Park and protected area management across the world relies on a robust understanding of how to balance conservation with recreation and tourism that supports people’s quality of life. As global leaders on computational research in this area, the Outdoor Recreation and Data Lab at the University of Washington (UW) and the Digital Geography Lab at the University of Helsinki (UH) are teaming up to advance collaborative research on sustainable outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism. 

The UW Global Innovation Fund recently granted an award to these labs to establish an international research partnership and mobility program for scientists working on their shared projects. The GIF award will support a mutual exchange of four PhD Researchers and Research Scientists between UW and UH. Visiting researchers arriving in Seattle next Spring will exchange knowledge  about data science approaches to studying park use and conduct cutting edge research on society and the environment. Award PIs Spencer Wood (UW eScience Institute, SEFS, and Center for Nature and Health) and Tuuli Toivonen (UH Geosciences and Geography) are leading joint funding applications that leverage their research studies to expand this program into the future. Activities funded by the award will take place in 2026-2027, and seed the longer-term partnership.

This award follows Wood’s recent appointment as a Visiting Research Fellow at the UH Digital Geography Lab. In Helsinki, he is currently collaborating with researchers from several European projects focused on outdoor recreation in Finland and Nordic countries, as well as nature-based tourism globally.