About

Michael B. Edwards is a Professor at North Carolina State University in the College of Natural Resources, located in Biltmore Hall (Robertson Wing) 4012C. He holds a Ph.D. in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management from NC State University, earned in 2009, a Master of Arts in Exercise and Sport Science (Sport Management) from East Carolina University in 2006, and a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1996. His research is guided by the idea that developing and managing socially responsible sport and recreational facilities, programs, services, and events can promote active lifestyles, reduce health disparities, and support sustainable community development. His primary focus is on social inequality in access to physical activity and sport environments, and the impact of sport on community health. Dr. Edwards is particularly interested in management processes and policies that leverage community capacity for health development through sport and recreation, especially in rural areas. His expertise in quantitative methods, especially multilevel modeling, has contributed significantly to his research projects, which often examine organizational and community-level problems related to management practices and policy development.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Sociology
• Public relations
• Social Science
• Medicine
• Environmental health
• Geography
• Engineering
• Physical therapy
• Economics
• Gerontology
• Social psychology
• Demographic economics
• Socioeconomics
• Public administration
• Psychology
• Business
• Law
• Clinical psychology

Selected publications

• Rural Active Living: A Call to Action 2.0, 10-Year Review and Recommendations to Advance the Field.

  UNC Libraries · 2026-03-06

  articleOpen access

  Written a decade ago, the 2015 Rural Active Living: A Call to Action (published in 2016) described rural-specific efforts in the fields of active living and physical activity (PA) and identified 8 recommendations to guide rural active living research and practice. Given that rural populations continue to experience a higher burden of PA-related chronic health conditions, the objective of this review was to revisit the 8 Rural Active Living Calls to Action, reassess the evidence base, summarize advances in each area, and identify emerging areas that warrant examination or further study. We leveraged expertise from researchers and practitioners within the CDC-funded Physical Activity Policy Research and Evaluation Network Rural Active Living Workgroup and reviewed literature published since the original call to action. Teams were formed for each of the original 8 calls to action. Each team reviewed the literature, synthesized findings, and developed recommendations for future research. Academic and practice-based progress was evident across multiple of the original calls to action. Despite these findings, the need persists for rural-specific national surveillance data scaled to small geographies (census tract and block group) that accounts for differences within and across rural communities, various forms of rural governance, and how these factors interplay with active living opportunities. Six emerging areas of research (best practices, social issues, COVID-19 effects, collaboration, implementation science, and implications of rural health-related funding changes) are discussed and warrant further study. In summarizing progress since the original Call to Action, we recommend strategies to continue advancing rural active living and identify emerging focus areas.

  PublisherDOI

• Management as a Technical Discipline in Energy: Part 2

  SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition · 2025-10-13

  article

  Abstract This is the second of a series of publications that highlight the technical aspects of management, following the SPE Asset Management Technical Section (AMTS) taxonomy, covering Asset and Portfolio Management; Risk Management and Decision-Making; Strategic Planning; Energy Economics; and Professionalism, Training, and Education. The name of the AMTS was revised from Management Technical Section to Asset Management Technical Section by the SPE Board of Directors effective October 2025. This paper explores the evolution of specific sub-disciplines in management, highlighting the need for establishing industry standards, guidelines, and best practices to enhance efficiency and organizational effectiveness. Management is often linked to people skills, though the technical methodologies within this discipline are well-established in the energy sector. This paper focuses on a second set of five sub-disciplines from the 29 listed in the SPE Management taxonomy, illustrating their progression over time, integration with other disciplines in the energy sector, and the corresponding evolution of roles of the pertinent practitioners. Challenges and opportunities in the managerial technical approaches of each of these five managerial skills are analyzed. The technical sub-disciplines studied are: Asset integrity Decision-making processes Project Management Energy policy and regulation Ethics The analysis of the AMTS sub-disciplines explored in this "Part 2" article produced two significant outcomes: 1) an evolution timeline showcasing how data analytics, shifts in economic frameworks, and new environmental frameworks have shaped managerial techniques, impacting decision-making, and 2) a comprehensive list of opportunities and challenges for deploying best practices in the subdisciplines analyzed. The SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) is an ideal platform to share the latest advancements pertinent to management, offering insights into past achievements and future projections that expand on the importance of the Management technical discipline for the energy sector at large. The conclusions highlight the importance of expanding the technical profile and perception of all management sub-disciplines. The five case studies from the AMTS taxonomy stress the need for practitioners to continuously enhance their technical skills and stay updated on best practices, methodologies, trends, and standards. This article aims to inspire and compel students and young professionals to acquire management skills early, as an essential part of their leadership in technical or corporate roles.

