A business leader and elected officials in Colorado are sharply attacking the Trump administration’s announced decision to shut down the National Center for Atmospheric Research, which opened in Boulder in 1960 and employs 830 people.
Over the past decades, Colorado has become a national leader in scientific research because of the state’s university system, strong scientific workforce pipeline, and increasing amount of investment capital flowing into the market. Last year, the University of Colorado and Colorado State University systems combined to attract a record-breaking $2.1 billion in total research funding. Colorado also boasts one of the highest concentrations of federal labs in the country, with 34 federal research institutions located in the state.
If you are studying anything from molecules in the clouds to methane emissions from soils and landfills — and everything in between that affects the Earth’s climate — the opportunities for research in Colorado span the Front Range all the way north to Wyoming.