NERCRD in the News

West Virginia town with people enjoying a bike path and creek.

WVU Extension leads efforts to enhance sustainability of tourism in rural communities

July 8, 2026

This article by Hannah Booth (West Virginia University Division for Land-Grant Engagement) highlights the Tourism, Resiliency and Indicators for Post-Pandemic Planning (TRIP) project and a recently published study by the TRIP project team. NERCRD Director Stephan Goetz, Associate Director Stephen Alessi, and Faculty Affiliate Luyi Han are members of the project team. The TRIP project is led by WVU’s Doug Arbogast, who is also a member of the NERCRD Technical Advisory Committee.

News and Events

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If you’re looking for past or future events in the NERCRD webinar series, visit: https://nercrd.psu.edu/tag/webinar/.

Side view of conference in session, people in several rows of chairs facing a stage.

Reflections on the Maryland Digital Equity Summit

October 29, 2024

Congratulations to the University of Maryland organizers of the 2024 Maryland Digital Equity Summit, which was held on October 15th in Baltimore. NERCRD Associate Director Stephen Alessi had the opportunity to attend the event and to serve as a panelist discussing the role of higher education in digital equity solutions. Read more for Alessi’s takeaways from the event.

Congratulations to NERCRD research assistant, Dr. Yuxuan Pan!

October 17, 2024

Congratulations to Yuxuan Pan, a Northeast Center research assistant who successfully defended her doctoral dissertation in Agricultural Economics on October 7. Pan’s dissertation explores the impacts of COVID-19 on mental health, disparities in nutritional quality, and the effects of soda taxes on household purchases. Pan will be joining the University of Kentucky as a postdoctoral researcher in December. She will continue providing research support to NERCRD through November.

New report examines Land-Grant University capacity to support outdoor recreation economies

October 15, 2024

A new report sheds light on the readiness of Land-Grant Universities (LGUs) to support the development of outdoor recreation economies around U.S. national forests, and identifies the places best positioned to allocate resources for recreation economy programming. It draws on an assessment conducted earlier this year by West Virginia University Rural Tourism Specialist Doug Arbogast in partnership with the National Extension Outdoor Recreation Working Group and the Regional Rural Development Centers.

Welcoming NERCRD’s newest team member, Dr. Minsu Kim!

October 8, 2024

The NERCRD team is pleased to welcome the newest postdoctoral scholar, Dr. Minsu Kim, who joined the Center on October 3rd. Minsu is an energy, environmental, and urban/regional economist who focuses on topics in energy transition and urban/regional sustainability, with an emphasis on optimal policy, technology adoption, consumer behavior, and local policy implementation. While at […]

decorative image: people in a pumpkin patch

New paper digs into limitations of agritourism and direct sales data

September 20, 2024

Agritourism plays a critical role in rural economies, supporting farm viability and offering diverse income streams for agricultural producers. In a recent article published in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, a team of agritourism researchers including three from NERCRD emphasize the importance of accurate data collection in this sector. They also advocate for more comprehensive data to better inform the future of agritourism development and rural entrepreneurship.

National Extension Tourism Network publishes its 2023 conference proceedings

September 18, 2024

With administrative support from the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development, the National Extension Tourism Network (NET) has published proceedings from its 2023 national conference, which took place in Milwaukee, WI, September 24-27, 2023. The goal of the proceedings is to increase access to the impactful work presented at the conference. It includes nine submissions, which are divided into three sections/themes: Agritourism, Rural Tourism, and Engaging with Specific Audiences.

US Map, color coded by regions defined by USDA

Webinar Recording: An introduction to the National Broadband Navigator instrument

September 10, 2024

This NERCRD webinar introduced the National Broadband Navigator, an innovative, public spatial-analysis tool designed to help community leaders plan broadband projects in areas currently underserved by high-speed internet. A recording from the event, which took place on Tuesday, September 24, is available.

WVU awarded ARC funding to lead development of Rural Tourism Institute

September 5, 2024

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) announced a $485,000 planning grant for the development of a Rural Tourism Institute. Led by WVU’s Doug Arbogast, the project team includes collaborators at North Carolina State Extension Tourism, the Community and Economic Development Initiative of Kentucky, the Northeast and Southern Regional Rural Development Centers, prominent tourism industry consultants, and community partners across three Appalachian states.

NERCRD attends Pennsylvania Ag Summit hosted by U.S. House Committee on Agriculture Chair Glenn Thompson

August 21, 2024

On August 12, NERCRD’s Director and Associate Director had the opportunity to attend the sixth annual Pennsylvania Ag Summit. Hosted by the Chair of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture, U.S. Representative Glenn “GT” Thompson event was held to showcase Pennsylvania’s agriculture industry.

decorative image showing logos of institutions represented by this year's Northeast NACDEP awardees.

Northeast Extension teams honored with national, regional awards!

August 19, 2024

In June, several members of the National Association for Community Development Extension Professionals (NACDEP) were recognized with awards. The awards were presented at the 2024 NACDEP meeting, which took place in Houston, TX, and was hosted by Prairie View University. Among this year’s awardees were several Northeast NACDEP members – please join us in congratulating […]

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