Collaboration Program in Natural Resources

Building collaborative capacity in Wyoming and beyond

Anyone working in natural resources today—whether they are in land management, industry, non-profit, advocacy, community engagement, or something else—has to regularly navigate a dynamic landscape of values, relationships, and policy to get their job done. The Collaboration Program in Natural Resources (CPNR) will equip you with the skills and tools needed to work effectively with a wide range of people in challenging, often contentious, situations. The program includes:

  • Leadership development, including navigating high-conflict situations, effectively designing and leading teams, working across differences of all kinds, public speaking, and adaptive problem-solving in uncertain, rapidly changing situations.
  • A tight-knit and supportive peer network that can serve as confidants, advisors, and future partners and collaborators.
  • A firm grounding in the principles of collaborative practice and active development of the hard and soft skills (from situation assessments to negotiation, emotional and social intelligence to building trust) necessary to better design, facilitate, and participate in collaborative processes writ large.
  • Mentorship and guidance throughout an applied project of your choosing, as well as field trips to explore local and timely natural resource issues. 

CPNR is open to anyone working in natural resource and environmental management and policy. It may be particularly useful for people taking on new responsibilities, encountering challenges that they need an expanded skill set to overcome, or looking to strengthen their professional networks in Wyoming. CPNR participants must be committed to respectfully engaging in sometimes difficult conversations with their colleagues and collaborators.

Download the Application

Final application deadline is July 15, 2026. 

 

View a Recording of April's Info Session

Main Page

How to Apply

Early Bird Deadline: January 16, 2026

Rolling Admissions: Feb 1-July 15, 2026

Click below to download the application, which contains additional details about the program. If applicable, please also download the supervisor letter of support form. Email completed applications to deb@lupinecollaborative.com

download the application

Supervisor approval form

Dates and Locations

Sessions run from noon Wednesday to noon Friday, except for the March 4 Collaboration Symposium and the May 20 graduation session. 

  • September 16-18, 2026 | Curt Gowdy State Park
  • October 14-16, 2026 | Cody
  • November 11-13, 2026 | Saratoga*
  • December 2-4, 2026 | Sheridan/Buffalo*
  • January 20-22, 2027 | Jackson/Pinedale*
  • March 4, 2027 | Casper/Lander*
  • May 20, 2027 | Centennial*

*Locations tentative pending confirmation

 

Tuition

Early bird tuition is $1,600 and must be paid in full by February 13, 2026. Regular tuition is $1,900.

CPNR is is able to offer a limited number of scholarships for participants who might not be able to otherwise participate. Please indicate on the application form whether you are seeking scholarship support.

Instructors

Deb Kleinman, cpnr director

(307) 314-2385 | deb@lupinecollaborative.com | Website

Deb Kleinman is a facilitator, trainer, and leadership coach based out of Laramie, WY. She launched Lupine Collaborative in 2012 to help organizations work more effectively together, make better decisions, and increase their impact in ways that matter. She has over 20 years of experience working in and with nonprofits, academic institutions, public agencies, and private businesses on a wide range of strategic, collaborative, and training issues. Deb has extensive training and experience in facilitation, collaborative decision making, conflict resolution and conflict coaching, and leadership development, and is a certified professional coach.

Matt hamilton, spicer chair of collaborative practice

(307) 766-5162 | matt.hamilton@uwyo.edu | Website

Matt Hamilton is an interdisciplinary environmental policy scientist with an interest in how groups of people work together to address complex natural resource management challenges. He draws upon tools and perspectives from policy, psychological, and environmental sciences, and collaborates extensively with colleagues from diverse social and natural science backgrounds. Matt's work also relies on partnerships with natural resource managers, extensionists, and others who have a stake in collaborative environmental decision-making.

Melanie armstrong, Ruckelshaus Institute director

(307) 766-5037  | melanie.armstrong@uwyo.edu  | Website

Melanie Armstrong is the Director of the Ruckelshaus Institute and an Associate Professor in the Haub School of Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming. In these roles she aims to integrate scholarship and collaborative practice to enable creative, scientific, and community-driven responses to land management challenges. She researches how social systems are built around shifting ideologies of nature and is the author of Germ Wars: The Politics of Nature and America’s Landscape of Fear and co-author of Environmental Realism: Challenging Solutions. Her 15-year career with the National Park Service also provided a laboratory for exploring complex natural resources issues in the landscapes of the American West.

The Collaboration Program in Natural Resources is made possible by generous support from Rocky Mountain Power and The Spicer Fund for Collaborative Solutions. 

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Haub School of Environment & Natural Resources

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The University of Wyoming has earned its Research Level 1 (R1) status from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, placing Wyoming's only four-year university with the top research universities in the United States.