Graduate Student Association NewsletterApril 29th 2015

In This Issue

New GSA Officers!

GSA Best Practices Award

Conference Presentations

Successful Scholars

Awards

Community Service

Social Events

Upcoming Events

The results are in!

Your GSA officers for 2015-2016 are:

Co-President (PhD): Anna Miller

Co-President (MS): Mirza Halim

Treasurer: Troy Carlton

Secretary: Jing Li

Academic and Professional Development Chair: Matthew Jurjonas

Fundraising Chair: Shaun Fisher

Communications Chair: Rose Keane

Social, Networking, and Community Service Chair: Kaitlin Burroughs

UGSA Representative: Courtney Schultz

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR RETIREMENT!Thank you for all your hard work, humor, and guidance.

You will be missed, and we will come visit!

GSA Best Practices Award

PRTM GSA named 1st ever recipient of the UGSA Best Practices Award!

The PRTM Graduate Student Association won the first ever UGSA Best Practices Award and was named best Graduate Student Association for the Fall 2015 semester. The award recognizes the PRTM cohort for their efforts to engage their students in professional development opportunities, community service, personal and social growth, and to foster collaborative relationships with the faculty and students from other departments.

Conference Presentations

Students and faculty traveled to Asheville, NC this March for the 37th Annual Southeastern Recreation Research Symposium. Students had the chance to present their research and network with others from universities across the Southeast. The topics discussed included: how to use big data analytics for tourism entrepreneurs, travel decisions of birders, coffee producer cooperatives in Mexico, the use of online market places to reach untapped markets, a systematic assessment of the trails around Lake Raleigh, and micro-entrepreneurship in Guatemala, individuals political ideology and related perceptions of climate change driven coastal change, winter tourism and recreation in Minnesota, tourists assessments of agricultural land features, and social networking and capital among tourism micro-entrepreneurs.

Presenters included:

Karly Bitsura-Meszaros

Shaun Fisher

Mirza Halim

Shahab Nazariadli

Birendra KC

Allie McCreary

Deidre Peroff

Ginger Deason

Bruno Ferreira

Matt Jurjonas

Kaitlin Burroughs

Southeastern Recreation Research Symposium (SERR)

Conference Presentations

American Meteorological Society Conference (AMS)

Active Living Research Conference

Presenters included:Troy Carlton

Teresa PenbrookeCourtney Schultz

Karly Bitsura-Meszaros attended the American Meteorological Societys Annual Conference this past January in Phoenix, where she also served on the Local Chapter Affairs Committee. She presented about her role in a project to assess the capacity of North Shore Minnesota communities to adapt to climate change.

2nd Latin American Research Symposium

Ginger Deason attended the 2nd Latin American Research Symposium for the NC State Latin American Student Association. She presented information related to her dissertation, in an oral presentation entitled, Climate Change and Ecotourism: Assessing Adaptive Capacity in Southern Mexico.

Troy Carlton, Courtney Schultz, and Teresa Penbrooke attended the 2015 Active Living Research Conference in San Diego, CA this February. The theme of this years conference was The Science of Policy Implementation. Troy led a workshop on systematic observation using the iPad app iSOPARC. Courtney presented work on the impact of a signalized crosswalk on crossing behaviors in a low-income minority neighborhood, and Teresa presented on tools for community engagement and also how to position parks and recreation as public health providers.

Conference Presentations

National Outdoor Recreation Conference (NERR & SORP)

Students and faculty traveled to Annapolis, MD this April for the National Outdoor Recreation Conference. The event was co-sponsored by the Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals and the Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium. Students had the chance to present their work and engage with researchers from other institutions and agencies. The topics discussed included: rural disparities in the built environment and their implications for obesity, understanding how after school programs missions drive their impact on youth, adaptive sampling design for estimating park visitor numbers per vehicle, the challenges for female farmers in agritourism, a comparison of agritourism between China and the United States, the impact of the North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, the health impacts of parks and trails, and barriers to outdoor recreation for urban populations.

Presenters included:

Gareth Jones

Katherine Campbell

Tian Guo

Courtney Schultz

Mirza Halim

Jing Li

Eric Thompson

Charlynne Smith

Conference Presentations

Presenters included:

Kaitlin BurroughsRose Keane

Courtney Schultz

George Wright Society Conference

Students traveled to the George Wright Society Conference on Parks, Protected Areas, and Cultural Sites in Oakland, CA. For a week, students networked with students from other institutions, researchers from a variety of national and international agencies, and were even lucky even to meet NPS Director, Jon Jarvis! Courtney Schultz presented on supporting healthy promotion using park and trail metrics, Kaitlin Burroughs presented on trail assessment in support of sustainable use planning, and Rose Keane presented on internet and social media preferences by visitors to Crater Lake National Park.

