Powers, Sammie | College of Education and Human Development

Dr. Sammie Powers
(she/her/hers)
PhD, Penn State
Assistant Professor
Recreation Management
Sport and Recreation Studies

Send email to Dr. Powers

Phone: (703) 993-6840
Fax: This information is not available
Email: spower5 (@gmu.edu)

George Mason University
Fairfax Campus
Krug Hall 213A
4400 University Dr.
MS 4D2
Fairfax, VA 22030

View Sammie Powers's curriculum vitae in PDF format.

Sammie Powers is an Assistant Professor of Recreation Management in the School of Sport, Recreation, and Tourism Management at George Mason University. She comes to Mason from Penn State, where she worked in the Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management and earned her doctoral degree. Within a larger framework of social-ecological systems, Sammie’s work focuses on parks, recreation, and conservation management, with emphasis on the interconnected components of equity, environmental sustainability, and health.

Dr. Powers conducts research focused on parks, recreation, and conservation management. Through a social-ecological systems framework, which underscores the complex, dynamic interactions between social systems (e.g., stakeholders, governance systems and structures) and ecological systems (e.g., natural resources), she examines the reciprocal relationships between equity, environmental sustainability, and health. Together, equity, environmental sustainability, and health form a dynamic feedback loop: equitable access can support environmental citizenship and sustainable resource management, which enhance both ecosystem and human health, reinforcing the resilience of both social and ecological systems. Through this line of research, she not only identifies and implements more equitable processes for engaging diverse stakeholders in planning and management, but also examines how advancing equity in parks, recreation, and conservation contexts can promote health and wellbeing (e.g., physical activity, belonging) and encourage environmental citizenship (e.g., volunteering, advocacy), and ultimately facilitate greater support for funding, policy, and advocacy related to conservation and sustainable resource management.

Much of her recent and current research focuses on understanding landscape values and preferences, partnerships, management challenges and equitable actions, visitor experiences, belonging, and environmental citizenship behaviors, including environmental stewardship, advocacy, and activism. Dr. Powers uses quantitative, qualitative, spatial, and mixed-methods approaches. She conducts research with diverse stakeholders including, but not limited to, community members and organizations, stewardship or volunteer groups, community development corporations, conservation and environmental non-profits, land managers, and policymakers. Dr. Powers has authored numerous technical reports for local, state, and national organizations including needs assessments, outdoor recreation plans, provider assessments, social network analyses, stakeholder engagement plans, and visitor use studies.

Powers, S. L., Ferguson, L. A., Ferguson, M. D., Aytur, S., Gorman, M.*, Bennet, J., Feldbaum, E.^# (2025). Fostering equity: How welcomeness, safety, and representation influence visitor coping and intention-to-return to parks and protected areas. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 50, 100868, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jort.2025.100868

Powers, S. L., Trauntvein, N., & Son, J. S. (2025). Enhancing online survey research in environmental and conservation social sciences: A GIS-based place mapping validation technique for improving sample quality. Society & Natural Resources. Online first. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2025.2463061

Powers, S. L., Son, J. S., Liu, H.-L., & Webster, N. (2025). Intersectionality in facilitators of active outdoor recreation in parks and protected areas. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 49, 100853, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jort.2024.100853

Powers, S. L., Mowen, A. J., & Drogin Rodgers (2024). Belonging and welcomeness in state and community parks: Visitation impacts and strategies for advancing environmental justice. Geoforum, 157, 104149, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2024.104149

Powers, S. L. & Trauntvein, N. (2024). Local nature-based recreation as a pathway to environmental citizenship. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 47, 100810, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jort.2024.100810

Powers, S. L., Pitas, N. A., & Rice, W. L. (2024). Applying location quotient methodology to urban park settings with mobile location data: Implications for equity and park planning. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 98, 128418, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128418

Daniels, M. J., Liu, H-L., & Powers, S. L. (2024). Infrared visitor counts: Data validation and algorithm development. Current Issues in Tourism. Online First. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2024.2364758

Daniels, M. J. & Powers, S. L. (2024). Resident representation in parks: Identifying gaps and promoting equitable engagement. Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, 42 (3), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.18666/JPRA-2024-12135

Powers, S. L. & Son, J. S. (2024). Racial equity facilitators of active outdoor recreation in parks and protected areas: Scale development, testing, and validation. Journal of Leisure Research. Online first. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.2024.2317280

Agans, J., Powers, S. L., McCabe, M. K.*, & Son, J. (2024). “We try [to] take the barriers away from you to come in”: Active recreation contexts as leisure facilitators. Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, 42(1), 58-74. https://doi.org/10.18666/JPRA-2024-12122

Powers, S. L., Mowen, A. J., & Webster, N. (2024). Development and validation of a scale measuring public perceptions of racial environmental justice in parks. Journal of Leisure Research, 55(1), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.2023.2183369

Powers, S. L., Pitas, N. A., & Mowen, A. J. (2024). Critical consciousness of systemic racism in parks among park agency directors and policymakers: An environmental justice tool for recreation and conservation leaders. Society & Natural Resources, 37(1), 24-47. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2023.2250737