Dr. Karen Irene Thal is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Business Studies at Fort Hays State University (FHSU). She graduated from the University of South Carolina in the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management in spring 2015 where she focused her research efforts on wellness tourism. Since then she has delivered numerous invited presentations on wellness tourism as well as published research on service delivery at wellness destinations. In 2016, she launched a wellness tourism concentration at FHSU and is currently teaching courses in this area.