UW Haub School Hires Professor of Practice in Private Lands Management

The University of Wyoming Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources has hired Drew Bennett as the new Whitney MacMillan Professor of Practice of Private Lands Management.

Bennett will guide the creation of a new program in private lands management within the Haub School’s Ruckelshaus Institute to serve the state and the region.

Bennett joins the Haub School from the Warner College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University (CSU), where he is a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Postdoctoral Fellow and the team leader for CSU’s Initiative for Conservation on Private Lands. His work focuses on strategies to balance agricultural production and the conservation of wildlife and other natural resources on private lands in the American West.

“We’re thrilled to have found someone with Dr. Bennett’s depth of experience and sincere interest in the needs of landowners,” says Nicole Korfanta, Ruckelshaus Institute director.

Bennett will work closely with partners at UW and across the state to connect private landowners with tools, information and resources to keep agricultural operations viable and sustain the open spaces provided by working landscapes.

“Private landowners are the heart and soul of the West, and maintaining working farms and ranches is critical to conserving our natural heritage,” he says. “I’m thrilled to be joining the University of Wyoming and working with partners to address the unique challenges and opportunities facing private lands today.”

The professor of practice position was created as part of the new Whitney MacMillan Program in Private Lands Management in the West, made possible by a gift from Haub School emeritus board member Whitney MacMillan.

The professor of practice title is new for UW and recognizes the value of a faculty member’s professional experience in conducting teaching and research activities. Bennett has worked with multiple land trusts, where he has collaborated with landowners to explore conservation opportunities on private lands.

Bennett begins his new position in February 2018.