09/24/2026
🎉 Faculty Highlight: Dr. Lydia Lawhon
Meet Dr. she/her), Associate Director of the Outdoor Recreation Economy graduate program at CU Boulder! Lydia serves as faculty lead for the Public Lands and Natural Resources Policy and Introduction to the ORE certificates, and also instructs the Project Course.
With nearly two decades of experience in natural resource management across the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem and Colorado, Lydia previously taught environmental and public lands policy, natural resource governance, and project management as faculty with CU Boulder's Masters of the Environment program. She holds an A.B. in Environmental Studies from Dartmouth College, a Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of the Environment, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Policy from CU Boulder. She lives in Durango, CO, with her family, where she's active in the local outdoor recreation community.
Outdoor recreation, Lydia says, has been where she's found solitude, inspiration, and peace of mind throughout her adult life — along with a deep commitment to protecting the land and resources it depends on for future generations. Right now, she's thinking about how the outdoor recreation industry can engage with public health advocacy around the growth of tick-borne illnesses, a real deterrent to summer outdoor activity.
Her perfect day outside? Skiing 12-15 inches of dry Wyoming powder in the Tetons. ❄️
Thank you for everything you do for our students and program, Lydia! 🏔️
