Research.

Six areas, five funded projects, one question since 1990: what do public lands return to the people around them?

Areas

  • Rural tourism

    Stakeholder attitudes, social capital, and what tourism development actually returns to the communities that host it.

  • Ecotourism

    Who counts as an ecotourist, and how ecotourism destinations are identified, classified and evaluated.

  • Tourism planning

    Indicator systems, importance–performance analysis, and destination competitiveness assessment.

  • Recreation economy

    Visitor spending, economic impact, and market segmentation across public lands and national forests.

  • Urban forests

    Recreational use of urban forests, and their weight among a city’s other visitor attractions.

  • GIS & spatial analysis

    Suitability modelling, recreation opportunity spectrum mapping, and nighttime lights data as a measure of human presence.

Currently building

AI, augmented reality and digital twins

Augmented reality and AI for restaurant nutritional labelling (Menu to Meal, USDA ARS), and AI-driven digital twins for tourism intelligence and economic sustainability in rural development (TIES).

Active projects

  • Rural Community Well-being: Using Tourism Indicators to Identify, Understand and Address COVID Pandemic Impacts and Strategies for Resiliency

    Co-PI · PI: Doug Arbogast

    USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture

    $648,2852022–2026

  • Leveraging Land-Grant Universities to Support Sustainable Rural Tourism Development in Appalachia

    Co-PI · PI: Doug Arbogast

    Appalachian Regional Commission ($485,807) and other sources ($125,558)

    $611,3652024–2025

  • Menu to Meal (M2M): Leveraging Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence for Hispanic Restaurant Nutritional Labeling

    Project Manager / Co-PI · PI: Brian King

    USDA Agricultural Research Service, via the Texas A&M AgriLife Institute for Advancing Health Through Agriculture

    $200,0002025–2026

  • Leveraging AI and Digital Twins for “Tourism Intelligence and Economic Sustainability” (TIES) in Rural Development

    Principal Investigator

    Texas A&M University Targeted Proposal Teams

    $42,0002025–2026

  • Collaborative Consortium for Hospitality and Tourism Excellence

    Principal Investigator

    Texas A&M Graduate & Professional School

    $50,0002025–2027

Combined value of active projects$1,551,650

Background

Education

  • Ph.D.Physical Education and Recreation (Recreation and Leisure Studies)University of Alberta, Canada
  • M.S.Agriculture (Forest Recreation)Central South University of Forestry & Technology, China
  • B.S.Agriculture (Forestry)Central South University of Forestry & Technology, China
  • Graduate courseworkGIS (one year)University of Calgary, Canada
  • CertificateGIS TechnologyNorthern Alberta Institute of Technology, Canada

Editorial service

  • Associate EditorFrontiers in Sustainable Tourism
  • Associate EditorJournal of Park and Recreation Administration
  • Editorial Board, 2017–2024Tourism Analysis

Awards

  • 2021Outstanding Faculty in ResearchWVU Division of Forestry and Natural Resources
  • 2008Chen Chuankang Outstanding Paper Award in Tourism Geography