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2009 Visting Scholars

Seema Bhatt, Visiting Fulbright Scholar

Seema Bhatt is an independent consultant (based in India) working on issues related to biodiversity. She holds a Masters degree in Environmental Studies from Yale University, USA. She has served as Senior Programme Officer, Biodiversity 'Hotspots' Conservation Programme WWF- India. Seema was part of the Technical and Policy Core Group that formulated the technical report for the formulation of India’s National Biodiversity Strategy Action Plan. She is also involved in documenting Community Conserved Areas across South Asia. Her particular focus of work is on strengthening the links between conservation of biodiversity and livelihoods of local communities. She views ecotourism as one such link and has coordinated two projects on ecotourism as the South Asia Coordinator for the USAID supported Biodiversity Conservation Network. Seema has since then worked extensively with various other ecotourism projects in India. She has recently co-authored a book on Ecotourism Development in India published by the Cambridge University Press. Seema work with the Center for Responsible Travel (CREST) from March to May 2009

2009 Interns

Alison Hillegeist - Fundraising, Communications and Materials Development

Alison brings over 11 years of professional experience to CREST's fundraising and communications efforts. She recently completed her Masters Degree in Sustainable Development, where she focused on conservation and sustainable tourism; specifically program design and monitoring and evaluation. While in graduate school, she worked as a development officer for the Charles Darwin Foundation in the Galapagos Islands. There, she saw the extent of the tourism industry and its effects on that precious ecosystem. She also saw how tourism industry leaders are increasingly becoming part of the solution, and contributing responsibly to community development and conservation initiatives throughout the archipelago. Her interest in ecotourism stems from a lifetime love of traveling, learning about and from other cultures, and a passion for protecting the planet.

Kyle Johnson- Project Intern and Social Networking

Kyle is going into his last year at Virginia Tech studying hospitality and tourism management in the Pamplin School of Business. With the focus on hotels and restaurants, Kyle decided he wanted to do something different and meaningful with his career. CREST gave him the opportunity to dive deeper into the world of responsible tourism, and he plans to take what he has learned and travel extensively during the summer after finishing school. He enjoys golf, tennis, fishing, mountain biking, and anything outdoors.

Bethany (Beth) Wylie - Project Intern

Beth is an Archaeology student at Stanford University in her junior year. Interested in preserving and protecting both cultural heritage and the environment, she has learned through the Center for Responsible Travel how tourism can be an essential tool for accomplishing this. She has spent time in Oaxaca, Mexico doing environmental service and Chavin, Peru studying archaeology. This summer of 2009, she is researching community based resource management on the north shore of Kauai. Plans for the future include a Masters degree in Earth Systems and working for the government or U.N. participating in international environmental policy. She also loves reading, traveling, hiking, backpacking, and cycling.

Anna J. Marszal - Graphic Design and Marketing

Anna Marszal is working with the rebranding of CESD to CREST, Center for Responsible Travel. Her passion for the development of a greater quality of life in developing countries derives from extensive travel experience, which she gained while living in and traveling through many European, Asian, and African countries during college and thereafter. She is embarking on a career in international development after her studies in New York, Florence, Italy and Hong Kong and work in New York and Los Angeles in the fashion industry. Her form of liberation is dance, ranging from hip hop to African dance to capoeira.

Johanna Contreras - Market Research Unit and Travelers' Philanthropy Program

Johanna is a Senior studying Recreation, Sport, and Tourism with an emphasis on Tourism Management at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is committed to responsibility and sustainability within tourism and is very happy to find herself among likeminded people at CREST. She has studied tourism development in Poland, Costa Rica, and the Philippines and plans to continue her global education through professional work and graduate study in international development. Her main interests are community empowerment, indigenous rights, poverty alleviation, and capacity building. Beyond tourism, Johanna loves to explore social justice, music, language, yoga, and the great outdoors.

2008 Interns

Shelley Pursell - Market Research Unit and Travelers' Philanthropy Program

Shelley Pursell is a graduate business student at Thunderbird School of Global Management pursuing her MBA with a focus in international development and marketing. Her background is in marketing – specifically brand management and event planning. Shelley’s passion for responsible tourism and tourism development stems from her extensive travel and living abroad, particularly in Latin America and Australia. She hopes to use her business education and prior professional experiences to employ sustainable development practices in tourism projects in order to improve the quality of life in developing economies. Shelley enjoys outdoor activities, travel and learning about new cultures.

Ryan Kost - Costa Rica Coastal Tourism Research Project

Ryan Kost is a graduate student pursuing his M.A. in Sociocultural Anthropology at George Mason University. He has been fortunate to travel extensively to roughly 40 countries. He has studied abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and he has studied sustainable development and mountain geography in the Himalayas of Northern India. His interests focus on the guest/host perceptions and relationships created and sustained through tourism, and he plans to conduct his thesis fieldwork on the Inca Trail in Peru studying the lasting cultural footprints on local guides and porters left behind from tourism. Aside from tourism, Ryan is interested in hip-hop as a platform for political movements and sports fanaticism and hooliganism. Other hobbies include anything outdoors, soccer, cycling, and drawing.

Deanna Zhang - Costa Rica Coastal Tourism Research Project

Deanna is a senior majoring in Human Biology and International Relations. Her interests in international development, microfinance, and ecotourism began in the summer of 2005, working as an HIV/AIDS instructor in the rural villages of Tanzania. Since then, she has studied in Santiago, Chile, worked in an international public health firm in D.C., and served as a research fellow on a microfinance/anti-trafficking project at the United Nations in Bangkok. In the future, she hopes to obtain an Masters Degree in International Development and conduct ecotourism research in the Coral Triangle north of Indonesia. At Stanford, Deanna is involved with a cappella, hip-hop, and photographic pursuits - though guitar and skydiving are definitely next are her to-do list.

Kellen Klein - Market Research Unit and Travelers' Philanthropy Program

Kellen Klein is a junior at Stanford University, and is excited to be working with CESD's Travelers' Philanthropy and market research programs. He is currently pursuing a B.A. in Human Biology, with an area of concentration in Environmental Policy and Conservation. His love of animals and the outdoors stems in large part from extensive travel in East Africa and the Galapagos Islands, as well as his work on a guest ranch in Colorado. Aside from traveling, Kellen also enjoys photography, emergency medicine, animal behavior, and hiking.

Claire Menke - 2008 Indigenous Ecotourism Workshop and Conference