Faculty and Staff Profile

Benjamin Fowler

Educational Background

2024 Clemson Ph.D. PRTM

2019 University of Georgia M.S. Natural Resource Management

2011 UNC-Asheville B.A. Spanish & Biology

Profile

Ben, a native of Atlanta, GA, is a lucky Ph.D. student in the PRTM: Parks, Conservation, and Outdoor Recreation program at South Carolina's Clemson University. He obtained his MS in Natural Resource Management from the Warnell School of Forestry at the University of Georgia and his BA in Spanish and Biology at the University of North Carolina Asheville. His research centers on multi-method approaches to understanding human dimensions of natural resources, focused on water-based recreation planning, design, and visitor use management. In particular, he focuses on recreational water trail systems and river accessibility design. He has experience with quantitative, qualitative, virtual reality, and applied GIS methods for parks and protected area management. Ben builds his academic and research interests from lived experiences working as a professional outdoor guide as well as a Trip Leader for Outdoor Recreation Programs at UNC-Asheville, University of Georgia, and Georgia Tech. From 2014-2017, he served as the Director of Stewardship for the Georgia Conservancy (non-profit) and its statewide environmental trips program. He is a project manager and research assistant at Clemson with the Park Solutions Lab under Dr. Matt Brownlee as well as a research affiliate with the Virtual Reality & Nature Lab (Dr. Matt Browning). His research experience includes working with the National Park Service, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the River Management Society. He is happiest when he is with his wife and two children, Oliver and Lennart, drinking coffee around a fire, or floating down a GA river.