Office of Strategic Partnerships & External Affairs
The Strategic Partnerships and External Affairs team ensures that NRRI’s scientific discoveries and economic solutions reach key stakeholders, legislators, industry partners, and the public.
Strategic Partnerships
Cultivates multi-stakeholder collaborations across industry, government, Tribal Nations, academia, and non-profits to address complex challenges in ecosystem resilience, forest products, and minerals.
Business Development & Commercialization
De-risks innovation from feasibility testing through pilot scale. Partnering with the University of Minnesota Tech Commercialization office, the team guides project scoping, IP, and tech transfer to move novel solutions to market.
Examples of partnerships:
- Biochar replacement for coal in the steel industry
- Flowsheet development for novel iron processing
- Natural chemistry for wood preservation
External Engagement & Legislative Affairs
Bridges NRRI with state leadership, elected officials, and local communities—translating science into actionable insights to inform resource policy and advance regional economic goals.
Strategic Communications
Amplifies NRRI’s real-world impact through targeted media relations, digital channels, storytelling, and outreach across state and national platforms.
Why Partner with NRRI?
Integrated Expertise, Scale-up Capabilities, UMN R1 Research Enterprise
- Integrated Research Platforms & Expertise: Uniting cross-disciplinary platforms—water, wildlife, forest, energy, and materials—NRRI's experienced team of engineers, scientists, and technicians collaborates to develop and execute targeted scopes of work, delivering timely, comprehensive, and reliable solutions for partners.
- Pilot-scale Capabilities: NRRI's research lab-to-pilot-scale capabilities decrease the risk of development and control costs for clients.
- University of Minnesota Network: Access the broader research power of the University of Minnesota’s premier R1 research enterprise.