Anna Miller is an Assistant Professor of Recreation Resource Management and the Environment in the Department of Environment and Society at Utah State University. She studies human-environment interactions in the context of outdoor recreation. Considering the social-ecological system of outdoor recreation, her work bridges the field of recreation ecology with related fields such as recreation behavior, environmental psychology, environmental economics, and wildlife biology. Her research focuses on human-wildlife interactions and climate adaptation for outdoor recreation. She emphasizes addressing protected area management challenges, collaborating closely with practitioners to develop an understanding of research needs. She is also interested in international perspectives on nature-based tourism and outdoor recreation systems.
Dr. Miller earned her PhD at North Carolina State University in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management, focusing on recreation ecology. She holds a BS in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a MS in Applied Ecology from the University of Poitiers, France. After completing her PhD, she taught with The School for Field Studies in the Turks and Caicos Islands and worked with the US Forest Service PNW Research Station before moving to Utah State University.
“Studying how outdoor recreation interaction with the environment is critical in helping identify ways to minimize negative impacts while bolstering the social benefits of outdoor recreation and ultimately supporting conservation goals on lands that host recreation.”
Miller, A.B., Blahna, D.J., Morse, W., Leung, Y.-F., Rowland, M.R. (2021). From recreation ecology to a recreation ecosystem: A framework accounting for social-ecological systems. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism Miller, A.B., Kays, R., Leung, Y-F. (2020). Wildlife response to trail building: An experimental method and Appalachian case study. Journal for Nature Conservation. 56: 125815.
Miller, A.B., Cox, C., Morse, W.C. (2023). Ecotourism, wildlife conservation, and agriculture in Costa Rica through a social-ecological systems lens. Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism. Volume 2.
