Title: Assistant Professor of Outdoor Recreation and Wildland Management
Institution: University of Montana
Address: 32 Campus Drive, Missoula, Montana 59812
Email: will.rice@mso.umt.edu
Phone: (406) 243-5477
Research Interests: As the head of the Wildland and Recreation Management Research Lab at the University of Montana, my research seeks to inform the management of shifting demand for wildland recreation in parks and protected areas. Core questions within the research agenda include:
What factors drive visitor demand?
How does shifting demand influence the ecosystem services attained by visitors?
How can we change visitor behavior in the face of increasing visitor use to meet management objectives and limit visitors’ ecological impacts?
How can wilderness managers best navigate trade-offs between wilderness character qualities in the face of changing use levels?
How can we fairly ration recreation in the face of use limits?
How are visitor norms changing across time and space?
Education:
Ph.D. in Human Dimensions of Natural Resources and the Environment & Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management from Pennsylvania State University (University Park, PA), granted 2020
M.S. in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management from Pennsylvania State University (University Park, PA), granted 2018
B.S. in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics and Policy from Clemson University (Clemson, SC), granted 2016