Research Projects

 

Ecotourism, Poverty and Conservation
In partnership with the Center for Responsible Travel (CREST), Bill Durham, Postdoc Carter Hunt, graduate students and undergrads carry out field research on ecotourism as a means to combat poverty and promote environmental conservation in rural areas of Latin America. One geographical focus of this work is in Tambopata, Peru, where for more than a decade students have undertaken summer projects (up to and including Honors, Masters Theses, and PhD Dissertations) in a range of rain forest ecolodges (see “Undergraduate Research Opportunities,” Department website). Another geographical focus is Costa Rica where a series of published collaborative field studies look at the impact of ecotourism on social, cultural, and environmental well-being.

PI: Bill Durham

Collaborators: CREST, Carter Hunt, graduate and undergraduate students