Nearly 500,000 Comments! Federal Grant & Funding Rules: White House OMB Proposed Changes Dear CO-LABS members and friends, As we described in previous news, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published a proposed rule in the Federal Register revising the government-wide Uniform Guidance for federal financial assistance and the deadline for comments was Monday, July 13, 2026. CO-LABS joined hundreds of organizations sharing information about this issue

Every year, tens of thousands of wildfires burn millions of acres in the United States, blanketing one community after another in smoke. The fire experts at the Cooperative Institute for Research In Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and CU Boulder have compiled a list of go-to resources that provide up-to-date information on how the wildfires are progressing, the smoke transport in the atmosphere, and impacts on air quality. These efforts draw on many different sources of inform

CO-LABS is sharing this information so members and partners can review the proposal, determine whether it is relevant to their work, and decide whether to respond through their own appropriate channels. CO-LABS speaks to the value and practical impact of Colorado's federally funded research ecosystem; we do not speak on behalf of any individual member institution, laboratory, agency, university, or company. On May 29, 2026, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB

Self-driving cars use artificial intelligence (AI) to get from point A to point B without human drivers. Now, scientists at the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) are using a similar concept to create “self-driving laboratories.” Using AI, NLR scientists are working to automate linked laboratory tasks to increase the speed, precision, and throughput of NLR’s materials research—ultimately aiming to accelerate the pace of scientific breakthroughs. In one case study, an

Colorado State University's Energy Institute is one of CO-LABS' key partners and a clear example of what Colorado's federal research ecosystem makes possible. The Powerhouse Energy Campus in Fort Collins is one of the largest university-based energy research facilities in the country, and the Energy Institute has spent nearly 35 years turning research into deployable energy and carbon solutions, drawing on faculty from across CSU and deep industry partnerships. Its newly upda

In 2021, a team led by CIRES Fellow Xinzhao Chu discovered layers of sodium and other metals appear with surprising regularity — twice a day at dusk and just before dawn — high in the atmosphere above Boulder, Colorado. These layers, called Thermosphere-Ionosphere sodium (TINa) layers, contain metals from meteoroids and dust that are vaporized as they enter Earth’s atmosphere. Chu and her colleagues showed the layers co-occur with high-atmospheric tidal winds created by the S

CO-LABS submitted this formal statement in response to National Science Foundation January 23, 2026 Dear Colleague Letter – Intent to Restructure Critical Weather Science Infrastructure . Background: In December, the Trump Administration announced that it would be “breaking up” NCAR. The following day, the NSF stated it was reviewing the structure of the research and observational capabilities currently operated by NCAR. In January, the agency issued a Dear Colleague Letter

The finalists have been selected, and the stage is set for the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) 2026 Industry Growth Forum (IGF) Pitch Competition. Companies will pitch to over 200 investors at the IGF on March 31 to April 2 in Denver. Fifty-two startups just earned the chance to spotlight their energy technologies in the IGF 2026 pitch competition. The annual IGF brings together energy investors and startups to network, learn, and forge partnerships that could help

January 25, 2026: CO-LABS is deeply concerned by the proposed dismantling of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR ), first announced December 17, 2025 and with the January 23, 2026 National Science Foundation's Dear Colleague Letter. This discussion comes as weather and climate-related disasters impose increasing fiscal pressure on the federal government: over the past decade, the United States has averaged more than $150 billion per year in disaster losses , mu

Thank You to all our donors to the Protect Colorado's Innovation Powerhouse! campaign Thank you to all the donors and volunteers for supporting CO-LABS first ever Protect Colorado's Innovation Powerhouse campaign. Your donation to CO-LABS comes at a critical moment when federal labs across our state face unprecedented challenges—tens of millions in funding cuts and hundreds of displaced scientists. Your support ensures that we can continue serving as the bridge between groun

December 18, 2025 CO-LABS has a response to the statement by Russel Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, that “The National Science Foundation will be breaking up the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado" and that NCAR is “one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country”. We have shared this statement with our elected representatives. CO-LABS does not accept this mischaracterization of the research by NCAR and is asse

BOULDER, CO – November 4, 2025 – CO-LABS, Colorado's independent advocate for federally funded research, today launched its first-ever public fundraising campaign to safeguard the state's innovation powerhouse in the face of unprecedented federal budget cuts and staff reductions threatening Colorado's 35+ federally funded laboratories and research institutes. The campaign, "Support Our Federal Labs. Protect Our Future," aims to raise $250,000 to expand CO-LABS' advocacy