B. Derrick
Taff
Assistant Professor of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management
Expertise:
- Sustainability & Environment
- Business
Focus Areas:
- Park and Tourism Management
In The Media:
About
- Taff can speak to how outdoor recreation has changed during COVID-19 and emerging summer trends as pandemic-related safety restrictions ease.
- His current research focuses on communication as it pertains to perceptions and behaviors regarding "Leave No Trace" practices in Rocky Mountain National Park and other national park areas.
- He can also comment generally on communication as it related to visitor-use management, visitor behaviors, and social and ecological well-being in parks and protected areas.
Derrick Taff is an assistant professor of recreation, park, and tourism management and co-director of the Social Science Acoustics Laboratory. His research involves studying nature-based recreation and leisure engagement for the health of protected area visitors and military service member populations. He studies environmental psychology, including perceptions of alternative energy, resource impacts, the effectiveness of information sources, and emotional and biophysical responses to sounds and landscapes.
In The Media
Summer visitors to American parks choose safety first over freedom to roam
from Yahoo News June 5, 2020
"In a typical summer, millions of Americans head outdoors to national parks, hiking trails and rivers across the U.S. This summer, because of COVID-19 precautions, getting outdoors will be different, although how different isn’t certain."
In Penn State News
Measuring and improving the impact of parks on health
February 16, 2017
Building sustainability and hospitality in Greenland
December 2, 2020