What is CIRES?

CIRES, the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, is a research institute that is sponsored jointly by the University of Colorado [ About CU ] and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [ About NOAA ] through its Ocean and Atmosphere Research (OAR) line office. It is one of 13 such Cooperative Institutes nationwide, many of which are co-located with OAR research laboratories. Other line offices within NOAA also sponsor Cooperative Institutes. Both NOAA and CU provide intellectual sponsorship for CIRES. In addition, NOAA sponsorship involves funding via a cooperative agreement, and CU sponsorship involves organization. Consequently, from an official perspective, CIRES is an institute of the University of Colorado, and hence CIRES employees are employees of the University.