Dr. Maureen 'Mo' Dower

“To ensure evidence and scientific findings shape the policymaking process, I would build partnerships with university research centers, like CSU and CU. This gives us ongoing, independent scientific input on legislation without much added cost. I also support continuing the Science & Technology Policy Fellows program (DMNS), which already brings scientific expertise into Legislative Council Staff. A standing scientific advisory panel could be a good next step, but our state budget is tight, and a panel means salaries. I’m not ready to commit to that cost without knowing more.”

“As a large animal veterinarian with a career built in Colorado agriculture, I bring hands-on, science-based experience to this role. This is firsthand experience with what growers and producers face day to day. That background lets me evaluate research and legislation on its merits, informed by my professional training and ongoing continuing education. On water scarcity, I would push to incentivize efficient irrigation and conservation practices led by the people who steward our water best: our farmers, growers, ranchers, and producers, rather than imposing uninformed mandates. I would also support funding for additional water storage, like reservoirs, and for modernizing distribution infrastructure, like upgrading irrigation ditches, so more of the water we have actually reaches the land that needs it.”

“The urgency around building data centers in Colorado is being manufactured rather than earned. There are many other places in the U.S. suitable for these facilities, and we don’t yet know the full environmental and societal impact of siting them here. I believe the right path forward is a statewide moratorium on new data center development until we have that information. During the moratorium, I would want evidence-based data on the impact to water and energy infrastructure, the direct and indirect costs to residents, and the effects on our land and environment. That evidence should inform a risk-benefit analysis and a set of guardrails, so that when development resumes, it protects our communities and natural resources while still allowing responsible business growth. My inclination is toward stricter environmental protections, particularly limits on carbon emissions, safeguards for water resources, and standards addressing noise pollution and heat-island effects. In addition, I would push for those protections to be built into any framework that comes out of this process.”

“As a Technical Service Veterinarian for a major animal pharmaceutical company, my job was to work with producers to contain disease outbreaks in large herds, experience that directly informs how I think about outbreaks like the measles cases we’ve seen in Colorado since 2025. I would strengthen school vaccine requirements based on the safety and efficacy of individual vaccines, the risk of disease spread to the broader community, and the risk to our most vulnerable residents. Religious exemptions should be preserved; however, non-medical, non-religious exemptions should be revisited, with a higher bar for granting them. Raising our herd immunity protects not just the vaccinated, but those around us who cannot be vaccinated or are immunocompromised. In addition, as a veterinarian, I subscribe to the “One Health” philosophy: that animal and human health are inherently linked. Pandemics often begin as a minor illness in one species and jump to another as a life-threatening illness in a new host. The state needs to strengthen its surveillance of zoonotic diseases so we can catch these threats before they spread widely.”

“Many residents in our state are not scientifically literate. It creates a mismatch between what the data shows to be the best policy in a given area and what the public is willing to accept. This is evident in the debate over data center development, where questions about water use, energy demand, and environmental impact require a level of scientific literacy that most residents, and even many lawmakers, don’t have, making it harder to have an informed public conversation about the right path forward. Closing that gap starts in K-12 education. I believe schools should shift away from lecture-based, textbook-driven instruction and toward more hands-on learning, giving students the chance to connect scientific concepts, including how energy, water systems, and natural resources actually work, to the natural world around them. When students can see, feel, hear, and meaningfully discuss science, rather than just memorize it, they grow into more discerning consumers of information as adults.”