Recreation Ecology & Spatial Analysis Lab
Our Lab Group
We are a group of interdisciplinary scientists working on current visitor use management issues in parks and protected areas. Our research focuses on understanding the impacts of outdoor recreation on ecosystems (recreation ecology) and the human behaviors that lead to both social and ecological impacts. We often use spatial approaches to better understand how visitors to parks and protected areas interact with natural resources and the potential disturbance associated with those interactions.
To learn more about who we are, please visit our People page. To learn more about current projects in the lab, please visit our Projects and Publications page. Current opportunities with our group will be listed under Opportunities.
Latest Lab Group News!
Check out lab Instagram for more updates and photos!
Dr. Ashley D'Antonio (left) and Dani Berger, M.S. (right) after Dani's defense.
9/21/2025: Dr. Ashley D'Antonio just returned from a faculty-led program in Aotearoa New Zealand. Where 13 students and her co-lead, Dr. Jacob Bukoski, explored New Zealand ecosystems and cultural and social systems together.
8/29/25: New lab paper! Lab PI, Dr. Ashley D'Antonio, wrote a personal essay about generative AI in outdoor recreation classrooms for the Journal for Research & Practice in College Teaching. The paper is open-access.
8/18/25: Former M.S. student, Dani Berger, was featured on the "Into The Woods" podcast. Dani did a great job talking about her M.S. research on recreationists' perceptions of forest management.
6/24/25: Congrats to Dani Berger, who successfully defended her M.S. thesis today and is headed to the University of Minnesota for her Ph.D.! Yay!
5/13/2025: New, open access paper about virtual reality in geology education with collaborator, Dr. Natalie Bursztyn at University of Montana. While we are not a geology lab, we care deeply about inclusive education and were happy to lend our interdisciplinary social science skills to this project.
4/10/2025: New lab paper! The second chapter from Dr. Kira Minehart's dissertation was published this week in PLOS Climate.
03/20/2025: New lab paper! Collaborate work, funded by the National Park Foundation, with Rocky Mountain National Park and Yellowstone National Park resulted in lessoned learned about visitor use data and predictive modeling.
8/29/25: New lab paper! Lab PI, Dr. Ashley D'Antonio, wrote a personal essay about generative AI in outdoor recreation classrooms for the Journal for Research & Practice in College Teaching. The paper is open-access.
8/18/25: Former M.S. student, Dani Berger, was featured on the "Into The Woods" podcast. Dani did a great job talking about her M.S. research on recreationists' perceptions of forest management.
6/24/25: Congrats to Dani Berger, who successfully defended her M.S. thesis today and is headed to the University of Minnesota for her Ph.D.! Yay!
5/13/2025: New, open access paper about virtual reality in geology education with collaborator, Dr. Natalie Bursztyn at University of Montana. While we are not a geology lab, we care deeply about inclusive education and were happy to lend our interdisciplinary social science skills to this project.
4/10/2025: New lab paper! The second chapter from Dr. Kira Minehart's dissertation was published this week in PLOS Climate.
03/20/2025: New lab paper! Collaborate work, funded by the National Park Foundation, with Rocky Mountain National Park and Yellowstone National Park resulted in lessoned learned about visitor use data and predictive modeling.
Contact
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Address: Oregon State University
Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society 321 Richardson Hall Corvallis, Oregon 97331 Office: 318 Richardson Hall Email: Ashley.D'[email protected] |
Let it be acknowledged that Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR is located within the traditional homelands of the Mary's River or Ampinefu Band of Kalapuya. Following the Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855 (Kalapuya etc. Treaty), Kalapuya people were forcibly removed to reservations in Western Oregon. Today, living descendants of these people are a part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (https://www.grandronde.org) and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians (https://ctsi.nsn.us).