Our Current Graduate Students

Andrew Ackerman Kofi Akamani  Shannon Amberg  H. Alicia De La Cruz Sandra De Urioste Stone        Jon Erickson Jessica Evans Heather Fuller Jenny Golding Susan Jenkins Jannis Jocius Kevin Johnston                Colleen Kulesza Laura Laumatia Tamara Lehr

Alexis Lewis Jen MacDonald Jon Meier Cristian Montalvo Mancheno Heather O'Rourke Eleonora Papadogiannaki Nancy Patterson April Rand Paul Reyes Hannah Schechter Jake Smulkowski Paulina Starkey Hiroyuki Tanaka Craig Watt    Helen Yost

 

Kofi Akamani Navrongo, Ghana Research/Interests: Urban ecology and sustainable development. Tentative topic: "Towards the Protection of Riparian Vegetations in Ghanaian Cities." E-mail: kofi.akamani at vandals.uidaho.edu

Andrew Ackerman Brattleboro, VT (Now Moscow is home) Research/Interests: National Parks History, Wilderness Management, Developing Effective Tools for Measuring Caring Capacity of Wilderness or Protected Areas.  Enjoy camping, swimming, climbing, biking, and boarding.

Shannon Amberg Grand Rapids, Michigan Research/Interests:  My current research interest centers on people's perceptions of risk about natural resources, diseases and food items. In particular, I'm interested in how people come to decisions about "riskiness" and how the media work to influence people's understandings of risk.  My dissertation research focuses on public risk perceptions of the safety of farmed seafood and how the media have contributed to those perceptions by portraying information as certain or uncertain. I came to the U of I CSS department with a B.S. and M.A. in Geography with a minor in Conservation Biology E-mail:  samberg at vandals.uidaho.edu

H. Alicia De La Cruz Lima, Peru Research/Interests: B.S. degree in biology and a Master's degree in ecotourism. I am from Peru where I worked in ecology and conservation  projects in a South American tropical rainforest; was an environmental interpreter; coordinator of an ecotourism project; and worked in a government organization as an ecotourism coordinator.  My actual research interest is focused in ecotourism policies that promote local community participation inside or near protected areas in Andean countries.

Sandra De Urioste Stone Guatemala Research/Interests: B.S. in ecotourism; M.S. in resource recreation and tourism. Worked for an NGO on ecotourism and protected area management. Interests are on community development and protected area-based tourism, using participatory and collaborative planning.

Jonathan Erickson Bend, Oregon Research/Interests: Economic impact assessment of recreation related to the Salmon River on rural communities.  Long-term planning for protected areas and watersheds. The use of collaboration to create mutual benefit (stakeholders, landscapes and industry) landscape management plans. E-mail:  eric7328 at vandals.uidaho.edu Jessica Evans Paradise, Utah Research/Interests: My main research interest is collaboration in dealing with land use and bioregional planning. E-mail: jessicaevans at vandals.uidaho.edu Jenny Golding Gardiner, Montana Research/Interests: Adult education and tourism. A specific interest in learning what motivates participants and drives enrollment in adult environmental education programs, as well as determining how teaching methods can influence adult behavior and help an organization serve its mission for education.      Jannis Jocius Sunnyvale, CA (New Mexico & Massachusetts) Research/Interests: Along with outdoor education and sustainability, I am interested in "citizen science" and getting students outside of the classroom, learning and collecting data in the environment. Last summer I worked as an AmeriCorps member on the Camas Citizen Science Monitoring Program through the National Park Service and the Upper Columbia Basin Network (an inventory and monitoring division of the Park Service) in recruiting High School teachers and students to help monitor the camas lilies on the Weippe Prairie (Idaho). I helped create curriculum and taught the students about the cultural and ecological significance of this plant, how to monitor (ie, count stems) it, what stressors affect its growth and health, how to use scientific tools, and led the students on a field trip to do the research alongside trained scientists and resource managers. I'm interested in these types of projects that serve scientific needs, mobilize teachers, instill a sense of place in students, and bridge ecological/community/cultural gaps in education and scientific research. Email:  jannisjocius at vandals.uidaho.edu

Kevin Johnston Pullman, Washington Research/Interests: My parents have always lived adjacent to a public park, and even now, my home and farm is located next to Kelmgard County Park which is operated by Whitman County.  I spend much of my free time in the outdoors with my wife Karen and two children, Kurtis (three years old) and Karli (one year old). As a faculty member in HPERD, I teach a full-time load in Recreation both on the undergraduate level and the graduate level. With 20 years of administrative experience in swimming pool management at almost all levels of government, I bring some unique insights and teach from my experience. My research interests are: Drowning rates and prevention in Idaho, bicycling and the built environment, aquatic risk management, safe recreational environments.   Colleen Kulesza Broomfield, Colorado Background: B.S. in Wildlife Biology with a minor in Resource Interpretation from Colorado State University M.S. Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on Environmental/Outdoor Education Research/Interests: I am fascinated by what drives people to be outdoors and what benefits that gain from their experiences.  I am interested in the role women play in traditionally male recreation activities such as hunting and fly-fishing.  I also believe there is a spiritual connection that people have to natural environments and I would like to investigate that realm more. I am a self-professed "eco-geek" or "nature nerd" and love all that it entails.  I enjoy birding, backpacking, coanoeing, fly-fishing, spin fishing, hunting, and gardening.  Someday I would love to own my own piece of land that I can manage and live off.  I do have other interests that take me indoors like reading , music and watching documentaries. E-mail:  colleen.kulesza at vandals.uidaho.edu