  PublisherDOI

• Assessing Pandemic Impacts to Collaborative Management in Parks and Protected Areas

  Environmental Management · 2025-06-20

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Partnerships are key in helping public land management agencies complete mission-critical conservation work and maintain agency relevancy through community engagement. While there had been a growing trend toward collaboration for many public agencies, the COVID-19 pandemic challenged the ability of volunteers and other groups to work with land management personnel. This study examined public agency personnel's reported work accomplishments with partners and perceptions of partnerships before (2019), during (2020), and the year after (2021) the pandemic. Results indicate that partnership engagement on conservation-related tasks declined during the pandemic. While the volume of work somewhat recovered in 2021, there remained impacts to the types of partners personnel worked with and to personnel's perceptions of institutional emphasis on partnerships. Implications for public agencies and their partners include increased emphasis on finding partnership 'champions' within the agency and umbrella organizations outside of the agency to facilitate partnership arrangements.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Implementing service-learning for social change in sport management curricula

  2024-04-23 · 1 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  This chapter examines the need for a shift in sport management curricula to cultivate a deeper understanding of critical social issues and promote ethical sport management practices. Specifically, the integration of theory and concepts related to ethics, social issues, and social justice through service learning is explored as a pedagogical approach to foster social change practices among sport management students. Drawing on Dewey’s educational philosophy, service learning is presented as an experiential learning method that bridges the gap between classroom knowledge and community engagement. By immersing students in volunteer experiences that contribute to their community, service learning enhances their understanding of societal contexts and fosters a sense of responsibility for social change through sport. This chapter provides an overview of the current landscape of sport management education, highlights the limitations of traditional curricula, and proposes the integration of service learning as a means to instil a commitment to ethical practice and social justice in future sport practitioners. Examples of service-learning experiences in sport management programs are discussed, and a framework for implementing sport management service learning for social change outcomes is presented.

  PublisherDOI

• Healthy lifestyles - The efficacy of sport for health development initiatives for community health

  Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · 2023-11-14

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  This chapter examines how, within the context of sport for development (SFD), organisations strategically leverage sport to promote positive health outcomes. Sport for Health Development (SFHD) programmes have typically been implemented in the Global South and attempt to reduce poor health indicators, raise health awareness, prevent disease, and improve life skills linked to health and well-being. SFHD uses sport as a mechanism to address issues related to health, often at the individual level. To overcome suggested limitations of current approaches and maximise sport’s efficacy in community health promotion, SFHD initiatives need to adopt a public health model and focus on community engagement to identify locally important health problems and valid solutions to focus programme activities, affirm local social and cultural contexts, empower local residents to design and manage programmes, leverage partnerships with non-sport organisations to build community capacity within a culture of health promotion, and incorporate robust evaluation plans.

  PublisherDOI

• Rural health workforce response to Australiaâs recent natural disasters and emergencies, with a focus COVID-19

