Federal Labs in Colorado

Colorado is home to fourteen federally funded and managed research labs. Some, like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Institute of Standards and Technology of the U.S. Department of Commerce, are line departments of federal agencies. Others, such as JILA, CIRA, and CIRES are jointly managed by a federal agency and one of Colorado's research universities. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Center for Atmospheric Research are managed by non-profit organizations through federal contracts.

Each lab has an important history within its community. Together, they provide over $1.1 billion in economic benefits to Colorado. The science they further is incalculable. Colorado's labs have pioneered the understanding of global climate change, telecommunications, genetic plant resources, large-scale weather patterns, nanotechnologies, astrophysics, renewable energy, human-wildlife interactions, and the geophysical science of our planet.

The federally funded and managed research labs in Colorado are:

  • Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of the Interior (BuRec)
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC/DVBID)
  • Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA)
  • Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)
  • JILA
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric
    Administration (NOAA)
    • Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL)
    • National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC)
    • National Weather Service (NWS)
    • National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS)
    • Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC)
  • National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
  • National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
  • National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)
  • University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)
    • National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
  • U.S. Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
    • Natural Resources Research Center
    • National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation
    • Crops Research Laboratory
    • Central Great Plains Research Station
  • U.S. Department of Agriculture - Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS)
  • U.S. Department of Agriculture - National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC)
  • DOT/FRA-Transportation Technology Center(TTC)
  • US Air Force Academy (USAFA)
  • U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)