The Center for Protected Area Management (CPAM) carries out, supports, or helps translate applied research projects for the benefit of conservation and protected area professionals and local communities in the US and abroad. The majority of our work has been concentrated in Latin America. However, in collaboration with our faculty and practitioner associates, we have expanded our work to other parts of the world.
Our role is to provide a bridge between academic researchers and front lines protected area practitioners.
Examples of thematic areas where our research partnerships have led to application on the ground include:
- Protected area planning
- Visitor management
- Biophysical and social impacts to park resources and visitor experience
- Public perceptions of management
- Law enforcement techniques
- Human Dimensions of Fisheries Management
- Interpretation techniques
- Commercial ecotourism evaluations
- Inter- and intra-agency and cross-boundary resource management
- Impacts from adjacent land use