Sharon Suiwen Zou

Sharon Suiwen Zou is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She holds a Ph.D. in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Sciences from Texas A&M University and previously worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Temple University and a visiting professor at San Francisco State University.

• Current research focuses on tourism sustainability, recreation fee structures, and conservation finance
• Key projects include Indiana Dunes National Park fee analysis, VR-based visitor behavior experiments, and Illinois rural tourism development
• Her work bridges marketing, public policy, and consumer behavior to address funding challenges in protected areas.

Recent publications examine virtual reality experiments in tourism research, agritourism liability, and moral philosophy frameworks for fee fairness. She collaborates with computer scientists on immersive technology applications and investigates social media's role in conservation funding campaigns.

Zou's interdisciplinary approach combines behavioral science, environmental economics, and rural development. She has contributed to journals like Journal of Environmental Psychology, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, and Current Issues in Tourism.