Spicer Distinguished Chair in Environment and Natural Resources

Dr. Steven Smutko, Wyoming Excellence Chair and Spicer Distinguished Chair in Environment and Natural Resources (B.S. Outdoor Recreation, Colorado State University; M.S. Community and Regional Planning, North Dakota State University; Ph.D. Economics, Auburn University).  Dr. Smutko advances leadership, training, and scholarship in natural resource collaborative decision-making in Wyoming. In 2017-18, Dr. Smutko’s research activities included an investigation of the perceptions of Wyoming stakeholders toward collaboration among federal land management agencies for ecosystem management in the Greater Yellowstone Area; research on the application of “social license to operate” by the energy industry to produce natural gas on Colorado’s front range; and the effect of negotiation training for agricultural producers on privately negotiated sales of agricultural commodities. In addition, Dr. Smutko organized and convened the first research symposium for the University Network for Collaborative Governance, a consortium of university programs and centers that engage in service, scholarship and teaching to build the capacity for collaborative governance. Dr. Smutko taught graduate and undergraduate courses in negotiation analysis and environmental problem-solving, and provided students hands-on experience in policy development and implementation in the natural resources arena. Through his position as the Spicer Wyoming Excellence Chair, Dr. Smutko builds capacity for Wyoming citizens to collaborate and solve complex and contentious natural resource problems. He oversees the Collaboration Program in Natural Resources, a yearlong series of professional development workshops. The 19 mid-career professionals enrolled this year are gaining collaborative decision-making skills through trainings and a practicum. Through his hands-on involvement in natural resources policy issues in Wyoming, Dr. Smutko assisted stakeholders and county governments in Sublette, Teton, and Carbon counties negotiate recommendations for the Wyoming Public Lands Initiative. The Initiative is a project organized by the Wyoming County Commissioners Association to develop a Wyoming federal lands bill through place-based multi-party negotiations among representatives from agriculture, conservation, motorized and non-motorized recreation, energy development, and local government.