Welcoming Professor Hazel Tucker!

We are delighted to welcome Professor Hazel Tucker as a visiting scholar, supported by the prestige August T Larsson scheme run by NJ faculty at SLU. Professor Tucker is an internationally renowned researcher in tourism studies whose work has shaped critical understandings of socio-cultural identities, relationships, and change in tourism settings around the world. Based at University of Otago, New Zealand, her expertise in interpretative and narrative-based methodologies brings fresh perspectives on how emotions, stories, and lived experiences can inform sustainability research and practice.

Professor Tucker visited SLU and SCNI in 2023 and met with researchers across the Department of Urban and Rural Development and delivered a seminar on last-chance tourism, affective narratives in natural and cultural heritage sites. The August T Larsson support will allow her to visit SLU and SCNI one month per year from 2026-2028, further building on these fruitful exchanges.

The visit is part of a broader and continuous effort to strengthen collaboration between the SCNI and other divisions within the Department, while also supporting the Centre in developing its future research profile. A particular focus is on understanding the role of nature interpretation in rural tourism development, place-making, and entrepreneurship, and how these fields can contribute to transformative societal change and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Over the past few years, the Centre has identified the intersection of nature-based tourism, environmental communication, place-making, and nature interpretation as a strategic area for future research. Professor Tucker's expertise makes her an ideal partner in this effort. As the Centre continues to explore how nature interpretation can contribute to sustainable rural development in a Swedish context, her role as a research mentor and collaborator will be invaluable.

We look forward to the ideas, partnerships, and research developments that will emerge from Professor Tucker's visit, and to continuing the important conversations about how nature interpretation can help shape more sustainable and vibrant futures.