10th Annual Graduate Research Symposium

Presenters included:Rose KeaneTroy Carlton

Troy Carlton and Rose Keane presented their research at the NC State 10th Annual Graduate Research Symposium. Troys research, entitled Is Shared Use Really Enough? Examining the Interrelationships of Policy and Built Environments on Leisure Time, provides greater insight into the roles that shared use agreements can play in preventing adolescent obesity. Roses research, entitled Online Information Sources and Social Media Usage by visitors to Crater Lake National Park, contributes to a better understanding of how park visitors access information online before and after their visit.

Jon Jarvis!

Conference Presentations

American Association of Geographers

IUCN World Parks CongressSydney, Australia

Graduate students presented research at the American Association of Geographers in Chicago, IL. Karly Bitsura-Meszaros presentation, entitled Assessing the climate readiness of Minnesotas nature-based tourism-dependent North Shore region through a spatial analysis of local resource management plans, presents an assessment tool for identifying natural amenities vulnerable to shifts in climatic condition. Georgina Sanchez and Lindsey Smart presented jointly about agent-based modeling in a talk entitled Methodological and Analytical Frontiers for Agent-Based Models of Spatially Dynamic Landscape-Scale Processes. Georgina and Lindsey are advised jointly by Dr. Jordan Smith (PRTM) and Dr. Ross Meentemeyer (FER, Center for Geospatial Analytics).

Anna Miller traveled to Sydney, Australia, toassist with the launch of the book and website, Tourism and Visitor Management in Protected Areas: Guidelines for Sustainability, with Dr. Yu-Fai Leung. The conference offered participants an opportunity to better understanding of protected area management - from politics to law enforcement to research.

LeadHERship

Teresa Penbrooke was one of the keynote speakers at this years LeadHERshipConference in Cary. Her presentation was entitled Finding your Passion and Voice as a Change Agent, inspired participants to explore how their passion can be realized through their work. The theme of this years conference was Navigate.

Presenters included:Karly Bitsura-Meszaros

Georgina SanchezLindsey Smart

Successful Scholars!

Congratulations to our colleagues!

Eric Thompson defended his Masters thesis proposal entitled Understanding Barriers to Outdoor Recreation among Urban Populations: Comparing Manager and Community Perspectives. His research examines the ways in which racially and ethnically diverse populations tend to encounter more constraints to outdoor recreation than non-minorities, and how those organizational barriers are perceived differently by different populations. The purpose of his work is to explore and compare the perceptions of agency staff with those of local community residents regarding these barriers and identify effective strategies to overcoming them.

Matt Whitlow defended his Masters thesis entitled Evaluation of the National Associate of State Park Directors State Park Leadership School. His research evaluates the effectiveness and methodology of the National Association of State Park Directors (NASPD) State Park Leadership School (SPLS). The two-year curriculum has been providing leadership development training to Americas state park personnel since its inception in 2007. His thesis indicated that graduates consider the enhancement of their personal development as particularly useful and that they were able to implement newly learned practices in their parks, especially in regard to park operations and visitor relations.

Successful Scholars!

Congratulations to our colleagues!

Birendra KC defended his dissertation proposal entitled Social Networking of wildlife tourism micro-entrepreneurs in inner Banks, North Carolina. His research will examine the social networking of wildlife tourism micro-entrepreneurs in the Inner Banks, as well as the relationship between social networking and entrepreneurial motivations and success. The Inner Banks of North Carolina has rich wildlife resources and neighbors a popular tourism destination but also experiences high levels of poverty. Social networks are critical for entrepreneurial success because they provide support, access to opportunities and ideas, and information about suppliers, regulations and markets.

Karly Bitsura-Meszaros defended her Masters proposal and thesis, entitled Assessing and Building Climate Readiness in Nature-Based Tourism Dependent Communities. The vulnerability of the tourism and outdoor recreation industries is complex; potential changes in the demand for tourism and outdoor recreation make small economically homogeneous communities, like those along the North Shore of Lake Superior, especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Her research involved the development of an evaluation tool for natural resource management plans and recommendations for the creation of useful and usable decision-making tools. The findings will contribute to a better understanding and assessment of the regions climate risk and readiness.

Successful Scholars!

Congratulations to our colleagues!

