PEOPLE

Jon Kohl - PRESIDENT & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Jon, American and Costa Rican, founded the PUP Global Heritage Consortium in 2013 after having developed the PUP Process and PUP Manual starting in Honduras in 1998 under RARE Center for Tropical Conservation. He has a keen interest in identifying new theories and approaches and turning them into practice. Based in Costa Rica, Jon has worked with PUP around the world, always focusing on the visitor management side, especially his passion for heritage interpretation, but with an eye to learning beyond just visitor management to all kinds of planning. Ultimately he sees a spiritual connection to the value of heritage and management that he shares in his blog on heritage interpretation, his writing, and his work. For more information about his publications visit his ResearchGate profile. Jon earned his Master's in Environmental Management from Yale University School of the Environment and his Bachelor's degree in Political Science and Ecology from Dartmouth College.

 VICE PRESIDENT

CLARK HANCOCK - TREASURER

Clark, American, is an Interpretive Consultant and Trainer working out of Austin, Texas. He retired from the City of Austin in 2015 after serving for 25 years as the Austin Nature & Science Center’s Exhibit Coordinator. His professional focus is on community networking, open space management, resource protection, and heritage interpretation. His work has included the creation of natural and cultural exhibits, oral history and archive project management, community engagement and institution development, interpretive planning and training, and event planning. He holds degrees in Public Affairs from the University of Texas’ LBJ School and Theatre from Tulane University. His career has been diverse but with the common thread of creating opportunities for individuals to find for themselves new or enhanced connections with the wonders of creation and encouraging them to pass on to future generations this strong foundation from which to navigate the vagaries of life.

dr. trace gale - SECRETARY

Trace, American, has permanent residency in Chile, where she is a resident researcher and serving as the coordinator for the Sustainable Tourism line of research within the Center for Investigation in Ecosystems of Patagonia (CIEP), located in the city of Coyhaique. Her research focuses on the intersection of conservation and development, especially in relation to visitor use management of protected areas and dimensions of visitor experiences. She has led teams in the development of visitor use planning methodology, multiple national park and reserve visitor use plans, and ongoing tools for visitor use management and development. She is an affiliate professor with the University Austral of Chile, where she teaches undergraduate courses in parks, outdoor recreation, and tourism; an affiliate professor with the University of Montana, USA, where she participates in collaborative research and graduate committees. She has designed and taught numerous undergraduate and graduate level courses about authenticity and transformative tourism experiences, and methods for planning and managing visitor experiences in protected places.