Leadership
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Matthew Brownlee, PhD
Director and Principal Investigator Matt Brownlee is an Associate Professor of Parks and Conservation Area Management at Clemson University. He is a faculty member in the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management and a Research Fellow at the Clemson University Institute for Parks. Dr. Brownlee’s inter-disciplinary research links outdoor recreation, park planning, and resource management. His applied research provides information to help park and protected area professionals manage visitor experiences while evaluating the reciprocal linkages in complex social-ecological systems (SES). Within parks and the SES context, Dr. Brownlee examines numerous phenomena, including a) park visitor behavior and thresholds of use, b) people’s interactions with and attachments to climate-sensitive and climate-impacted environments, and c) SES dynamics. Dr. Brownlee specializes in research design and analytical methods, specifically related to applied social science research in parks and protected areas. He often uses methods that transcend traditional concentration areas and degrees, including advanced quantitative modeling, experience sampling, social network analysis, cognitive mapping, GPS tracking, GIS applications, and participant employed photography. Dr. Brownlee maintains expertise in Structural Equation Modeling and advanced quantitative methods used in applied research. His research generally incorporates student learning and addresses a pertinent management need in addition to unanswered academic questions. |
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Jeffrey Hallo, PhD
Director and Principal Investigator Jeff Hallo is a Professor, the honors director, and the Graduate Coordinator in Clemson University’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management. His research and teaching are focused on understanding, planning for, and managing visitor use in parks, forests, and other protected areas. He has authored or coauthored over 65 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles, books, or book chapters on these topics. His work has specifically focused on empirical studies of visitor use management; park visitors/tourists; potential park visitors/tourists and stakeholders; natural, historical, and culturally-based recreation; carrying capacity studies; sustainable transportation planning; scenic driving/ORV recreation; and modeling of recreational use patterns. Jeff’s completed and ongoing projects have occurred at places such as the Cumberland Island National Seashore, Pinnacles National Park, Cape Cod National Seashore, Acadia National Park, Congaree National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Petra Archeological Park (Jordan), Kenai Fjords National Park, Denali National Park, the USDA Forest Service’s Buck Hall Recreation Area and Sumter National Forest, three Tennessee State Parks, and the Maasai Mara National Reserve (Kenya). Jeff's hobbies include experiencing parks and the natural world with his family. |
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Research Team
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Tyler William Cribbs
Project Coordinator and Doctoral Research Assistant Tyler is a Doctoral student in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management from Buffalo, New York. Tyler works as a Project Coordinator and Doctoral Research Assistant in the Parks Solutions Lab. As a PhD student, he would like to focus his research on the impact of visitation on the ecosystems in wetlands and coastal areas. Tyler received his Masters degree at Kansas State University where he was involved with 12 projects including: Katmai and Lake Clark National Park in Alaska, Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, and Cumberland Island National Seashore in Georgia. Tyler’s favorite experience during a Parks Solutions Lab project was hiking down the Grand Canyon to set up monitoring equipment. His hobbies include: cooking, gardening, camping, Buffalo sports, and Pokemon. |
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Dani Dagan
Project Coordinator and Doctoral Research Assistant Dani is a PhD student in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management. She's originally from California, and holds an MS in Park Management and Conservation from Kansas State University. Her professional background includes work in conservation policy and advocacy, wildlife ecology, and outdoor recreation planning. In her research, she explores applied problems related to public land and outdoor recreation management using approaches that blend methods and disciplines. Dani enjoys every Park Solutions Lab project she has been a part of, but her favorite is the evaluation of innovative visitor estimation approaches at National Wildlife Refuges. Dani's hobbies include hiking and backpacking, painting, cooking, and playing musical instruments poorly. |
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Benjamin Fowler
Project Coordinator and Doctoral Research Assistant Benjamin Fowler is a PhD Student in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management. Ben obtained his MS in Natural Resources (2019) from the University of Georgia. His research centers on multi-method approaches to understanding human dimensions of natural resource management and outdoor recreation planning within social-ecological systems. In particular, he focuses on water trail systems and development, recreational stewardship, and GIS methods for visitor use management for rivers, parks and other protected areas. Ben builds on his experiences working as the Director of Stewardship for the Georgia Conservancy (501c3) and the Graduate Assistant to the University of Georgia’s Outdoor Recreation Program. Ben’s hobbies include adventuring with his wife and son, paddling and mapping new water trails, camp cooking, being a coffee snob and eating burritos. |
