About Us

The Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CPCESU) is part of a National CESU Network that is composed of sixteen other CESUs. The boundary of each CESU is based on biogeographic similarity.

The CPCESU is a cooperative network, transcending political and institutional boundaries, which creates innovative opportunities for research, education, and technical assistance in support of the management and stewardship by partner agencies of the Colorado Plateau's natural, cultural, and social resources.

n.b. Although this language is not exactly that of the Memorandum of Understanding establishing the CESU network (June 22, 1999), it does closely follow the concepts outlined in the background and mission sections.

Mission Statement

The CPCESU creates opportunities for research, education, and technical assistance to support stewardship of natural and cultural resources by Federal agencies on the Colorado Plateau. We ensure that the expertise of our academic and non-governmental partners is made available to assist federal resource managers in accomplishing their agency missions. The federal partners allocate funding to a wide variety of projects and non-federal partners and support their research, education, and outreach missions.

This work is done under the provisions of a Cooperative and Joint Venture Agreement. This agreement represents the verbiage that was submitted to the National Office.

NAU Hosts the CPCESU

At NAU, the CPCESU's administrative home is the School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability.  The responsibilities of the host university (Host) include:

This is a self-selecting, inclusive group of any land management and resource management personnel located on the Colorado Plateau who are part of one of the federal partner agencies.  Managers could be unit managers, resource (natural and cultural) managers, key resource scientists, etc.

This group meets on the first day of the Biennial Conference of Research on the Colorado Plateau.

To explore the collaborative efforts of the CPCESU, please visit our Meetings and Conferences page.

CPCESU Partners Group

The group consists of one representative of the Host University, each of the twenty-four non-federal partner institutions, and one representative of each of the ten federal partner agencies. To view the responsibilities of the partners, click here.

Experts at CPCESU Partner Institutions

Each CESU provides many choices of experts in all fields of study and education. The links below for each of our partners will take you to their faculty or staff directories. You may look up individuals or consult department directories.

Please click here for a list of experts at partner institutions.
  

CPCESU Strategic Plan

CPCESU Members developed a strategic plan at the Partners' meeting in July 2010. This document provides background information about the organization, as well as key environmental issues on the Colorado Plateau, and a list of goals and objectives for the organization. See our Documents Page to view the Strategic Plan and find out how the CPCESU is coordinating research on the Colorado Plateau.

Joining the CPCESU

If you are interested in joining the CPCESU please read our informational documents on our Documents Page.

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