  Rural and Remote Health · 2023-01-10 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  INTRODUCTION: Australia has recently been heavily impacted by natural disasters and emergencies including drought, bushfire, floods and COVID-19. The New South Wales Rural Doctors Network (RDN) and partners developed and implemented strategies to support the primary health care response during this challenging time. METHODS: Strategies included the establishment of an inter-sectoral working group of 35 government and non-government agencies, a stakeholder survey, a rapid literature review, and broad consultation aimed at understanding the impacts of natural disasters and emergencies on primary health care services and workforce in rural NSW. RESULTS: Several key initiatives were established, including the RDN COVID-19 Workforce Response Register and #RuralHealthTogether, a website to support the wellbeing of rural health practitioners. Other strategies included financial support for practices, technology enabled service support and a Natural Disaster and Emergency Learnings Report. DISCUSSION: The cooperation and coordination of 35 government and non-government agencies led to development of infrastructure to support the crisis response to COVID-19 and other natural disasters and emergencies in an integrated way. Benefits included consistency of messaging, coordination of support locally and regionally, sharing of resources and collation of localised data to inform coordination and planning. Stronger primary healthcare engagement in emergency response pre-planning is required to ensure maximum benefit and use of established resources and infrastructure. This case study shows the value and applicability of an integrated approach to support primary healthcare services and workforce when responding to natural disasters and emergencies.

  PublisherDOI

• Collaborative Care - empowering community in the development of rural primary health workforce and service delivery models

  Rural and Remote Health · 2023-01-10 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  INTRODUCTION: Across Australia, providing sustainable primary care services in small rural communities (<1000 population) has been increasingly challenging. It is acknowledged that health system planners must take coordinated action to strengthen systems to enable a community-empowered response to such challenges. In partnership with the Australian Government, Collaborative Care is a whole-of-system approach used in five Australian rural sub-regions to align communities, organisations, policy and funding levers with a common purpose in health workforce and service planning (article here). METHODS: A synthesis of field observations and experiences of community and jurisdictional partners in planning and implementing a Collaborative Care model. RESULTS: In this presentation, we report on the success factors and challenges in developing models for improved rural primary health care access. Successes include sustained community participation, improved community health workforce literacy, coordination of stakeholders and resources across health and community systems combined with health service planning expertise. Challenges include the time and investment to build a coordinated partnership approach and in identifying mechanisms for ongoing financial sustainability. DISCUSSION: Including community as a partner in design and implementation is a key enabler for achieving a tailored primary health workforce and service delivery model that is acceptable and trusted by communities. The Collaborative Care approach strengthens community through capacity building and integrating existing resources across both primary and acute care services to achieve an innovative and quality rural health workforce model built around the concept of rural generalism. Identifying mechanisms for sustainability will enhance the usefulness of the Collaborative Care Framework.

  PublisherDOI

• Examination of Ecological Systems Contexts Within a Latino-Based Community Sport Youth Development Initiative

  Frontiers in Sports and Active Living · 2022-06-29 · 11 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Youth Development Programs (YDPs) can serve as effective mechanisms to alleviate social and psychological adversities while enhancing and developing resilience among youth. Recently, more YDPs have incorporated sport within Sport for Development (SFD) models to achieve these goals. Due to the growing Latino population in the US and the wide achievement gap between Latinos and other demographic populations, there is a need to explore programs that may support individual development as well as long-term change with regard to social inequality. There is also a need to better understand the ecological contexts within SFD programs and how these contexts may support underserved youth. Specifically, using an ecological systems perspective, this study seeks to explore the implementation of a sport program by a YDP in order to examine the ecological processes that may support or inhibit the efficacy of sport programs working with underserved youth. Juntos is a YDP that primarily serves Latinx youth and families by assisting youth with graduating high school and pursuing higher education opportunities. Juntos incorporates two annual soccer tournaments (i.e., Kicking it with Juntos and Copa Unidos). A qualitative case study approach was implemented in two counties in North Carolina. Interviews were conducted with tournament participants, county coordinators and planning committee members. Findings found three key themes related to three ecological levels 1. At the Microsystem level, sport was implemented to engage youth and connect to non-sport program outcomes, but divergent perceptions of goals among stakeholders potentially inhibited intentional implementation. At the Mesosystem level, sport provided a mechanism to engage in collaborative relationships and encouraged parental participation. At the Macrosystem level, sport celebrated Latino culture and attempted to address social barriers facing Latinx youth, but some aspects of culture may have created barriers to access for girls. Findings suggested that while the programs emphasized mesosystem engagement, more integration across exosystem and macrosystem levels may be needed for sustainable outcomes.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Applying Systems Thinking Approaches to Address Preventive Health Factors through Public Parks and Recreation Agencies

