Casey Trout

Contact Information

Biography

M.S. Recreation Resource Management

Casey is a master’s student in the Environment & Society program. She received her bachelor’s from Utah State University in 2019 with a dual major in Environmental Studies and Statistics. Her MS thesis research explores the structure and function of a state-run collaborative program in Utah, the Utah Watershed Restoration Initiative (WRI). She conducted a qualitative analysis of WRI which included interviews with program leaders and stakeholders. Ultimately, this work intends to inform states and other entities about how to best structure and manage collaborative programs.

As a graduate research assistant, Casey worked on the Utah Outdoor Recreation Strategic Plan, which was developed in coordination between the Institute of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, Utah’s Outdoor Adventure Commission, and Utah’s Division of Outdoor Recreation. She assisted with multiple reports produced through the planning effort, including taking the lead on an analysis comparing how the western state governments each manage outdoor recreation within their respective states, and worked closely with Dr. Smith on an analysis of the state of Utah’s funding streams for outdoor recreation. She also traveled across the state to help facilitate the regional outdoor recreation stakeholder workshops conducted as part of the planning process.

Casey hopes to pursue a career with a federal land management agency in the future. Her prior experience in this regard includes an internship with the National Park Service in George Washington Birthplace National Monument in Virginia and an internship with the Monticello, Utah Office of the Bureau of Land Management, which manages most of Bears Ears National Monument. Between her undergraduate and graduate programs, she worked two seasons with the Forest Service as a bear safety education technician on the Custer Gallatin National Forest in Gardiner, Montana.