Yu-Fai Leung

Dr. Yu-Fai Leung is a Full Professor and Director of Graduate Programs in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at NC State University's College of Natural Resources. He holds affiliations with the Center for Geospatial Analytics and serves as an Adjunct Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Education: PhD in Forestry (Virginia Tech, 1998), M.Phil. in Geography (Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1992), B.Sc. in Geography (Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1989).

Research Interests:

• Sustainable visitor use in parks and protected areas
• Antarctic tourism impacts and management
• Recreation ecology and impact monitoring
• Geospatial analytics for conservation
• Protected area policy and governance

Grants (Selected):

• GUIDE-BEST: $48,637 (2023–2028) – Antarctic tourism behavior research
• ANT-MICI: $232,857 (2023–2028) – Antarctic biodiversity protection
• Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas: $79,939 (2012–2019) – IUCN guidelines update

Advising: Supervised over 20 PhD, master's, and postdoctoral scholars, including international students from Indonesia, Ecuador, and Hong Kong. Notable advisees include Dr. Zeynab Jouzi (food security/protected areas) and Dr. Daniela Cajiao (Antarctic penguin behavior).

Labs/Teams: Leads the ANT-MICI and GUIDE-BEST projects on Antarctic tourism. Collaborates with global networks like the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas.