Alexis attended the Colorado Governor’s Tourism Conference from September 23-25 in Breckenridge Colorado. Alexis’ participation was supported by the Colorado Governor’s Tourism Conference Student Scholarship! This conference provided the opportunity to engage with topics like “Purpose meets place: Rethinking the visitor-community relationship,” “Stewardship in Action: From Strategy to on-the-ground action,” “Good for Business: Two ways for Colorado’s Tourism Business to Start their Stewardship Journey,” and many many more engaging topics!
A giant thank you to the Colorado Tourism Office for this opportunity, the Breckenridge Tourism Office for hosting this grand event, The Cavaliere Critical Conservation Lab for supporting Alexis’ attendance, The Colorado Tourism Research Network for sharing information, and all the speakers, attendees, and critical minds that contributed. Colorado’s destination stewardship initiatives are supporting great strides in tourism planning while sharing both successes and challenges along the way. The lab is proud of how Alexis continues to apply herself throughout her PhD journey and consistently strives to learn all she can.
Human Dimensions of Natural Resources The Cavaliere Critical Conservation Research Lab
Dr. Christina T. Cavaliere is recruiting for a Graduate Teaching Assistantship to support a doctoral student starting August 2027. Dr. Cavaliere is a tenured Associate Professor, conservation social scientist and international sustainable stewardship specialist with a focus on tourism impacts and biocultural conservation. She directs The Cavaliere Critical Conservation research lab at Colorado State University in the department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources (HDNR) housed within the Warner College of Natural Resources (WCNR).
The Cavaliere Critical Conservation lab’s mission is to advance biocultural conservation research by centering subjugated intersectional knowledges. By employing critical ecofeminist and posthumanist methodologies, the research engages affective, sensory, aesthetic, and emotional dimensions of place‑based knowledge. The lab seeks to illuminate the nuances of biocultural identities to strengthen justice, ecological resilience, and regenerative human–nature relationships for wellbeing.
The successful PhD applicant for this position would work in the lab and pursue an independent research project related to Dr. Cavaliere’s researchon tourism and biocultural conservation. The student should be interested in pursuing research in the lab that centers tourism, conservation, and intersectional power structuresas related to protected areas, wildlife, equity, recreation, gender, climate change, sustainability, policy, and/or governance. See the lab’s blog for more information.
The PhD position would include annual tuition support and funding through a Graduate Teaching Assistantship within the department. The successful applicant will be offered support for the first year and then reviewed annually to determine future funding. The applicant must have previously obtained a master’s degree with a research thesis in an area related to tourism and conservation and have experience with qualitative and quantitative methodology.
Prospective students should email application materials to Dr. Cavaliere at christina.cavaliere@colostate.edu by 15 February 2027. To ensure full consideration please include separate PDFs of the following materials labeled using the numbers below. Only applicants selected for interviews will be contacted.
Academic CV
Academic writing sample: (thesis and/or a published article)
Graduate Record Examination (GRE) results
Unofficial bachelors & masters transcripts (master’s degree in related area required)
Cover letter (address how previous experience is related to lab mission)
Research Proposal (address lab mission: 3-pages and academic reference list)
Congratulations to Alexis Foster who was awarded Colorado Governor’s Tourism Conference Student Scholarship. This scholarship is given by the Colorado Tourism Office to university students to support their attendance at the Governor’s Tourism Conference. This is an annual three-day event for tourism professionals, academics, and industry leaders to share best practices and network. This scholarship will support Alexis’ engagement at the event held in Breckenridge, Colorado. The Cavaliere Critical Conservation Lab is excited to celebrate Alexis’ fieldwork that integrates inquiry regarding the Colorado Destination Stewardship Strategic Plan. Dr. Cavaliere and Alexis view this scholarship opportunity as an example of the informational networking benefits shared amongst the newly established Colorado Tourism Research Network.
For more information here is the link for the conference
