Professional background
Trace is a researcher and coordinator of the Sustainable Tourism Line at the Patagonia Ecosystems Research Center (CIEP). She is also an affiliated professor at the University of Montana, in the United States, and at the Universidad Austral de Chile, Patagonia campus. For the first 15 years of her professional career, Trace worked in the area of marketing and innovation, managing brands on a global scale. During that time, she became interested in conservation and sustainable alternatives for community development, including the circular economy, collaborative consumption, and holistic and integral development. Building on the research foundation of her MBA from Villanova University, which was oriented toward innovation, marketing, and integrated communication strategies, she completed her PhD research at West Virginia University, where she specialized in sustainable tourism, natural resource planning, and visitor experience management. She maintains a special interest in research and teaching related to complex socio-environmental systems (SES) and the vulnerabilities they face, the intersection of conservation and development, and the planning and management of protected areas. Trace has conducted research on tourism environments related to natural resources, visitor experience management and visitor management measures on public lands. She has published articles on tourism and authenticity, territorial resilience strategies, destination development strategies, natural areas values and stakeholder conflict resolution, and the holistic planning of protected areas. Her recent projects focused on the development of six Public Use Plans for SNASPE protected areas in the Aysén Region, and the development of strategic plans and proposals for the management of the Carretera Austral (Southern Highway), as a scenic route and tourism catalyst. The results of Trace's work support theoretical advances and decision-making related to the planning and management of protected areas, conservation and sustainable development, in Chile and around the world.