Utah is a place of outdoor wonders with iconic arches mountains framing picturesque communities, otherworldly salt flats, birding hotspots, and some of the greatest snow on earth. And yet, the state has another, less appreciated outdoor treasure of world-...

Showing up to campus packing four-and-a-half years’ experience from the U.S. Coast Guard, Jacob Lancaster didn’t necessarily anticipate a “typical” undergraduate experience in the Quinney College of Natural Resources. But now, set to graduate with a degre...

People depend on natural ecosystems of trees, grasses and shrubs to capture carbon from the atmosphere and pull it underground to slow the decline toward climate-change disaster. Ironically, these same protected spaces also tend to be highly photogenic ho...

As temperatures continue to stay low, a cozy solution is on the horizon for staff and faculty at Utah State University. The "Make a Blanket Statement" campaign is led by USU Facilities and two students — Abby Baggs and Keeley Livingstone — in ENVS 4700: C...

For the first time, Wasatch County cities are joining in the Utah Wellbeing Project, a survey conducted by Utah State University. Dr. Courtney Flint is a professor in the Department of Environment and Society at USU. She said she’s been administering the ...

A U.S. manufacturing and mining boom launched under President Biden is just getting started, and most of it is heading to Republican-leaning communities, according to metrics developed by Peter Howe in the department of Environment and Society.

Utah’s first ever Outdoor Recreation Strategic Plan was released Friday at the Utah State Capitol, offering state leaders, land managers and outdoor enthusiasts an insider’s look at how recreation access and infrastructure will evolve over the next 20 yea...

Winners of the 2024 Utah High School Clean Air Marketing Contest will be announced at Utah State University’s Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art Community Art Day on Saturday, Feb. 10. Clean air public service announcements created by this year’s 57 final...

For many years, Joe and Jessie Quinney demonstrated their support for the natural environment through their actions and resources. In their memory, the members of the S.J. and Jessie E. Quinney Foundation have provided a grant to ensure the Quinney's life...

The Biden-Harris Administration released the Fifth National Climate Assessment this week, a federal effort to comprehensively document the impacts of climate change and assess the state of climate science across the United States. The report, the first

Peter Howe tracks a looming threat unfolding across the United States, one that causes more human casualties than floods, hurricanes and tornadoes combined — and one that you’ve perhaps never even thought much about. Extreme-heat emergencies pose a ser

Through hands-on and administrative programs, the Ecology Center helps researchers and students bridge academic boundaries, facilitating collaboration among ecologists and ecology-related faculty across departments and colleges. Now leadership at the Ecol...

The Janet Quinney Lawson Institute for Land, Water and Air released the 2023 Report to the Governor and Legislature on Utah’s Land, Water and Air at an event in downtown Salt Lake City on Thursday morning.

ENVS invites applications for a broadly trained scholar in recreation resource management and nature-based tourism in the tenure-track position of Assistant Professor. We are especially interested in candidates who will broaden existing department streng...

From watching wildfire to keeping tabs the deep blue sea, QCNR is gaining broad expertise with the addition of four new faculty members this fall semester. Learn a little more about their experience and focus and get ready to welcome them to the team!

The NATURE Program – Native American Tribes Upholding Restoration and Education – aims to support the next generation of Indigenous leaders by building their skills in the fields of environmental conservation and natural resource management. The leadershi...

Salt Lake City officials announced a new tool on Monday to help homeowners reduce their outdoor water use. Using software created by Utah State University, the city's Department of Public Utilities will provide WaterMAPS reports that calculate how much wa...

Don’t try and hurry her — Grace Larson prefers to set her own pace. Six years after high school graduation, she is gearing up to graduate with an undergraduate degree in Recreation Resources Management from the Quinney College of Natural Resources, with s...

Peter Howe, an associate professor of geography in the Department of Environment and Society, has been named associate dean for academics in the S.J. and Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources. Howe is stepping into the new position recently creat...

Previous dean of QCNR, Chris Luecke, announced his retirement from the college in December 2022. His research and service have shaped the QCNR community in significant and lasting ways over the course of his career.

Snowpack, important to summer water supply, melts away in March. Mammoth swaths of lakebed surrounding the Great Salt Lake are now cracked and windblown. Perhaps it should be no surprise that at the top of Utahns’ list of concerns for 2022 is water supply...

Researchers from the Institute of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism have been tasked with identifying potential sites for a new cultural center for the Bear Ears National Monument.

IORT has been tasked with gathering local perspectives on outdoor recreation issues to present to the state’s Outdoor Recreation Commission, and this was one of seven listening sessions held across the state.

Communities in Utah have recovered, mostly, from pandemic disruptions, according to survey data from the Utah Wellbeing Project. But there are still a few places, and a few issues, that have room for improvement.

The cost of innovation is rising, according to Joseph Tainter, whose research connects anthropology and environmental science to understand the trajectory of complex social systems. Today it takes more people, investment and energy to develop and implemen...

A recent evaluation of the massive aspen stand in south-central Utah found that Pando seems to be taking three disparate ecological paths based on how the different segments are managed.

Linda Nagel took the helm as dean of the S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources this month, launching her new leadership role at Utah State University.

Lake Aculeo, located in Chile, can serve as a cautionary tale, according to Will Munger, a Ph.D. student in ENVS.