  Journal of Park and Recreation Administration · 2022-01-12 · 4 citations

  article

  Within the United States parks and recreation agencies (P&amp;R) manage public facilities, spaces, lands, and recreation programs. Public health (PH) evidence has increasingly pointed to local public P&amp;R agencies as critical for promoting preventive health. Programs and strategies are available, but most P&amp;R agencies have limited resources and lack local knowledge on which to base actions. However, the research base is growing. The global research question has shifted from asking IF P&amp;R agencies can positively affect PH factors, to HOW they can best do so with limited resources.This research adapted a systems theory approach to how local public P&amp;R agencies are addressing health factors. Methods included a literature review along with iterative exploration through a three-stage Delphi panel study with 17 P&amp;R agency Expert Panelists in the U.S and Canada. Panelists were identified through a waterfall selection process. Each had at least three years of senior administration experience with interest in addressing PH factors.The study explored which preventive factors appear to be most modifiable by P&amp;R. Results indicated increased physical activity, improved nutrition, enhanced safety or perception of safety, increased social and parental engagement, improved transportation and access to locations (especially nature), and cessation or reduced overconsumption of tobacco and alcohol. However, the priority of factors varies by community, and the continuing challenge is determining the priority of the factors for agencies and their partners to address. Community-specific data are not typically readily available to P&amp;R agencies. Programs, strategies, internal methods, policies, and documents utilized by agencies were collected. Thirty-one related national initiatives (programs) were identified and ranked by the panelists.Key common strategies for P&amp;R were identified. Results indicated a need to focus strategies on leadership and adequate funding to create a strong organizational culture of systematic assessment for addressing PH through allocation of P&amp;R staff and financial resources. Systems thinking analysis and strategies can improve outcomes for cultural ethics of inclusion and equity, equitable access to assets and programs, collaboration with other partners, utilization of crime prevention and environmental design strategies, increased health promotions and education, and centralized tracking and evaluation of feasible measures.Implications for research include needs for additional validation and dissemination of research, evidence-based tools, and proven methods. There continues to be a strong need to help address gaps in knowledge transfer between research and practice realms. Management implications suggest methods for practice to enhance systems-thinking approaches for better preventive health outcomes through P&amp;R in communities.

  PublisherDOI

• Parental perceptions of the impact of COVID-19 and returning to play based on level of sport

  Sport in Society · 2021-12-27 · 9 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  This study examined the impact of COVID-19 on youth sport parents based on competition level to understand how the pandemic affected youth sport and factors associated with youth returning to sport. Survey data were collected from samples of US sport parents in two waves - early in the pandemic (N = 751) and as programs began to resume (N = 707). Data showed elite sport parents were more willing to return. Although most participants returned to play, significant numbers had not resumed participation. Parent comfort was the most important factor associated with resuming. However, parents allowed children to resume play due to perceived external pressure, potentially creating stress among parents regarding sport participation decisions. Attending school in person and household income were associated with the ability to resume sport suggesting the need to provide school sport environments and consider the financial impacts of COVID-19 on sport families.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Jason N. Bocarro

  North Carolina State University

  62 shared

• Michael A. Kanters

  North Central State College

  39 shared

• Camilla J. Hodge

  Brigham Young University

  27 shared

• Jonathan M. Casper

  North Central State College

  14 shared

• Myron F. Floyd

  North Carolina State University

  13 shared

• Justin B. Moore

  Wake Forest University

  12 shared

• David Hulme

  University of Manchester

  12 shared

• Gareth J. Jones

  Temple University

  11 shared

Labs

• Michael B. Edwards LabPI

Education

• Ph.D., Forest Biometrics

  North Carolina State University

  1990

• M.S., Forest Biometrics

  University of Idaho

  1985

• B.S., Forest Management

  University of Idaho

  1983