Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science

Apply now: Community-Engaged Research Micro-Credential Program

Gretchen Minekime — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 20:21:50 +0000

Apply now: Community-Engaged Research Micro-Credential Program Gretchen Minekime Wed, 08/05/2026 - 14:21

CIRES PhD Student Rebecca Mesburis gave a community talk at Knotted Root Brewing about how to clean your home after smoke exposure following the Caribou Village Fire in Nederland, Colorado in fall 2025.

The University of Colorado Boulder Equitable Approaches to Community-Engaged Research Micro-Credential program equips researchers with the knowledge and skills required to meaningfully partner with communities. Applications are now open for the Fall 2026 inaugural cohort.

Program details & application

Eligibility: Open to all ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� graduate students, staff and faculty members

Format: Hybrid (combining remote, asynchronous access to the toolkit and dynamic, in-person workshops)

Requirements: Participants will complete four written assignments and host a public event (for example, a talk and discussion at a library or brewery); upon completion, these artifacts may be displayed digitally alongside their micro-credential badge

Timeline: All requirements must be completed by the end of the 2026-2027 academic year, with flexibility on the timeline

Application form: Submit your interest via the CER Micro-credential Application Form

Application deadline: Sept. 14

��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� the program

At its core, community-engaged research is a collaborative approach to knowledge production that actively involves community members, organizations and researchers in all phases of the research process. A central focus on inclusion helps build and sustain equitable partnerships. As part of this program, learners will develop a practical skillset for building partnerships and advancing meaningful change in communities.

Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship, part of the Office for Outreach and Community Engagement and ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� lead unit supporting engaged scholarship, is proud to offer this program after developing and piloting it in partnership with the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), the Environmental Studies Department (ENVS) and Masters of the Environment Program (MENV).

“The CER toolkit and micro-credential program are excellent examples of the type of resources and programs that build our campus capacity for high-quality engaged scholarship,” said David Meens, assistant vice chancellor for public and community-engaged scholarship. “We’re excited to see how these workshops and the toolkit serve the needs of ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� researchers, and to continue developing programs and opportunities based on their feedback.”

Grounded in the principles of the Shared Equity Leadership Model, this program provides educational training for researchers—primarily faculty and graduate students—to sustainably address issues that affect communities, in partnership with those that are impacted, often disproportionately.

Last year, a pilot cohort of early-career researchers from several units across campus--including CIRES, the Institute of Behavioral Science (IBS), the Environmental Studies Department (ENVS), and the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR)-- provided feedback that led to substantial improvements to the micro-credential program's open-access toolkit and workshops.

Insights from the pilot program

Participants in the 2025-26 pilot cohort noted that the gap in traditional training filled by the toolkit provides practical skills for long-lasting partnerships.

“It is as important,” one participant said, “to learn how to interact with communities as it is to learn about scientific processes.”

Another shared their hope that the toolkit would be utilized widely, especially for researchers who do not typically seek community engagement training: “I’d love for this program to be marketed to the hardcore STEM researchers. This is not universal knowledge, and it is so important.”

Others described how the program challenged them to think differently about the purpose and practice of research. One researcher noted that while community-engaged research has the potential to strengthen many scientific projects, it is often overlooked in favor of more traditional dissemination methods.

“We conduct research that will benefit from community-engaged research all the time, and I know we don’t invest in it. It is frustrating for me because our engagement stays limited to publishing our data,” said the participant. “I would love for colleagues to use this toolkit and learn how they would benefit from community-engaged research – to incentivize a change.”

These reflections provide just a sample of participants’ enthusiastic responses to the toolkit, and suggest this resource should be available to a broad swath of researchers across many disciplines.

Open-Access Toolkit

The toolkit is available online and open to all ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� researchers. It is comprised of several unique modules, which can be copied into other Canvas courses to supplement course curriculum. Instructions for using the toolkit are provided on the home page of the Canvas course.

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We are Water: How a Colorado Community is Reimagining its Relationship with Water

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 22:15:47 +0000

We are Water: How a Colorado Community is Reimagining its Relationship with Water Arielle Wiedenbeck Mon, 12/08/2025 - 15:15

Elle Moscinski

For so many of us, when we turn on the faucet to our sink or shower, fresh, potable water comes out. We might take it for granted, and we rely on it deeply for drinking, cooking, washing, and sustaining our daily routines. Maybe we don’t question whether it will run out or, often, where it comes from. Water is one of the most critical resources for life, but for many in the Four Corners – the region where NM, CO, AZ, and UT meet – it is not a guaranteed resource. Access varies widely, and the realities of drought, agriculture and infrastructure shape how communities live.

A new exhibit devoted to water issues recently opened at the Alamosa Public Library in Southwestern Colorado. Tory Nau, program manager of We are Water, facilitated the co-creation of the exhibit with Alamosa community members. We are Water is a National Science Foundation funded education project within the Center for Education, Engagement, and Evaluation (CEEE) at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science (CIRES) and a grant recipient of ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship. The project focuses on place-based education and storytelling to bring together multi-generational audiences to learn and share about water in their community. It encourages people to explore the past, present and future of their water and to bring their own experiences and cultural perspectives to the conversation.

Previously, We are Water used a traveling exhibit to visit rural libraries in the Four Corners Region. Now, the project focuses on co-creating community exhibits that will be permanently installed in communities, like the one in Alamosa. This bilingual exhibit is comprised of two parts, an interactive 3D printed topographic model of the Rio Grande Watershed that features various water locations and an interactive informational wall display. ��Ҵ�ý�ƽ�� students built the exhibit, which showcases the work of local artists Jocelyn Catterson and Ryan Michelle Scavo.

With Alamosa’s permanent exhibit, residents will be able to return and keep learning about water in the San Luis Valley. The We are Water team hopes to raise awareness of water as a more critical, complex subject and to get people thinking about their water sources. For example, aquifers are often depicted online as underground lakes. However, they are actually made up from many pockets of water covered in rocks, sand and gravel and are not constantly accessible bodies of water.

The installation is the result of a collaborative effort between We are Water and local libraries, researchers, artists and Alamosa community members. Creating the exhibit started with a large listening session, supported by the library with hopes of reaching a variety of voices in the community. Participants discussed their questions, concerns and hopes for water in their community.

“Our approach with this project wasn’t to come in and educate people about water policy,” said Nau. “It was more about creating a space for people to come together to connect and share stories, perspectives, and experiences about water.”

The project merges art and science, Western and Indigenous worldviews, university researchers and local libraries and formal and informal education—an approach that creates accessible spaces where community member’s stories are shared and recorded, and people learn together in everyday settings.

“I think [informal learning] is very powerful,” said Nau. “Learning can happen anywhere, and some of the best learning happens outside of a classroom. And, I say that as a teacher.”

Issues of water are complex and critical. Water sustains every living thing, yet water policy is challenging when some communities face shrinking supplies, competing uses or changes caused by invasive species and drought. Some communities in the Four Corners Region do not have access to running water. Additionally, cultural perspectives on water vary. By using storytelling, We are Water’s approach encourages people to share personal experiences, listen to one another’s histories and understand how others see valuable natural resources.

Nau hopes that audiences take away curiosity and awareness about water. She hopes that people will begin to think critically about where their water comes from—the journey from source to tap. She hopes that people will make broader connections to climate change, the needs of their communities and all the ways in which we are connected by water.

A new exhibit from We Are Water at the Alamosa Public Library focuses on place-based education and storytelling to bring together multi-generational audiences to learn and share about water in their community.

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