Mindy is an M.S. student in the department of Recreation, Sport, and Tourism, concentrating on recreation. Under the advisement of Dr. William Stewart, she is interested in developing a better understanding of sense of place, especially as it relates to the restorative value of natural spaces. She is particularly interested in heritage interpretation and its capacity to create meaningful personal experiences.
Wonjun Choi is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Recreation, Sport, and Tourism at the University of Illinois. His research interest is to examine the efficacy of sport in human and community development (e.g., physical health, socialization, and a sense of community), and green space such as parks is the important research context for him as it can be an effective outlet for sport participation. Wonjun Choi is currently working as a research assistant for various research projects of Dr. Matthew Browning that examine the efficacy of nature in human wellbeing (e.g., health and stress reduction). Prior to the Illinois, Wonjun Choi received a Master’s degree in Sport Management at the University of Michigan and a Bachelor’s degree in Community Health and Physical Education at Korea National Sport University.
Nicole is a doctoral student in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois. She works under the direction of Dr. William Stewart and is engaged in a research project which studies building rural community resilience in the context of protected grasslands. As a student of Dr. Stewart’s, Nicole is developing expertise in sense of place as a guide for conservation planning and specializing in qualitative research methods. Nicole has a master’s degree in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences also from the University of Illinois and a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and Sociology from North Central College. In her master’s program, she focused on human dimensions and completed a thesis which looked at the plurality of meanings staff and volunteers in an urban forest preserve district held for naturalness, along with knowledge production and decision-making in ecological restoration.
Elizabeth Golebie is a PhD student in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, advised by Dr. van Riper. She is interested in applying social science methods to inform management of natural resources, in particular, aquatic ecosystems. Her interest in social-ecological systems stems from her undergraduate research that modeled the impact of shoreline development on recreational fisheries. In her master’s work with the Illinois Natural History Survey, she focused on the human dimensions of the Lake Michigan fishery, examining angler satisfaction, fishery perceptions, and expenditures. She began working with the van Riper research group in Fall 2017 on a study investigating angler behavior and aquatic invasive species, from which she is hoping to develop her dissertation research.
Kangjae Lee is a PhD. candidate in Illinois Informatics Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign studying GIS (Geographic Information System) with Prof. Mei-Po Kwan in Dept. of Geography & GIScience. My current research interest is the impact of environmental factors on human behaviors, including physical activity, in the context of spatial and temporal dimensions. For my research, I investigate the dynamic associations between various environmental factors and different types of physical activity (e.g., walking and biking) using GIS and machine learning techniques.
Ben Leitschuh is a PhD student working in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences under the co-advisement of Dr. Carena van Riper and Dr. William Stewart of the Department of Recreation, Sport, and Tourism. His doctoral research focuses on understanding the individual, social, and cultural components that influence the tolerance of wildlife conflict, particularly around protected areas. Ben has over a decade of experience as a professional urban planner and environmental educator. He holds a Master of Urban Planning and Policy degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago where his research examined the costs and benefits of living with coyotes in the urban environment. Ben earned his BA from the University of Iowa where he concentrated in environmental studies through the Department of Geography. When not working on research, Ben enjoys spending time with his wife and two children as well as traveling the world to document wildlife with his camera.
Katherine Mimnaugh is a graduate student in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences. Her research is investigating the use of natural and restorative environments in virtual reality for therapeutic applications. She received her B.S. in Psychology and Spanish from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2008 and subsequently worked as a lab manager in cognitive neuroscience laboratories with the Beckman Institute for nine years. In that role, she conducted research with adults of all ages using electroencephalography to study language comprehension, memory, and psychopathology. Her research interests include natural restorative environments, virtual reality, health care technology, cognitive psychology and neurophysiology.
Abigail Minor is a second year Master’s candidate in Recreation and Park Management. With a background in education, her current professional interests lie in environmental education and nature play for children. Abigail currently serves as a co-teacher at University Primary School, the College of Education’s laboratory school. The curriculum emphasizes experiential exploration for child-led learning. In 2014, Abigail designed an after school recreation program for University Primary. Previously, she served as an environmental educator at the Don Lee Center in North Carolina and as an international trip leader in Spain and Peru. Her current research focuses on the extent to which environmental education teaches sustainable behaviors. Her long-term goals are to facilitate relationships among parks and schools in order to bolster environmental education opportunities.
Sadia Sabrina completed undergraduate from Asian University for Women, Bangladesh, majored in Environmental Sciences and minored in Mathematics. Currently enrolled in the Department of Geography and Geographic Information Science, Master’s program and specializing in the Rivers, Watershed and Landscape Dynamics at UIUC. She is working as a research assistant with Dr. Bruce Rhoads. She volunteered in Dr. Browning's lab from Feb-2017 to Dec-2017.
Fatemeh Saeidi-Rizi is a PhD student in the department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In her research, she is studying the relationship between the built environment and people’s mental health under the supervision of Professor William Sullivan.
Seunguk is a PhD student working with Dr. Matt Browning at the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Stemming from his background of a BE in environmental education and a MS in forest sciences, Seunguk is broadly interested in nature’s benefits to people and the relationship between people and nature. His main research interests include promotion of pro-environmental behavior and the psycho/physiological benefits of exposure to nature. Seunguk is also interested in using transformative techniques such as virtual reality to enhance human experience and well-being related to nature.
Nate is a doctoral student under the advisement of Dr. van Riper and Dr. William Stewart. The core of Nate’s research is understanding psychological factors in relation to the natural environment. He is particularly interested in examining the role of emotion in human behavior. He received his B.S. in Parks and Conservation Area Management from Kansas State University in 2015 and his M.S. in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management from Clemson University in 2017. Outside of the lab, Nate enjoys spending time with his wife, Hannah. He's also an avid bird watcher. You can learn more about Nate and his research at his website, https://www.nathanjshipley.com/. Additionally, you can contact him directly at shipley4@illinois.edu.
Lorraine Stamberger is a graduate student in the van Riper Research Group. Her research interests focus on strengthening the relationship between communities and the natural places they inhabit. She is particularly interested in facilitating community resilience through several avenues: increased public access to natural features, creation and expansion of recreational opportunities, and formation of a strong community identity. Lorraine's undergraduate research at Augustana College analyzed Quad Cities citizens' access to the Mississippi River. Lorraine began working with Dr. van Riper in summer 2016 on several projects including a Denali visitor use and values survey and an impact study of bison reintroduction on local communities.
John is a doctoral student in the department of Natural, Resources, Environmental Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He currently works under the direction of Dr. William Stewart and is interested in research that focuses on sense of place. John, Dr. Stewart and various colleagues are in the process of authoring a paper dealing with how heritage narratives are utilized by communities on the rural-urban fringe to make sense out of landscape planning. John’s master’s thesis deals with how conservation organizations share knowledge high in ecological risk. The research for his master’s thesis is in conjunction with his research assistantship with the Prairie Research Institute where John was a lead role in developing an information management system for the Forest Preserves of Cook County. During his undergraduate education at Purdue University John’s studies focused on organizational leadership and communication.
Shiqin ZHANG is a Visiting Student in the department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is currently working on Visitor Education and Experiential Learning on Greenways under the advisement of Dr. William Stewart. Presently, Shiqin is a doctoral student in the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She received both her B.S. and M.S. in School of Tourism Management at Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. Her research interest mainly covers tourism management and planning, tourism anthropology; community tourism and community participation; tourism impacts and social space production; visitor education; greenway tourism and sustainability.