Utah's title of "greatest snow" is at risk due to climate change. Listen to Jordan Smith and Patrick Belmont discuss this issue on UPR's UnDisciplined.

In 1990-1991, USU Moab professor Wayne Freimund participated in a research project at Arches National Park dealing with visitor management; and now he will be reexamining that research to see how their thinking and findings from the past compare to the re...

New research from the Institute of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism works to define what, specifically, the changing climate will mean for the future of outdoor recreation in the West.

Peter Howe’s research was cited this week in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. This years’ IPCC report focuses on impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability related to climate change.

It's hard to get heard on social media, even when the message is a warning from the National Weather Service about excessive heat. New research explores strategies for better dissemination of weather-emergency messaging.

Cache Valley-based podcasters, USU alumni, and ‘anti-alarmists’ Kory and Kellan tapped Dr. Joseph Tainter for his expertise on the collapse of society (spoiler alert—no zombies. It’s tied to fossil fuels, ecosystem sustainability and the complexity of soc...

Boundary-pushing research led by Stefani Crabtree and a team of researchers that used high-performance computer (HPC) modeling to map ancient pedestrian routes is the recipient of the High Performance Computing Innovations Excellence Award.

Using anonymous mobile device data, USU Researcher Wayne Freimund hopes to determine the carbon footprint of tourism to Utah’s Arches National Park. Through this project, he’ll be able calculate average miles per trip to the park, and from that determine ...

USU researchers explored the utility of using a system that automatically classifies content from social media photographs to identify preferred outdoor landscapes.

Chris Luecke, dean of Utah State University’s S. J. and Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources (QCNR), announced he will step down from his leadership post, effective July 2022.

Utah Business and Rocky Mountain Power honor Utah companies and individuals who are making strides toward the state's environmental sustainability. Dr. Roslynn McCann was one of this year's honorees.

Off-highway vehicle recreation attracts a variety of people with diverse motivations for participating. Newly published research shows that those motivations influence routes they choose.

Stefani Crabtree, assistant professor of social-environmental modeling in USU’s Department of Environment and Society, and colleagues have developed a tool to assess research performance more fairly; one that they hope will level the playing field.

To better understand the complex interactions between the natural world and society, the National Science Foundation needs a next-generation Earth systems science initiative, according to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, ...

By mid-century, once dominant winter sports may slowly be replaced by activities less dependent on perfect winter conditions—less skiing and more winter mountain biking, for instance—according to recently released research about changing patterns of recre...

Utah State University researchers Courtney Flint (right) and Jessica Schad (left) are participating in a new $15M National Science Foundation-funded project to help communities and ecosystems become more resilient when they face complex challenges like dr...

New research from Stefani Crabtree shows that modern subsistence diets, and the diets of ancient people, were much broader than what most people eat today.

The research team created avatar programming for early human travelers and gave them the realistic goal of staying alive. These modeled humans were drawn to water and other landmarks, while the calorie outputs of their efforts were measured.

We would like to recognize and congratulate our outstanding QCNR undergraduate students who are actively engaged in research.

Dr. Charles Romesburg passed away on April 18, 2021, at the age of 83. He is, and will be, missed.

Congratulations to all the recipients of S.J. and Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources (QCNR) Awards for 2021!

Catch up with what our faculty and staff have been doing at the Quinney College of Natural Resources over the past 6 months.

While COVID-19 brewed over the summer of 2020, venues like schools, sports stadiums and theme parks shuttered their doors. Going stir-crazy at home, people desperate for fresh air and exercise headed outside to parks and protected areas for a change of sc...

Listen to the UPR interview with Larissa Yocom and Paul Rogers concerning wildfires in the west.

This video, created by undergraduate students in our college, takes a look into the history of women in the Quinney College of Natural Resources.

We were all saddened to learn that Nat Frazer, Dean of the Quinney College from 2006 to 2011, passed away from complications of Hodgkins Disease this past Monday.

A developer eyeing Bridal Veil Falls for a tram and drug rehab lodge wants to make the iconic Utah County site more accessible with a “reasonable” fee. But those who research outdoor recreation have found any fee can dissuade people from visiting.

With a push to conserve natural resources, one that is often overlooked or taken for granted is a resource that can be enjoyed after every sunset.

Joseph Tainter is interviewed by the NY Times about the current COVID-19 pandemic and how it ties in with some of his early career research.

Roslynn Brain and Edwin Stafford involved over 800 youth in a Utah High School Clean Air Poster Contest. PBS featured this project earlier this year.

Low carbon energy infrastructure has been controversial for economic, social and environmental reasons: relatively high capital costs compared to fossil fuels; dissatisfaction with who owns the infrastructure; visual impacts; and habitat harm.

National parks are really easy to love, but they are harder to take care of.

Extreme heat is a growing hazard to public health, causing greater mortality than other hazards like floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes in the US. Yet in 2020, the risks of extreme heat may be magnified even more by the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic...

The S.J. and Jesse E. Quinney College of Natural Resources Dean’s Office affirms the message by USU President Noelle Cockett and the University’s “commitment to inclusion and respect in our Aggie family and in those communities we reach every day.”

Two longtime members of Utah State University’s Department of Environment and Society were honored recently by the Society for Range Management (SRM) for their career achievements in rangeland science and management.