CSU Spur

Is your kiddo a Future Chef, Future Vet, or Future Scientist when they come to ?

The Colorado State University System is making an impact on a global scale 🌎

When was the last time you stopped by and checked out the CSU Impact(O) Map? The next time you’re in Terra, be sure to stop by the 3rd floor and explore bi-lingual stories about CSU System change-makers from all across the world!

This interactive and immersive map showcases how their work is addressing critical challenges, such as improving food, water, health, environment, and energy.

You + The family + CSU Spur 2nd Saturday = 🥳🎉

Our monthly weekend event is coming up with dozens of hands-on activities, educational programs, and fun ways to wear out the kids.

And as always, admission to CSU Spur is free!

Here are the details:

🗓: Saturday, August 10th
⏰: 10am - 2pm
📍: CSU Spur: 4777 National Western Dr

From scoring big goals to exploring microorganisms, campers in the CSU Youth Sport Camps sure have been keeping active this summer both physically and mentally!

These camps are all about promoting a healthy, active lifestyle while learning a bit about animals, where our food comes from, and the water in our environment — which we think all goes hand in hand 🤝

This summer we’ve had the pleasure of hosting an amazing cohort of 11 undergraduate students from Colorado State University and Colorado State University Pueblo for a research program, led by CSU OURA, focused on science and lab technique and communication — offering students the opportunity to “consider audiences beyond the typical researcher.”

The focus of their research varied broadly, with students getting hands-on lab experience with everything has to offer including sensory science, soil sampling in the Soil-Water-Plant Testing Lab, work on the green roof, and spring water sourdough cultures.

Their work will culminate in a public showcase at The Shop next Friday, but you can read all about their experience so far this summer in this great writeup from SOURCE 🔬col.st/EruV9

It was a beautiful afternoon on campus today as students participating in the El Sistema Summer String Festival camp held their capstone performance in Hydro Theater 🎻🥁🎤

Throughout the last ten days, these campers have been exploring topics related to leadership, equity, social awareness, identity, and more – all through the joyful pursuit of musical excellence.

The Water in the West Symposium, hosted at CSU Spur, brings in speakers from different disciplines from around the world every year to discuss global and local water challenges. The 2023 symposium was centered around “Next Gen Water: From AI to Gen Z,” and in this special episode of CSU Spur of the Moment you will hear a panel discussion that focuses on Indigenous and Tribal water challenges and solutions. It featured Mike Preston of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Water Resources Committee and Catherine Redhorse from the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs. The panel was moderated by Ernest House Jr of the Keystone Policy Center and also a member of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.

Their discussion touched on a range of topics, including tribal engagement and decision-making, the impact of drought and climate change on water rights and access, and the needs of the younger generation of Indigenous youth.

Enjoy this special episode now wherever you get your podcasts 📡 linktr.ee/SOTMPodcasts

You never quite know what you’ll see when visiting the Dumb Friends League hospital at , just take it from a recent survey testimonial:

“Our second and first-grade granddaughters watched a pup in surgery for an abdominal obstruction and got a very close observation of a teddy bear's head being removed from the intestine! What a great story they had to bring to their classmates the next Monday.”

The CSU Nancy Richardson Design Center Makers Space at The Shop is gearing up to open for drop-in hours next month!

It’s a creative thinker's paradise and will be opening to the community on August 20th for any project you might dream up. There was an open house today for folks on campus to check out the space and learn about the kinds of projects that are possible on the 3D printers, laser cutters, sewing machines, vacuum formers, and more!

📸 Photo Finish 📸

Students in the Colorado State University Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering "Engineering Your World" summer camp at this week get to participate in a whole host of hands-on activities — spaghetti bridges, cell phone case drops, and saltwater circuits — while today they got an introduction to biomedical engineering in designing, developing, and racing prosthetic legs.

Mike Gabel laughs anytime he sees food scientists depicted as wearing lab coats and looking through microscopes. It’s not how he sees himself and the work that he does. In fact, he claims that in his 20-year career as a food scientist, he’s never even used a microscope. Instead, Mike helps food entrepreneurs develop products and bring them to market.

Mike is the Director of the Food Innovation Center here at CSU Spur, which has the goal of supporting food innovators through various services and by creating a place for their ideas to be fostered and grow. He has led innovation teams at Windsor Foods, ConAgra Foods, and recently at Barilla where he spent five years at their headquarters in Parma, Italy.

In this episode of Spur of the Moment, he sat down to talk about his passion for food sciences, his career journey, and the secret behind how Jelly Belly makes their jellybeans taste exactly like the foods they intend to replicate. You can listen now wherever you get your podcasts 📡 linktr.ee/SOTMPodcast

You all make our 2nd Saturdays so much fun 😊

Thank you, again, to our partners at Canvas Credit Union who is now the sponsor of our monthly 2nd Saturday events!

Last winter during Stock Show we asked you: “What do you think the CSU Spur signature flavor of ice cream should be?” Well, you stuffed our suggestion box and we’ve narrowed it down to the top seven — but we need your help again getting this list down to a final three!

