The Center for Water, Earth Science, and Technology (CWEST) is a center of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) at the University of Colorado (CU) at Boulder that has been established to promote increased collaboration between CU and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Joint efforts, in particular, center around the two organizations’ research, training, and educational objectives with a focus on earth and environmental science and engineering. CWEST builds upon the many successful and on-going research collaborations that have been taking place between INSTAAR researchers and others at CU with scientists at the USGS, including those working with the USGS’s National Research Program and its Earth Surface Dynamics Program.