Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Danya Rumore

The Heravi Peace Institute is delighted to welcome Danya Rumore, PhD, as an incoming associate professor of practice. Dr. Rumore is an expert in environmental and public policy conflict resolution, collaborative decision-making, and stakeholder engagement. She joins USU after 11 years as a faculty member in the SJ Quinney College of Law and City and Metropolitan Planning Department at the University of Utah

Dr. Rumore has taught thousands of professionals the skills of collaboration, negotiation, conflict resolution, and facilitation. She also has extensive experience facilitating collaborative problem-solving and decision-making around land use, natural resources, and community challenges throughout the West and nationally. Dr. Rumore’s dedication to the field has earned her several awards, including the 2025 Utah Council on Conflict Resolution Peacekeeper Award and the 2018 Rob Williams Award for Emerging Environment and Public Policy Leaders.

Dr. Rumore earned her doctorate in Environmental Policy and Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she served as Assistant Director of the MIT Science Impact Collaborative and worked with the Consensus Building Institute and Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. She also holds a Master of Science in Environmental Management and Geography from University of Auckland and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and Natural Resource Economics from Oregan State University.

Dr. Rumore is the Director of the Environmental Dispute Resolution (EDR) Program, which will become a program of the School of Social Sciences and a partner of the Heravi Peace Institute as of July 01, 2026, after 14 years as a program of the Wallace Stegner Center at the University of Utah. The mission of the EDR Program is to foster a culture of collaboration around environmental, community, and public policy issues in Utah and the Mountain West. Dr. Rumore is also the founder and Co-Director of the USU Gateway and Natural Amenity Region (GNAR) Initiative, which leverages research, education, and capacity building to help Western gateway communities thrive and preserve the things that make them special.