Steve Lawson joins faculty at Virginia Tech University. Steve Lawson joined the faculty in the Department of Forestry at Virginia Tech University at the beginning of the 2004-2005 academic year.

Rebecca Stanfield McCown joins the Park Studies Laboratory. She graduated in 2004 from Colorado State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Natural Resource Recreation and Tourism, Parks and Protected Area Management. She is interested in visitor diversity and discrimination in park and recreation areas. Rebecca is pursuing a masters degree.

Logan Park joins Park Studies Laboratory. A 2003 graduate of Furman University's Environmental Chemistry program, Logan hails from Cincinnati, Ohio and is interested in the interface of foot trail impact management with visitor satisfaction research. An avid hiker, he completed the Appalachian Trail in the 2004 season. He is pursuing a masters degree.

Jeff Hallo joins Park Studies Laboratory. Jeff is pursuing a doctoral degree.

Dan Abbe joins Park Studies Laboratory. Dan is in his second year of pursuing a masters degree that will focus on National Park Service wilderness manager's perceptions of day use.

April Burke joins the Rubenstein School. April Burke joined the Rubenstein School in November of 2004 as Secretary and Administrative Assistant. April replaces Lori Fitzgerald who left to pursue family and related interests. April will serve as secretary to the Park Studies Laboratory.

Kevin Jordan wins UVM Kidder Award. Kevin Jordan graduated from the Recreation Management Program at UVM in the spring of 2004. Kevin worked for the Park Studies Laboratory for two summers in studies at Mesa Verde, Acadia, and Zion National Parks. At the University graduation ceremony, Kevin was presented with the Kidder Award, one of the most prestigious awards given by the university.

Steve Lawson appointed Assistant Professor at West Virginia University. Steve Lawson joined the faculty in the College of Forestry at West Virginia University in the fall of 2003. Steve completed his doctoral degree in the School of Natural Resources in the summer of 2002 and spent the following year as a Postdoctoral Associate with the Park Studies Laboratory.

Daniel Laven receives Conservation Study Institute Fellowship. The National Park Service Conservation Study Institute has joined with the School of Natural Resources to create a doctoral fellowship program. The inaugural fellowship has been awarded to Daniel Laven who completed his masters degree in the Spring of 2003 and is beginning a doctoral program in the School of Natural Resources.

Ben Minteer and Bob Manning published Reconstructing Conservation: Finding Common Ground. This book is the product of an invited symposium on conservation history, thought and practice held in 2001 at UVM and Woodstock, Vermont. The symposium was sponsored by the Woodstock Foundation, the Conservation Study Institute, the School of Natural Resources, and the Trust for Public Land. The book is published by Island Press.

Lori Fitzgerald joins the Park Studies Lab. The Park Studies Lab was sorry to lose our secretary, Joanne Choinniere, to the lure of California, but we are pleased to welcome Lori Fitzgerald. Lori is from Milton, Vermont and previously worked at UVM's Career Development Center.

Bob Manning and Steve Lawson participated in a workshop in March of 2003 on computer simulation modeling in park and wilderness management. The workshop was part of a larger project on this topic cosponsored by the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute and the National Park Service. The workshop explored the potential applications of simulation modeling to park and wilderness management, and considered a case study application of simulation modeling to Humphrey's Basin, a Forest Service wilderness area in California. The case study was developed by the Park Studies Laboratory and a corresponding team of researchers from the University of Arizona. The workshop was held in Tucson and will result in a Forest Service report on the application of computer simulation modeling to park and wilderness management.

Peter Newman appointed Assistant Professor at Colorado State University.  Peter Newman joined the faculty at Colorado State University in the fall of 2002 as Assistant Professor of Parks and Protected Areas.  Peter completed his doctoral program in the summer of 2002.

Daniel Laven recognized as "Future Scholar."  The Society of Park and Recreation Educators and the Academy of Leisure Sciences recently recognized masters candidate Daniel Laven as a "Future Scholar."  Daniel was one of four graduate students nationwide to receive this award, and he received travel expenses to attend the 2002 National Recreation and Park Association Congress in Tampa, Florida.

Park Studies Laboratory develops cooperative relationship with Earthwatch Institute.  Earthwatch Institute is a nonprofit organization that provides volunteers for research projects around the world.  Earthwatch has agreed to fund Park Studies Laboratory studies in the national parks each summer.  Teams of Earthwatch volunteers worked on Park Studies Laboratory studies in Yosemite National Park and Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area in the summer of 2001, and staffed a Park Studies Laboratory study at Acadia National Park in the summer of 2002. 

Park Studies Laboratory is a partner in two new cooperative ecosystems studies units.  The University of Vermont is a partner institution in two cooperative ecosystems studies units (CESUs) recently established by the federal government.  The Park Studies Laboratory was instrumental in establishing these relationships.  The two new CESUs are the Pacific Northwest CESU (hosted at the University of Washington) and the Great Lakes/Northern Forest CESU (hosted at the University of Minnesota).  As a partner institution, the Park Studies Laboratory enjoys collaborative relationships with other partner institutions and strong research and administrative linkages with federal natural resource and environmental management agencies.

