College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Community Sustainability

Advisor: Dr. Bess Perry

I am a second year PhD student pursuing my degree in Sustainable Tourism & Protected Areas Management. My current research is a collaborative endeavor with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Division, where we aim to understand visitor use on areas that are traditionally managed for wildlife and wildlife-based recreation throughout the State. My main areas of interest within this are multimodal forms of visitor use data collection, human dimensions of wildlife, sustainable visitor use and outdoor recreation management, and relevancy building with managerial and public audiences.

I hold a BS in Wildlife & Fisheries Biology (with a concentration in wildlife bio) and a minor in Forestry from the University of Vermont, and a MS in Parks, Recreation, & Tourism Management from Clemson University. My MS thesis work was a National Science Foundation-funded project where I used GIS to gain an understanding of the influence that naturalness has on middle school students’ learning outcomes during environmental education field trip programs throughout the United States. I also completed two terms of service with AmeriCorps and the Student Conservation Association in between my BS and MS, where I was an Environmental Educator throughout New York State, and a Land Steward, Outreach, and Research Assistant at Vassar Farm and Ecological Preserve in Poughkeepsie, NY.

Outside of my academic work, I do ceramics/pottery, love gardening, cooking, birding, botanizing, hiking/backpacking, canoeing, beekeeping, reading, fermentation/pickling, and chicken tending (ask me about my flock of 12 chickens!).