Morgan Crump, Ph.D. (’23), On the Right Path
On most days this summer, you will find Penn State Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management Ph.D. student Morgan Crump in Yellowstone Park, wearing a safety vest and carrying a tablet. For 6-8 hours, six days a week, Morgan collects data on visitor use in Yellowstone National Park.
“The Lamar Valley is the premier wildlife viewing area in the park,” said Morgan. “There are wildlife watching specialist groups. They come to the park to observe the wildlife like the wolves and the bears, sometimes several times a year.” Morgan and her team are talking to visitors to learn more about how to manage and support visitor use and natural resources.
Originally from Huntsville, Alabama, Morgan completed her undergraduate degree at Colorado State University in Conservation Biology. She was on track to graduate in Spring 2020 when the pandemic hit. “We were on spring break and just never went back.”
With several jobs in environmental education jobs lined up for after graduation, Morgan had to change her plans. Even though environmental education usually takes place outdoors, camps and group learning that is accessed by children on buses were put on old with COVID. Morgan spent the next months working for outdoor recreation equipment retailer, REI, which saw a boom in sales during the worldwide shut down.
As an undergraduate, Morgan received a scholarship from the Udall Foundation. According to their website, the Udall Foundation awards scholarships to students in environmental, Tribal public policy, and health care fields. The Udall Foundation offers mentorship and networking through their alumni association. Dr. Will Rice (Assistant Professor of Outdoor Recreation at the University of Montana, who earned his M.S and Ph.D. from Penn State in RPTM and Human Dimensions of Natural Resources) is also an Udall alumnus. Will suggested that Morgan reach out to Dr. Peter Newman (former RPTM Department Chair and now Dean of the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont) and Dr. Derrick Taff (Associate Professor in RPTM at Penn State) about applying to graduate school.
“I had been floating the idea of graduate school,” said Morgan, “but I was focused more on conservation and biology. I hadn’t considered the social sciences. In reality, conservation is really about people.” Morgan applied to Penn State and arrived on campus in the Fall of 2021.
With the intention of completing both her master’s and Ph.D., Morgan started as a teaching assistant and taught several undergraduate classes. After her first year, she was moved to the position of a graduate researcher through the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program and began focusing on research. Her master's research assisted Dr. Taff in a collaboration with Penn State’s Arboretum investigating lighting and design features and the impact on visitors and the environment.
For her dissertation, Morgan looked at lighting variables in multiple U.S. national parks and visitor experience. “From Acadia National Park in Maine to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, we utilized experimental lighting design to determine visitor preference of artificial light at night. Included in that was insect and bat monitoring to find out how lighting can meet visitor needs while lessening the ecological footprint.” Her thesis title was “Assessing Visitor Perception of Artificial Light at Night in US National Parks: Studies in Visitor Preferences and Demographics to Inform Visitor Use Management.”
She defended her Ph.D. dissertation early in 2025 but won’t officially graduate until August. “I missed the February deadline for defending, but that’s okay,” she laughed. “I’ll take completing a Ph.D. in two years.” Until then, she is collecting data in Yellowstone National Park in continued collaboration with Dr. Newman and Dr. Taff.
With a goal of eventually accepting a tenure track professor position at a university where she can continue research, she has decided to delay the application process. “I intentionally didn’t apply for university roles for next year,” she said. “I wanted to take some time to continue to develop my research goals.”
This summer as Morgan is collecting data in Yellowstone National Park, she has found the Penn State connection to be everywhere. “I have seen 15 people with Penn State shirts or hats or something on their cars in just the first 3 weeks I’ve been here. I saw a person on a bridge with a Penn State hat and said, ‘We are!’ and he responded. From about another 100 yards away, we heard another person respond. Penn State is everywhere.”
Next year, Morgan will make the move to Vermont as a postdoctoral researcher under the continued direction of Dr. Newman. “We heard that Peter was leaving to take the position of Dean at Vermont,” said Morgan. “We quickly began discussing a potential postdoc position at UVM. It was one of those moments that confirmed that I had done something right. I am on the right path.”
Morgan’s advice to students, especially incoming graduate students is, “Don’t be afraid to say yes. Try something new. Say yes to opportunities when they come up. I may have overcommitted at times but by saying yes, I have expanded my opportunities.”
Congratulations, Dr. Morgan Crump. WE ARE…