Bob Manning honored as distinguished alumnus of Michigan State University.  Bob Manning, Professor in the School of Natural Resources and Director of the Park Studies Laboratory, was recently honored with the Louis F. Twardzik Distinguished Alumni Award of the Department of Park and Recreation Resources at Michigan State University.  Bob traveled to East Lansing on April 11 and 12, 2002 to receive the award and present a seminar on his research on carrying capacity of national parks.

Ben Wang returns to the Park Studies Laboratory.  Ben Wang, former graduate student in the School of Natural Resources, recently returned to the Park Studies Laboratory on a part-time basis.  Ben worked as a staff member of the Lab for several years before embarking on a year of personal and professional travel through Asia.  Ben is working on several computer simulation modeling projects.

Steve Lawson and Bob Manning present papers at conference in Vienna, Austria.  Steve Lawson, Post Doctoral Associate in the School of Natural Resources, presented two papers at the Conference on Monitoring and Management of Visitor Flows in Recreational and Protected Areas in Vienna, Austria in January, 2002.  The papers addressed simulation modeling of visitor use in parks and protected areas, and stated choice modeling as a technique to measure tradeoffs inherent in park and wilderness management.  Bob Manning, Director of the Park Studies Laboratory, gave one of the keynote addresses at the conference addressing carrying capacity assessment in parks and protected areas.

Megha Budruk teaches NR 105.  Megha Budruk, doctoral student in the School of Natural Resources, was selected to teach NR 105, Environmental Problem Analysis, in the spring semester, 2002.  This course is part of the undergraduate core curriculum in the School of Natural Resources.

Jim Bacon defends his thesis on the stability of crowding-related norms at Denali National Park.  Jim Bacon defended his thesis on March 26, 2002.  His thesis addressed the stability of crowding norms at Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska.  Jim’s defense included a public presentation of his research. After graduation, Jim accepted a two-year position in the Peace Corps in Guatamala.

Daniel Laven takes position with the National Park Service’s Conservation Study Institute.  Daniel Laven, a graduate student in the School of Natural Resources, has taken a part time position with the Conservation Study Institute of the U.S. National Park Service.  Daniel will be staffing the Institute’s office in the Aiken Center and working on series of special projects.

Park Studies Laboratory Guest Edits Special Issue of The George Wright Forum.  Faculty, staff and students of the Park Studies Laboratory organized a special session of the biennial 2001 George Wright Society Conference.  Papers from this session were edited into a special issue of The George Wright Forum published in the fall of 2001 (Volume 18, Number 3).  All of the papers address different dimensions of the conference theme, “crossing boundaries in park management”.  A listing of papers included in the issue is as follows:

Introduction: Crossing Boundaries in Managing Recreational Use of National Parks and Related Areas, Robert Manning.

Crossing Experiential Boundaries:  Visitor Preferences Regarding Tradeoffs Among Social, Resource, and managerial Attributes of the Denali Wilderness Experience, Steven Lawson and Robert Manning.

Integrating Resource, Social, and Managerial Indicators of Quality into Carrying Capacity Decision-Making., Peter Newman, Jeffrey Marion, and Kerri Cahill.

Managing National Parks in a Multicultural Society:  Searching for Common Ground, Myron Floyd.

Integrating Subsistence Use and Users into Park and Wilderness Management, Daniel Laven, Robert Manning, Darryll Johnson, and Mark Vande Kamp.

Norm Stability:  A Longitudinal Analysis of Crowding and Related Norms in the Wilderness of Denali National Park and Preserve,  James Bacon, Robert Manning, Darryll Joahnson, and Mark Vande Kamp.

Crossing Methodological Boundaries:  Assessing Visitor Motivations and Support for Management Actions at Yellowstone National Park Using Quantitative and Qualitative Research Approaches, William Borrie, Wayne Freimund, Mae Davenport, and Robert Manning.

Thinking and Acting Regionally:  Toward Better Decisions About Appropriate Conditions, Standards, and Restrictions on Recreation Use, Steven McCool and David Cole.

Diversity in Outdoor Recreation:  Planning and Managing a Spectrum of Visitor Opportunities in and among Parks, Cynthia Warzecha, Robert Manning, David Lime, and Wayne Freimund.

Conserving Recreation Diversity:  Collaborating Across Boundaries, Glenn Haas. 

Crossing Programmatic Boundaries:  Integrative Approaches to Managing the Quality of the Visitor Experience, Megha Budruk, Daniel Laven, Robert Manning, William Valliere, and Marilyn Hof.

Bob Manning co-edits special issue of Leisure Sciences.  Bob Manning joined John Heywood of Ohio State University and Jerry Vaske of Colorado State Univeristy in Co-editing a spcial issue of Leisure Sciences focusing on normative research in parks and outdoor recreation.  Park Studies faculty, staff and graduate students published two papers in this special issue.

Bill Valliere named UVM Staff of the Year.  Bill Valliere was named Staff of the Year at the University of Vermont for 2001.  This award was based on Bill’s exceptional record of accomplishment at UVM and his involvement with the larger community outside of UVM, including his church and the Good News Garage.  Congratulations, Bill!