The Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI) is a United States (U.S.) based research institute founded by the Minnesota state legislature within the University of Minnesota Duluth. NRRI is a non-profit, applied research organization, established with a mission to improve the economy of Minnesota.

The Institute aims to help launch small businesses and provides ongoing research and development assistance.

The mid- to late-1970s and early-1980s were particularly difficult times for Minnesota's natural resource-based industries, especially for the taconite mining industry. In the face of a domestic steel crisis, shipments of iron ore from Northeastern Minnesota's eight taconite plants plummeted. Growth in the taconite industry, which had begun in the 1950s, ended and employment in this critical base industry dropped from about 16,000 to 3,000. About 2,000 supply companies on the Iron Range, in Duluth and elsewhere in the state were also critically impacted.

Perhaps not as dramatically as the taconite industry, the forest products industry was similarly impacted by the difficult economy. Northeastern Minnesota's logging and pulp and paper companies, in particular, were affected. At that time, the overall impact on Duluth and the Iron Range economy was verging on catastrophic.

In the face of these challenging times, civic, business, government, higher education and labor leaders began to focus on initiatives to help the economy. With a strong belief in its long-term value, U.S. Eighth District Court of Appeals Judge Gerald Heaney advocated for applied research. Then, in his 1982 gubernatorial campaign, Rudy Perpich proposed that a center be established to do research on such resources as peat, biomass, forest products, water and minerals.

A proposal to establish a Natural Resources Research Institute at the University of Minnesota Duluth was submitted to the Minnesota State Legislature under the seal of the Regents of the University of Minnesota. The proposal affirmed the applied nature of research at the new institute, noting that its work would be separate and distinct from the University’s Minerals Resources Research Center, and recommended the SAGE building in Duluth as an adaptable site. UMD Chancellor Robert Heller worked with Governor Perpich and Judge Heaney to gain political support throughout the state. The Institute also had strong federal support which included that of Minnesota's 8th district congressman, Jim Oberstar.

The proposal called for the institute to be divided into four major divisions:

The Regents proposal listed the members of the Minerals Development Commission, the Duluth High Tech Task Force and Duluth Future Task Force as endorsees of the Institute.