Hello, I’m Ashley!
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management and an Affiliate Researcher of the Institutes of Energy and the Environment at The Pennsylvania State University. I also serve as the Managing Director of the Tourism Crisis Management Initiative (TCMI) at the University of Florida, which was established to assist the industry with comprehensive tourism crisis management initiatives through research, consulting & training, and education services. I am an active member of the Travel and Tourism Research Association (TTRA). In addition, I currently serve as a member of TTRA’s Emerging Leaders Task Force and TTRA’s Northeast Chapter Board of Directors.
I am a passionate tourism advocate and researcher. My main research interests are in the areas of tourism crisis management and destination resilience. I work to develop research-driven solutions to crises that address reduction, readiness, response, and recovery issues in local, national, and global tourism communities.
Background
I received my Ph.D. in Health & Human Performance with a concentration in Recreation, Parks and Tourism (December 2015) and my M.S. in Recreation, Parks and Tourism (May 2012) from the College of Health and Human Performance at the University of Florida. I received my B.A. in Business Administration with a specialization in Mass Communication Studies (May 2007) from the Warrington College of Business Administration at the University of Florida.
Prior to joining Penn State in August 2018, I was an Adjunct Lecturer in the Department of Tourism, Recreation and Sport Management at the University of Florida (August 2017-July 2018 & January 2016-July 2016) and an Assistant Professor in the School of Travel Industry Management at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (August 2016-August 2017). During my graduate studies, I was a Doctoral/Master’s Research Associate of TCMI (May 2010-December 2015) and a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of Tourism, Recreation and Sport Management (August 2012-December 2015) at the University of Florida.