The Stay at Home lecture series started with Dr. Ashley D’Antonio’s lecture on “Recreation Science in our National Parks.” Over half of the United States population participates in outdoor recreation activities like mountain biking, snowshoeing and hiking!  In 2014, the National Park Service hosted 294 million visitors, and visitations continue to increase. As she mentions in her talk, balancing recreation and ecosystem protection is becoming critically important.

Listen to Ashley’s lecture to learn how she has helped inform management of our national parks and other protected areas! If you are interested in working in critical fields that balance the needs of ecosystems and society, Oregon State University offers undergraduate degrees in tourism, recreation, and adventure leadership and natural resources, and provides a broad range of graduate opportunities.

—————– Dr. Ashley D’Antonio is the Gene D. Knudson Forestry Chair and an assistant professor of nature-based recreation.  She studies outdoor recreation science and how recreation science can be used to help inform management of our National Parks and other protected areas.