Lehi Dowell is a third-year Ph.D. student in Planning, Governance, and Globalization at the School of Public and International Affairs. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from the University of La Verne and a master’s degree in Hospitality & Tourism Management from Florida International University. He has worked extensively over the past few years to incorporate cross campus and interdisciplinary activities at Virginia Tech by taking leadership positions in organizations such as the Graduate Student Assembly, the Community Change Collaborative, and the Diversity Scholar program. Lehi also has a strong nonprofit background. His master’s degree involved an independent project and an oral defense on the topic of increased tourism to Cuba if travel sanctions from the United States were lifted. Having worked ten years in hospitality operations management and several years in nonprofit administration, he has been exposed to issues concerning economic growth, sustainable development, and community engagement on both local and international levels. This firsthand knowledge is instrumental in supplementing research endeavors and bridging the gap between the real world (applied science) and academia (theoretical science). He prefers to investigate real life quandaries to which he can help find feasible solutions for, solutions that are readily available and accessible to the general population at large.