Elizabeth 'Bess' Perry

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Associate Professor, Graduate Program Director
Department of Community Sustainability

Dr. Bess Perry is an Associate Professor of Protected Areas and Natural Resources Recreation Management and serves as the Graduate Program Director for the Department of Community Sustainability at Michigan State University. As the Director of the Park Connections Lab, Dr. Perry leads an applied social science research program focused on the intersections of protected areas, outdoor recreation, and regional contributions. This focus is framed by relationships between park and recreation relevance, stewardship, and sustainability, and what happens when disruptions occur. Her lab team includes visiting scholars, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate and undergraduate students who conduct research across a variety of landscapes, from urban green spaces to well-loved forests to iconic national parks. Her primary research pillars include:

Sustainable Park Management: Providing managers with visitor use and local community data to balance access with conservation.
Community Connections: Enhancing justice, equity, diversity, inclusion, and relevance in outdoor recreation.
Climate Resilience: Investigating how recreation systems and communities adapt to extreme weather events and changes.

Dr. Perry has secured over $3 million in research funding and authored over 100 scholarly publications. Her recent awards include the 2025 MSU Teacher-Scholar Award and the 2024 USDA Forest Service Chief’s Honor Award. She regularly partners with conservation agencies, recreation organizations, and local collaboratives to address management needs. Prospective students and partners can reach her via email at eeperry@msu.edu.

Before joining CSUS, Dr. Perry served as a postdoctoral researcher in parks and recreation (Clemson University). Her academic background is rooted in the environmental sciences, having earned a Ph.D. in Natural Resources (University of Vermont), M.S. in Forest Ecosystems and Society (Oregon State University), and a B.S. in Natural Resources Ecology – Conservation Biology (University of Idaho). Earlier in her career, she worked with the National Park Service, where her experiences inspired her transition toward the social science of parks and recreation.

Courses taught:

CSUS 200 – Introduction to Sustainability

CSUS 276 – Sustaining our National Parks and Recreation Lands

CSUS 310 – History of Environmental Thought and Sustainability

CSUS 477 – Nature-based Tourism

Download or view Dr. Perry's C.V.