Michael Ferguson

I am an Assistant Professor in Recreation Management and Policy at the University of New Hampshire. I design, manage, and analyze natural resource research in parks and protected areas. Broadly, my work focuses on outdoor recreation behaviors and the human dimensions of natural resource management. Specifically, my research models recreation visitor behaviors, decision-making, and experiences within a social-ecological systems framework. This research provides natural resource managers, elected officials, private industry, and the general public with scientifically grounded, data-driven, and legally defensible results to best manage outdoor recreation visitation. Research collaborators include the USDA Forest Service, National Park Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Sea Grant, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, NH State Parks, and other various federal, state, local, and private organizations.

A second aspect of my career involves educating and mentoring undergraduate and graduate level university students. I teach courses such as recreation resource management, human dimension of natural environments, recreation facility design and management, marketing the recreation experience, and the history of outdoor recreation. I model my teaching philosophy on a constructivist approach where I include applied, experiential, and group-based learning techniques which emphasize the development of applicable problem-solving skills. Throughout all of my courses I include elements of my own research to provide students with real-world situation and resulting trade-offs to better prepare them as they emerge as recreation professionals.

I am also the co-founder of the Applied Recreation Research Collaborative (ARRC) laboratory at the University of New Hampshire. For more information, please visit: https://www.unharrc.com/