kelly.dunning@uwyo.edu | Crane Hall, Rm 234 | CV
PhD in Natural Resources Planning and Policy, MIT
MSc in Environmental Policy, Oxford University
B.A. in Political Science, University of Florida
Kelly Dunning is director of the Wildlife & Wilderness Recreation Lab (formerly the Conservation Governance Lab at Auburn University). The lab has the following priority research areas: 1) Collaborative governance of wildlife and both public and private lands. 2) Climate adaptation through participatory research. 3) Hunter and angler experiences, R3, and the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. 4) Public policy for improving hunter and angler access and diversifying the hunting and angling community. You can learn more about the Wildlife & Wilderness Recreation lab at wildlifewildernessrecreationlab.org. Dunning holds a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), an MS from Oxford University (Christ Church College), and a BA from the University of Florida. Her lab has received research funding from sources like the National Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Dunning is an affiliate scientist at NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, where she was named an Early Career Innovator, and a NASEM Early Career Fellow. Her lab received a 2025 NSF DISES award to study trout conservation in the mountains of Colorado and Wyoming.
Newly published book: The People’s Reefs: Democratic Management of an Ecosystem Under Threat
See more on Kelly Heber Dunning's Google Scholar page.