overview

• My research explores how the environment influences individual decision-making and well-being. Often, I focus on quantifying the recreational benefits provided by natural resources. For example, recreators are more likely to visit sites with appealing natural resources, and changes to resources or management practices may impact where people choose to recreate. Thus, recreation decisions reveal preferences and values for our natural resources. Iseek to understand these preferences in order to inform resource management and conservation efforts. My on-going research focuses on valuing the impacts of climate change in the U.S. National Park System, beach crowding in Michigan and North Carolina, and the losses caused by water quality-induced beach closures in the Great Lakes Region.