CO LSEN is a collaborative effort between the University of Colorado Boulder's Center for Science and Technology Policy Research (CTPR) and the American Association for the advancement of Science. Our objectives are two-fold: first, to bring relevant and timely science to bear on policy decisions at the local and state level so that policies are better suited to address challenges related to climate change, sustainability, technology adoption, and natural resource management in Colorado; and second, to build and foster the LSEN as a new contingent of scientists in the state who are regularly engaged in identifying opportunities and relationships for bringing science into the policy realm.