Alexis Lewis Orem, Utah Research/Interests: B.S. Psychology with a minor in Business Management, Southern Utah University. Love being outside hiking, backpacking, climbing, kayaking, tele-marking, etc. Some of my reserch interests are outdoor leadership and leadership in wildland fire. E-mail:  alexislewis at vandals.uidaho.edu

Jennifer MacDonald Arcade, New York Research/Interests: Public Lands Management for Recreation--Master's project focuses on river recreation in Washington, Oregon and Idaho.  Other interests include building partnerships/collaborative planning and management     Jonathan Meier Bend, Oregon Research/Interests: I am interested in the sustainable communities initiative, specifically researching what communities can do to foster growth in a positive aspect and make towns cleaner, healthier, better places to live.  I am also interested in researching how growing cities in the west can develop better transportation systems and incorporate preserving more of the natural environment within the community. jmeier at vandals.uidaho.edu Cristian S. Montalvo Mancheno Quito, Ecuador Research/Interests: My interest is the conservation of natural resources. I want to learn about how protected areas work, and what problems they  are facing now. Furthermore, I want to understand and try to figure out what financial funding mechanism could be applied in the protected area systems of the Andean Countries.                                                                                             (Cristian Montalvo is on the right)

Heather O'Rourke  Urbana, Illinois...but my true home is the Northwest! Research/Interests: My current interests include working with youth in an experiential environmental context to foster opportunities for engaged interactions with nature, self and reality. I have an B.S. in Child Development Family Relations with minors in Psychology and Outdoor Recreation.  My specific research interests, at this point, include developing/repeating an experiential environmental based program for youth to research the effectiveness of this type of program as a prevention measure to risk conditions (drugs, alcohol, school attendance) and measure resiliency change because of involvement with this type of program. On a side note, I love the Harry Potter books, lilies, cooking and baking, recreating in or near water, good friends, playing with animals, sea kayaking, eating mint chocolate chip ice cream and of course....long walks on the beach, despite the fact that there are none in Moscow, Idaho! Email: orou3418 at vandals.uidaho.edu

Nancy Patterson Cedar Rapids, Iowa Research/Interests: I am studying how communication influences visitor's perceptions about Tikal National Park, Guatemala. My thought is that depending on the type of interpretation or communication material people use to learn about Tikal, visitors will have different thoughts, concepts, ideas, and perceptions about the significance of Tikal National Park. Visit my blog and read about my adventures at Tikal: http://www.nepatterson.blogspot.com My other main academic interest is supporting efforts to improve communities and minimize their environmental impacts through purchasing local and organic produce, sponsoring recycling and composting programs, improving natural waste systems and reducing ecological footprints to zip, zero, nil. Mostly, I love the western United States, Yellowstone, and I like knitting, too! Email: npatterson at vandals.uidaho.edu        April Rand Sherrard, Illinois Research/Interests: My research interests are focused on the comparison of various interpretive training models to evaluate their effectiveness in producing quality interpreters. In addition, I am interested in the qualitative impacts of interpretive programming. I came to the U of I CSS Department with a B.S. in Natural Resources Planning and Interpretation from Humboldt State University.

Paul Reyes Quito, Ecuador Research/Interests: I'm interested in exploring Hydrologic applications of GIS as a tool to improve decision-making processes of watershed management in Ecuador. My main focus is to try to understand the impacts of land use in the Paramo and the effects in the availability of water. E-mail:  paulreyes at vandals.uidaho.edu Hannah Schechter Guffey, Colorado Research/Interests: I have a B.A. in Sociology with a minor in Environmental Studies from Western State College of Colorado. My master's project will be on cooperative watershed management in Sandpoint, Idaho. I will be working with local and federal agencies as well as private land owners to develop sustainable use and environmental education for Lake Pend Oreille. E-mail:  hschechter at vandals.uidaho.edu     Paulina Starkey Quito, Ecuador Research Interests: I came to the CSS Department at the U of I with a B.S. in Ecological Tourism from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica in Quito, Ecuador. I am very interested in environmental communication and interpretation. My thesis research focuses on the effect of persuasive messages on campers' littering behavior in dispersed campsites in a National Forest. Another one of my main interests is working with local communities and supporting the implementation and improvement of recycling and composting programs. I love being outdoors, enjoy hiking, camping, gardening, fishing, photography, and getting to know different cultures.

Craig Watt The Southern Appalachians Background: B.S. Recreation & Leisure Studies (Outdoor Education/Recreation), Radford University. Lead Instructor--Outward Bound Research/Interests: Major interest: natural resources and human conflicts. Associated interests: social and cognitive psychology, environmental activism, identity, self-efficacy, and collaborative decision processes. Aside from basic metabolic processes, the one activity that humans perform the most is to think, yet we are so accustomed to thinking that we rarely pay it attention (much like breathing). As thinking influences all human behavior, and can lead to difficult social problems (or their resolution), the foundation of my interests is “thinking about thinking.” E-mail: craig.watt at vandals.uidaho.edu