Eileen Barnes defended her Masters thesis, entitled Motivations and Behaviors of Youth Sports Parents. Her research examined the recreation sport environment of children.

The aim of her thesis was to explore the relationship between parents a) motivational beliefs, b) perceptions of invitation for involvement, and c) perceived life context and parent involvement in youth recreational sports programs. Her results indicated that parental self-efficacy, skills and knowledge have the strongest influence on parental involvement. When parents are involved they are more likely to exhibit behaviors of encouragement and modeling. Her results provide greater understanding of the motivations and behaviors of parental involvement in youth recreational sports environments.

Anthony Patterson proposed and defended his dissertation proposal, entitled Leisure, Engagement, and Social Integration of Low SES African American Male College Students. His research focused on the personal, social, and cultural issues that influence under-represented students attending predominantly White Institutions (PWI). The study explored how African American male students from lower socio-economic backgrounds perceived leisure and the role that campus engagement played in their social integration at a predominantly white institution. His conclusions indicated that leisure fosters connections, facilitates the negotiation of cultural dissonance, and creates a sense of purpose. Leisure and campus engagement activities had a positive impact on students abilities to develop meaningful relationships, mitigate stress, and gain other socially related benefits.

Congratulations to our Spring 2015 Graduates!

Successful Scholars!

Matthew Whitlow

Karly Bitsura-Meszaros

Eileen Barnes

Awards

Congratulations to our award winning students!

Eric Thompson and Courtney Schultz were the recipients of the 2015 Society of Outdoor

Recreation Professionals Award!

Jing Lis paper was selected to be presented at the 7th International

Conference on Service Management (ICSM-7) in Macau, China!

Ginger Deason was the recipient of the 2014 UGSA Conference Award!

Rose Keane was the recipient of the 2014 Crater Lake Science and Learning Center Fellowship!

Awards

Community Service

Lake Raleigh Clean Up

Graduate students teamed up with the newly formed NC State Student Chapter of IASNR in March to clean up trash around Lake Raleigh. It was eye-opening to see the kinds of items that are discharged so carelessly, and a reminder to all students to really think critically about the kinds of goods, products, and packaging they consume. Some of the more remarkable items collected included several sports balls, Lego pieces, and a Nalgene that contained geocaching instructions from the Walnut Creek Wetland Center. The PRTM GSA has also collaborated with the NC State Student Chapter of IASNR on a recent film screening of Plastic Paradise at the Witherspoon Student Cinema.

Troy Carlton was named PRTM Masters Student of the Year!

Tian Guo was named PRTM Doctoral Student of the Year!

Bearodactyls Soccer Season

The PRTM Bearodactyls enjoyed an almost rained out season of soccer. Led by their brave and fearless leader Eric Thompson, they bravely faced their opponents and took home the only Intramural prize that matters - the We had a ton of fun victory.

Social Events

Graduate students mingled with PRTM friends and alumni for an evening of food, fun, a silent auction, and awards. Speeches made throughout the evening celebrated the previous years accomplishments and called on students to apply their research to NC States theme of Think and Do. Troy Carlton was named this years Outstanding Masters student. Tian Guo was named this years Outstanding PhD student.

PRTM Banquet Ropes Course

Graduate students spent some time playing in the trees to celebrate the end of a hard semesters worth of work. The ropes course encouraged students to work together, problem solve as a team, and enjoy their time with one another while balancing precariously on the many different obstacles. A great time was had by all, and the GSA will be sure to hold a similar event again next year!

Upcoming Events

Tian Guo Dissertation Proposal May 1st, 11:30 AM 2 PM

Conger Room, Biltmore Hall

Ginger Deason Dissertation ProposalApril 30th, 9 AM 12 PM

1214 Jordan Hall

Troy Carlton Thesis DefenseMay 6th 10 AM 12 PM

5119 Jordan Hall

Contact Us!

Questions? Comments? Email us!

Co-President: Anna Miller abmille3@ncsu.edu

Co-President: Mirza Halim mfhalim@ncsu.edu

Secretary: Jing Li jli43@ncsu.edu

Treasurer: Troy Carlton tacarlto@ncsu.edu

Academic and Professional Development Chair: Matthew Jurjonas mdjurjon@ncsu.edu

Fundraising Chair: Shaun Fisher smfishe2@ncsu.edu

Social, Networking, and Community Service Chair: Kaitlin Burroughs kburrou@ncsu.edu

UGSA Representative: Courtney Schultz clschul2@ncsu.edu

Communications Chair: Rose Keane rbkeane@ncsu.edu