The choices are 🥁🥁🥁

CACTUS BLOSSOM SWIRL: Prickly pear ice cream with marshmallow swirl
OLATHE SWEET & SOUR CREAM DREAM: Sweet cream ice cream with mashed Olathe sweet corn & a little sour cream
PALISADE BUTTERY PEACHES & CREAM: Ice cream with goat cheese and Palisade peaches
MINERAL MOUNTAIN: Chocolate ice cream with brownie bits, toffee, and caramel COLORADO COBBLER: Vanilla ice cream with peach and cornbread
STOCKYARD SURPRISE: Taro ice cream with white chocolate shavings and blackberries MIRASOL CHILE & CHOCOLATE: Chocolate ice cream with spicy Colorado mirasol chile bits

The finalists will then be made up for a taste test and final vote later this fall! Head to the link 🍦 col.st/iaNHP 🍦 and cast your vote for the three flavors that you think truly I-scream “CSU SPUR”!

Voting ends August 1st!

Looking for something fun this weekend to do to beat the heat? Our monthly 2nd Saturday event is this weekend! This month’s theme is “The World Up Close.” Check out strawberries growing in the Controlled Environment Agriculture Lab, insects under a microscope, activities with the CSU Nancy Richardson Design Center, Equine Sports Medicine Demos, and take-home activities from Project Learning Tree!

Plus, enjoy food, coffee, and drinks available for purchase from Western Daughters.

All you need to know 👇

🗓: Tomorrow, July 13th
⏰: 10 am to 2 pm
📍: CSU Spur

As always these events are free with no RSVP necessary! 2nd Saturdays at CSU Spur are presented by our friends and partners at Canvas Credit Union!

Virtual Reality isn't just for games — it's all about learning, too! CSU Spur offers VR experiences in animal and human anatomy, developed by CSU College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences faculty and students.

Teachers and administrators, are you interested in bringing your classroom or school for a VR experience on campus in 2024/2025? You can register online through the school programs page on our website at csuspur.org/school-programs!

Campus sure does shine in the summer 😎☀️

Happy 4th of July, learners 🇺🇸

A quick reminder that is closed today and tomorrow, and we’ll be back open during regular hours on Monday, July 8. Have a safe and happy holiday 😊

📸: Hord Coplan Macht

All last week campers in the Colorado State University School of Music, Theatre and Dance’s Center Stage Youth Art camp were introduced to the foundations of theater 🎭

On Friday they packaged what they learned about acting, singing, and dancing into a final performance for their parents, friends and staff members.

Summer camps, workshops, performances, plant sales, and parties — June on campus was a blast 🚀

Summer campers with the CSU Drone Center really took flight this week 🚁

Never a dill moment in the kitchen at Terra 🥒

Every Wednesday through July, CSU Extension, the Kendall Reagan Nutrition Center, and the Food Innovation Center are hosting FREE pickling workshops! Learn the art, science, and nutrition of making both quick and lacto-fermented pickles, and then head home with a jar of each!

There are a couple of days at the end of next month still open — sign up through the link 🔗 col.st/C9ROI

Rotation Index was enjoying that late afternoon storm ⛈

This art piece, which spans the bridge between Hydro and Terra, combines local weather information with real-time data from the greenhouses and rooftop gardens to influence the color, pattern, and intensity of the lights illuminating this walkway.

Rotation Index is by Jason Bruges Studio

It was a beautiful morning on the South Platte River Trail for Bike To Work Day today 🚴☀️ We loved getting to chat with commuters about CSU Spur and hand out water and sacks for a little bit of fuel for the rest of the ride!

Thanks to all who stopped by!

There are some really fun (and tasty!) events coming up next month from the Kendall Reagan Nutrition Center here at CSU Spur! Mark your calendars and come check them out — they're fun for the whole family ☺️

Check out our upcoming events in July: a webinar, plant-based cooking class, and a family cooking class for kids 8+!

Webinar registration: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYtd-ygqjgoHN3vzXRm4KByDCGRxdWasq9w

Cooking class info: https://www.chhs.colostate.edu/krnc/krnc-at-spur/

“The awe that I see on visitors’ faces every day – from the youngest minds to seasoned researchers, industry leaders, and lifelong learners – inspires me to continue pursuing my dream of making a difference in the world.”

Co-located here at , The CSU One Water Solutions Institute is focused on connecting our world-class research and innovative software solutions to solve real-world water and environmental challenges, and as the Associate Director, Sarah Millonig is primarily responsible for helping make those connections.

In this Spur Spotlight 🔦 we asked Sarah the “Why” that drives her work here on campus!

Check it out 👉 col.st/RFrTj

Excited and a part of another weekend of Pride in Denver 😊

Happy National Selfie Day! DYK we have various designated “Selfie Spots” around campus? Hand-picked spots that we think have some of the highest selfie potential!

Next time you snap one, share it with us and use the hashtag 🤩🤳 We love seeing them!

Happy Juneteenth! Today is not only a celebration of freedom, commemorating the day when news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached the last enslaved individuals in Galveston, Texas in 1865, but it’s also a celebration of African American culture and heritage!

If you’re looking for a way to celebrate today or this weekend, Denver Westword put together a great list of resources for events happening in the Denver Metro Area (link in bio). And perhaps before or after, come and see us at — we’ll be open regular hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.