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Pramod Yadav
Project Coordinator and Doctoral Research Assistant Pramod is a PhD candidate at Clemson University in the umbrella of Tigers United University Consortium. He also leads a team with the aim to integrate conservation, governance and livelihood for sustainable harvesting and equitable trade of caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) in the Himalayas. Before joining the Park Solutions Lab, Pramod was working with TRAFFIC – a wildlife trade mentoring network hosted by WWF in India. Pramod aims to develop market-based tools for championing the cause of conservation and park management without hindering the socio-economic fabric and developmental needs of the local communities in the Himalayas. He believes that market-based conservation tools may enhance investment in education, health, food security and alleviating poverty, which could play a key role in building resilience among rural dwellers for the tiger conservation, and associated wildlife inhabiting the landscape. Pramod's hobbies include: bird watching, badminton, and gardening. |
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Anup K C
Project Coordinator and Doctoral Research Assistant Anup is a Doctoral student and Graduate Teaching Assistant in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management. He would like to focus his PhD research on environmental aspects and the sustainability of tourism near parks and protected areas. Anup received his Master's degree in Environmental Science and Economics from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Anup is currently on a Doctoral study leave from his faculty position at Tribhuvan University. He has conducted and published research on issues related to ecotourism, community forest management, and climate change issues. His favorite Park Solutions Lab project was interacting with visitors during the Joshua Tree National Park visitor use study. Anup’s hobbies include: jogging, reading biographies, and socializing and networking with colleagues. |
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Akiebia Hicks
Project Coordinator and Doctoral Research Assistant Akiebia is a PhD student and a Graduate Instructor of Record in the department of Parks and Recreation and Tourism Management. Akiebia is from Georgia and earned her Masters of Public Administration from the University of West Georgia. Her professional career includes interning at the Jimmy Carter National Historic Park, working as a planner through Americorps for Freedom Riders National Monument and working as a National Park Ranger at Little River Canyon National Preserve. In her research, Akiebia aims to use organizational and labor market theories to assist managers of parks and protected areas in understanding employee perceptions as they relate to organizational embeddedness and a high internal locus of control. Akiebia’s hobbies include playing the drums, birding, cooking, running, screenwriting and listening to political podcasts. |
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Sophie Conerly
Project Coordinator and Graduate Research Assistant Sophie is a graduate student in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management. Sophie gained her B.S. in Outdoor Education at Georgia College and State University. She is from Georgia and has previously worked as a ranger in Georgia State Parks. She would like to focus her research on understanding and managing visitor use on state and national parks. Sophie’s hobbies include: hiking and backpacking, rock climbing, reading, and exploring new parks. |
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Tristan Jilson
Project Coordinator and Graduate Research Assistant Tristan is a graduate student in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management. Tristan obtained a B.S. in Wildlife Conservation from Virginia Tech. Following his graduation in 2018, he served in the Peace Corps as an Environmental Educator in Guyana until 2020. Before moving to Clemson, he assisted the Park Planner at Cape Cod National Seashore during an AmeriCorps service year. His research will analyze visitor use behavior at Greenbelt National Park and the growing trend of outdoor recreation near urban spaces. Tristan’s hobbies include: hiking, kayaking, birding, and watching a slew of television and movies that range from new entries in the MCU to Oscar/Emmy bait dramas. |
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Sav Dopkins
Data Technician Analyst Sav works as a Data Technician in the Parks Solutions Lab with a focus on literature review strategies. She is a junior Wildlife and Fisheries Biology major from Port St. Lucie, Florida. Sav is interested in pursuing research in Marine Biology and Shark Conservation. Her hobbies include drawing, reading, skateboarding, and kayaking. |
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Carissa Wheeler
Data Technician Analyst Carissa works as a Data Technician in the Park Solutions Lab. She is a junior in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management with a minor in Psychology. She is from Chester, SC, and enjoys anything that gets her outside, including hiking, trail running, camping, kayaking, and rollerblading. Carissa’s goal after graduation is to work as a field guide in adventure therapy for a couple of years and then return to South Carolina to settle into the state park system as a Ranger. |
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