Office of Academic Affairs
1000 E. University Ave - Dept 3302
Laramie, WY 82071
Phone: (307)766.4286
Fax: (307)766.2606
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.
Office of Academic Affairs
1000 E. University Ave - Dept 3302
Laramie, WY 82071
Phone: (307)766.4286
Fax: (307)766.2606