About Me
My name is Turner Koch, and I am a senior at the University of Alabama from Middlebury, Indiana. I’m majoring in International Studies and Biology, with a minor in Chinese language. Following graduation, I plan to attend law school where I will focus on health law.
Focus
My primary focus for this research was how companies have historically responded to ongoing social issues to better understand how an outdoor recreation economy can create a positive image in the corporate sphere. Understanding how companies respond and value social issues can allow outdoor recreation sites to better form relationships and partnerships with others in the same sector to produce mutual benefits. Additionally, I examined the issue of place names as it relates to developing outdoor sites, as well as looking at past examples in Yellowstone to better create community partnerships among historically unrepresented groups.
Reflection
When I first signed up for this class, I couldn’t have known that our research would take me so far away from my majors. While the project interested me at first, I wasn’t sure how I would apply either Biology or International Studies to the development of an outdoor recreation economy. In this way, the project forced me to move beyond my comfort zone, searching for ways to apply my methods of learning and research to a new area. Eventually, I found a home looking at the research behind company response to social issues, applying both my familiarity with academic research from Biology and my understanding of social phenomena from International Studies. This will allow me to better appreciate my own learning outside of this research, applying lessons from this capstone course to other courses in both my majors and beyond.
​
In addition to moving outside of my comfort zone in research, I also had to adopt a strategy in working with my peers. I typically have only conducted research in projects that I developed from start to finish, leading to easy management of every facet of the project. This research forced me to step back and allow others to conduct their own research. The process of combining our research into a single document was unique for me and taught me a variety of new skills in teamwork and collaboration. Ultimately, I feel our efforts were successful and we have produced a beneficial document to assist both Walker County and other aspiring outdoor recreation economies in how to establish partnerships with underrepresented groups in their communities.