programs across the country

External links

• Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)