Getting the Tools
I provide trainings tailor-made for specific combinations of people, place(s) and issues. The goal is to foster leadership skills for collaborative problem-solving public policy process.
Trainings can be in-house or include all collaborative participants. We can tackle a variety of issues, from how to have productive internal meetings to examining thorny, persistent problems.
Collaborative Problem Solving
I design, lead, and facilitate collaborative problem-solving processes, involving diverse interests to explore solutions. Some of my experience:
- Faculty member (2012 – 2020) with the Haub School of Natural Resources and Senior Research Scientist with the Ruckelshaus Institute at the University of Wyoming. I directed the Collaboration Program in Natural Resources. Currently Associate faculty member.
- Co-director of the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute.
- At both institutions I conducted collaborative leadership trainings and lead public processes in relation to natural resource issues.
- Peer-reviewed social psychologist. My research focuses on the relationship between people and natural resources.
- Teach U.S. and E.U. natural resource policy.
- Doctorate at Colorado State University in Forest Sciences.
- Citizen of the Year Award by the Wyoming Chapter of the Wildlife Society, 2019.
Research and Assessment
I analyze natural resource policy issues using social science tools: focus groups, surveys, interviews, and other methods.
A collaborative process starts with a situation assessment. I interview members of pertinent interest groups and individuals. This provides the convener, facilitator, and participants with a common understanding of the people, interests, the issues, and the scientific and regulatory processes involved. A situation assessment leads to robust collaboration process design and implementation.