Tanner Caterina-Knorr is a Ph.D. Candidate at the School of Community Resources and Development, concentrating in Sustainable Tourism. He has worked as a Teaching Assistant and a Graduate Research Assistant at the Center for Sustainable Tourism at ASU. Tanner holds a Bachelor’s in Archaeology and a Master’s in Administrative Studies, concentrating in Economic Development and Tourism Management from Boston University. His research interests include sustainable and regenerative tourism, decolonizing epistemologies, ontologies, and methodologies, and tourism policy. He can be reached at tannercknorr@asu.edu.
Popi Irawan is a Ph.D. student at the School of Community Resources and Development with a concentration in tourism. Prior to his present doctoral education, he earned an M.Sc. in Tourism Studies at Gadjah Mada University in Indonesia. His research interests are the intersection of disaster and rural tourism management and resiliency of tourism stakeholders in disaster-prone destination, particularly in rural areas. He currently works as a junior teaching staff at the Department of Tourism, Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He can be reached at pirawan@asu.edu.
Boyu Lin is a Ph.D. student in the School of Community Resources and Development and a researcher at the Center for Sustainable Tourism. Before his doctoral education, Boyu received a Bachelor of Arts from the Communication University of China in Digital Media Arts and a Master of Science from the University of Leicester in Business Management. His teaching experience as a lecturer includes working in the Tourism College of Beijing Union University. Boyu Lin has a passion for sustainable tourism, marketing in tourism, destination marketing, and social media in tourism. Boyu's current research interest also includes technology in tourism, such as AI and VR. You can reach Boyu at blin26@asu.edu.
Faranak Parkami is a PhD candidate in the School of Community Resources and Development with a concentration in Tourism. She achieved a BA in Business Administration and then MA in Entrepreneurship in Tourism from University of Shahid Beheshti and University of Tehran. She is highly interested in wildlife conservation, wildlife tourism, sustainability, community development through wildlife tourism, and animal rights. Faranak has authored two travel guidebooks in Persian and actively participated in volunteer work as a co-ranger in the country. Currently, she dedicates her time to volunteering for wildlife causes in the United States. Faranak’s current research interests include Wildlife Conservation Campaigns and Tourism, Criminal Justice in Wildlife Conservation, and Public Communication Strategies for conservation awareness. She is passionate about traveling, capturing wildlife through photography, and singing traditional Persian songs. You can reach Faranak at fparkami@asu.edu.
Rachel Paserk is is obtaining her Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Tourism and is expected to graduate in the summer of 2023. She received her Bachelor of Science in Tourism Development and Management with a concentration in Sustainable Tourism from ASU. She is currently working on a project pertaining to visitor satisfaction and the economic impact of the Buckeye Air Fair with Dr. Chhabra. She is also working with Dr. Wise on another project about urban development and regeneration. Rachel is most passionate about the impacts tourism has on the community and ways to improve hotel operations. After she graduates, she would like to work as a consultant for hotels in hopes to make them more sustainable within their operations and show surrounding communities how tourism can be seen as a positive rather than a negative. You can reach Rachel at rpaserk@asu.edu.
Rui Yang is a Ph.D. student in the School of Community Resources and Development. She earned her master’s degree in Venture Creation from the National University of Singapore and has developed a keen research interest in information communication technology in tourism. Her focus is on exploring innovative technologies and business models to enhance customer experiences. Currently, Rui is conducting research on the application of sustainable delivery robots in the tourism industry. She is dedicated to understanding the impact of new technologies on sustainable development goals.. She can be reached at ryang58@asu.edu.
Yanqu Zheng is a Ph.D. student in the School of Community Recourses and Development with a concentration in tourism. Her interests lie in sustainable tourism, tourism impact on the local community, and community-based tourism. Prior to beginning her doctoral program, she received a Bachelor of Arts from Southwest University of Political, Science, and Law in Legal English and a Master's degree from Chongqing University of Technology in Tourism Management. During her master's program, she joined several research projects in tourism marketing and tourism planning for rural tourism in China. Yanqu is deeply interested in how tourism can bring positive change to a local community, especially for residents. She cares about social justice and wishes to explore tourism through an ecological and systematic lens. She can be reached at yzhen158@asu.edu.
