Rebecca Stanfield McCown (MS-NR '06, PhD-¶¶Òõ̽̽ '11) won The American Academy of Park and Recreation Administration's Best Doctoral Dissertation award for 2012. Rebecca's dissertation titled "Evalution of National Park Service 21st Century Relevancy Initiatives : Case Studies Addressing Racial Ethnic Diversity in the National Park Service" was selected as the top dissertation of the three finalists by the American Academy for Parks and Recreation Administration Best Paper Award Committee.
Her award included $1000 plus expenses of up to $500 for her to travel to the Academy's Annual Meeting at the National Recreation and Park Association Congress on October 18, 2012 in Anaheim, California to receive the award and present on her dissertation research.
Rebecca is now the community engagement and partnerships coordinator for the National Park Service's Conservation Study Institute.