Each month, College of Natural Resources faculty members receive awards and grants from various federal, state and nongovernmental agencies in support of their research. This report recognizes the faculty members who received funding in December 2025.

The Rural Tourism Institute: Leveraging Land-Grant Universities to Support Sustainable Rural Tourism
Development in Appalachia

• PI: Savage, Ann
• Direct Sponsor Name: Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC)
• Awarded Amount: $25,418
• Abstract: The goal of the proposed Rural Tourism Institute is to fully leverage the resources of the region land-grant universities to support rural destination organizations and cooperatively create a sustainable rural destination management ecosystem. An ARC ARISE planning grant will allow Extension and academic faculty partners in West Virginia, North Carolina and Kentucky to develop the curriculum and research methodology that will form the basis for an implementation grant proposal. The implementation phase will launch the pilot program designed to create a regional and national model for land-grant university partnerships to provide education, research and capacity support for destination management organizations and long-term partnerships for sustainable destination management.