Recent CST Graduates:
Kim Pham completed her PhD program in Community Resources and Development in summer 2023. Her dissertation title is "Overtourism: A Review of the Phenomenon & Examinations of Stakeholder Perspectives and Involvement". Her research focuses on overtourism, destination management, and tourism stakeholders. Kim can be reached at kimpham@asu.edu
Josephine Godwyll completed her Ph.D. student in the School of Community Resources and Development in May 2022. Her dissertation is titled "Linkages between Access to Public Spaces and Community Well-being: An Environmental Justice Perspective". She is an Assistant Professor at University of Alberta - Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation. She can be reached at jmgodwyl@asu.edu
Linsi He completed her Ph.D. in the School of Community Resources and Development in August 2022. Her dissertation is titled "Place Representation through Souvenir Production and Consumption". Her current research interests include community development, culture tourism, sustainable tourism, heritage tourism, and conservation. She can be reached at linsihe@asu.edu.
Connor Clark completed his Ph.D. in the School of Community Resources and Development in May 2022. His dissertation is titled "Ecological Restoration and Tourism Development as Agents of Bordering: A Case Study of the U.S.-Mexico Border ". Connor’s research interests include community-based and small business tourism development, destination marketing, conservation, nature-based tourism, and best business practices for the tourism sector. Connor is currently an Assistant Professor in the Recreation and Tourism Management program at Georgia Southern University. You can reach Connor at cwclark6@asu.edu.
Daniel Clasen completed his Master's of Science in the Community Resources and Development program with a concentration in Tourism in May 2021. His thesis was on exploring the emerging practitioner topic of 'Destination Development programs', as administered by State Tourism Offices within the U.S. He can be reached at danwclasen@gmail.com.
Rebecca Varney completed her Master's of Science in the Community Resources and Development program in May 2021. Her thesis was "Exploring Creative Arts and Youth Sports Programming: A Qualitative study". She can be reached at revarney@asu.edu.
Claire Kredens completed her Master's of Science in the Community Resources and Development program with a concentration in Tourism in May 2021. Her interests lie in sustainable tourism/recreation development or improvement, lessening the environmental and sociocultural burden of tourism, nature-based tourism, conservation and development, and others. She can be reached at ckredens@asu.edu
Jada Lindblom, Ph.D. completed her Ph.D. in Community Resources and Development in October 2020. Her dissertation is titled "Affective Impacts of Tourism in a Post-War, Re-Emerging Destination". Jada's current interests focus on the effects of tourism on host communities in post-war and post-disaster regions. Jada is currently the Community and Economic Development Field Specialist in Belknap County as part of the University of New Hampshire Extension. She can be reached at Jada.Lindblom@asu.edu
Jendayi Edmeade, M.S. completed her Master's of Science in Community Resources and Development (emphasis in Sustainable Communities) in summer 2020. Her thesis was "An Exploration of Educators’ Roles for Building Social Resilience to Natural Disasters in Small Island Developing States". You may reach her at jedmeade@asu.edu
Casey Moran, M.S. completed her Master's of Science in Community Resources and Development (emphasis in Park and Recreation Management) in summer 2020. For thesis, Casey explored destination social carrying capacity through the lens of community residents. In Fall 2020, Casey will start her Ph.D. program at the University of Illinois. You may reach her at cdmoran3@asu.edu
Eunhye Grace Kim, Ph.D. completed her Ph.D. in Community Resources and Development in May 2019, with a major in Tourism Development and Management. She holds an MBA in hospitality and a bachelor of political science in journalism and communication. She was an instructor and faculty associate, and was involved in several research at the Center for Sustainable Tourism while she was pursuing her PhD at ASU. Now she works at the Central Connecticut State University as an Assistant Professor in the Tourism and Hospitality program. You may reach her at eunhye.kim@asu.edu.
Are you interested in joining the CST?
Current and prospective graduate students specializing in tourism-related areas of study who have interest in joining the CST's research team should contact Dr. Kelly Bricker, Center Director, at kelly.bricker@asu.edu