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.

Apply to the Program

 

An information session for those considering applying early will be held on January 7, 2026, from 12:00 - 1:00 pm. 

RSVP to the Info Session

Main Page

How to Apply

Early Bird Deadline: January 16, 2026

Rolling Admissions: Feb 1-June 15, 2026

Click below to complete the online application. You will not be able to save your responses and return later so you may want to record your questions separately, then cut and paste them into the form.

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Dates and Locations

Sessions run from noon Wednesday to noon Friday, with the exception of Ten Sleep, which starts Tuesday evening, and March/April, which includes a daylong symposium open to the broader community. 

  • July 15-17, 2026 | Lander
  • August 11-15, 2026 | Ten Sleep 
  • September 16-18, 2026 | southeast WY
  • October 14-16, 2026 | Cody
  • November 11-13, 2026 | Laramie
  • March 31-April 2, 2027 | To be determined, WY

 

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.

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.