September Seminar Features Jee In Yoon, Visiting Scholar from South Korea

NC State’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management hosted the first seminar of 2021-2022 on September 24, 2021 featuring Jee In Yoon, associate professor from the College of Physical Education at Kyung Hee University in Korea and a visiting scholar at the PRTM department. Yoon shared her research on Outdoor Recreation and Park Management in Korea in a hybrid meeting with department faculty, staff and students.

Her past and current research activities focus on outdoor recreation, place attachment, environmental behavior, and park management at three different public parks in South Korea: Han River Park, Mt. Bukhansan National Park Trails and Jeju Gotjawal Provincial Park. Yoon shared the current and growing issues at these public parks including challenging terrain that limits access to natural areas, crowding and clean-up issues, as well as the impact of alcohol-related incidents.

Earlier this year, the Seoul Metropolitan Government reviewed the idea of designating eleven Han River parks as non-alcohol drinking zones and citizens responded with mixed emotions. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), among the 168 countries that implement restrictions on alcohol consumption, 102 countries restrict the consumption of alcohol in streets and parks.

A sense of place and being in balance with nature

Yoon’s research looks at place attachment and environmental behavior. This involves looking at the dimensions associated with environmental awareness such as balance with nature, limits to growth, man over nature, etc.) and how these dimension impact place attachment (place identity and place dependence). Her findings suggest that having a human-centric worldview and place dependence has negative impacts on environmental behavior. However, being in balance with nature has a positive impact.

As a visiting scholar, Yoon is living in the area and has an office in the College of Natural Resources.  She has a BS and MS from the Department of Exercise, Sport and Leisure Science at Ewha Womans University in Korea and a Ph.D. from the Department of Recreation, Park & Tourism Sciences at Texas A&M University.

Each PRTM seminar is part of a series of talks, workshops and activities designed to share research highlights, discuss teaching and advising topics and facilitate engaging discussions within our community.