Joy James (she|her) is a Professor of Recreation Management in the Department of Recreation Management and Physical Education at Appalachian State University since 2007. Her teaching and scholarship focuses on how to help people access, become comfortable and be physically active in outdoor settings. Joy is also involved with the Healthy Outdoor Play and Exercise (HOPE) Lab which conducts interdisciplinary research on the role of outdoor physical activity, exercise, and play on health, the environment, and human development. In her time at App State, she has enjoyed collaborations across disciplines, found a supportive system and enjoyed its community.
Both Joy and Becki have been involved in mentoring faculty since 2012. At the time, their department was very large (5 different programs) and had numerous Junior Faculty members looking towards promotion and tenure. They designed a summer “Boot Camp” within their department (Health, Leisure and Exercise Science) which eventually led to a college (Beaver College of Health Sciences) sponsored writing retreat. This eventually allowed them to set up and begin an interdisciplinary lab the HOPE Lab where they both engage in research and assist in mentoring of Lab team members.