Kelly Bricker: Chair, TIES Board of Directors

Dr. Kelly S. Bricker completed her Ph.D. research at The Pennsylvania State University where she specialized in sustainable tourism development. She has special research interests in sustainable tourism, natural resource management, outdoor recreation, community and heritage tourism development, ecotourism, sense of place and incentive travel programs. She has worked all over the world, having been employed as a guide, tourism manager, wilderness instructor, scuba and sailing instructor, professor, and researcher. She consults as Senior Scientist in recreation with Devine, Tarbell & Associates part-time on alternative energy projects. She has taught at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji, West Virginia University, Sacramento State, and California Polytechnic University, and has recently found a home as Associate Professor in the Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Department at the University of Utah in Sustainable Tourism Development. Since April 2005, she has served as Chair of the Board of Directors for The International Ecotourism Society (TIES).

David Sollitt: Executive Director, TIES

With his extensive experience in regional, national and international marketing and communications as well as conservation background, David brings exciting and innovative solutions and opportunities to TIES and its network. With his own agency and consultancy in Jackson Hole, WY, he has worked with such clients as Grand Teton Lodge Company, Vail Resorts, Rockefeller Holdings, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Wyoming State Tourism, Marriott, and Papoose Creek Lodge in Cameron, MT. David also consulted for various conservation organizations including Trout Unlimited, Deschutes River Conservancy, and Yellowstone to Yukon. He has enjoyed traveling to every continent except Antarctica and sailing extensively around the world.

Daniel Dustin Department Chair, College of Health, Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism, University of Utah

Daniel L. Dustin is Professor and Chair of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism in the College of Health at the University of Utah. He served previously as Frost Professor and Chair of the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation at Florida International University in Miami, and as Professor and Chair of the Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism at San Diego State University. Dr. Dustin’s academic interests center on environmental stewardship and the moral and ethical bases for leisure and recreation activity preferences and behaviors. A past president of the Society of Park and Recreation Educators (SPRE) and the Academy of Leisure Sciences, he is a recipient of the National Recreation and Park Association’s Literary Award. In 1994 he was named an “honorary lifetime member” of the California Park Rangers Association for his contributions to the literature of outdoor recreation planning and policy, and in 2001 he received the SPRE Distinguished Colleague Award for a lifetime of achievement. Wilderness in America: Personal Perspectives; Beyond Promotion and Tenure: On Being a Professor; For the Good of the Order: Administering Academic Programs in Higher Education; Stewards of Access/Custodians of Choice: A Philosophical Foundation for the Park and Recreation Profession; Nature and the Human Spirit: Toward an Expanded Land Management Ethic; and The Wilderness Within: Reflections on Leisure and Life are among his other works as a contributing author and editor. In addition to his administrative duties, Dr. Dustin teaches a variety of courses in recreation, park, and leisure studies. In his free time, he enjoys backpacking, fly-fishing, and bicycling.

Barbara Lawton: Wisconsin’s Lt. Governor

Under Governor Doyle and Lt. Governor Lawton’s leadership, Wisconsin protected more than 55,000 acres of forests, parks, and wildlife through 176 stewardship projects in 67 counties.Through renewable energy, land conservation, and waterway protection, Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton believes that Wisconsin can and should be as clean and pristine as the Wisconsin she grew up in rural southeast Wisconsin. Lt. Governor Lawton believes that Wisconsin citizens deserve to have clean water to drink, clean air to breathe, clean energy to fuel their daily lives, and quality habitat for all to enjoy.

“We must continue to expand the public’s holdings with a deep commitment to the Stewardship Fund, and we must ensure high standards for clean air and water, and protect our Great Lakes.”

Kelli A. Trumble: Secretary, Wisconsin Department of Tourism

Governor Jim Doyle appointed Kelli A. Trumble to Secretary of Tourism in February 2007. The Wisconsin Department of Tourism is charged by the Governor and Legislature with promoting travel to and within the state. The Department has a $15 million annual budget and 40 employees.

Ms. Trumble brings experience as a tourism promoter and business owner to the Secretary’s office. Her long career in Wisconsin’s travel and hospitality industry began with her position as Executive Director at the Wisconsin Dells Visitor & Convention Bureau. In 2003, she opened Sundara Inn & Spa located in Wisconsin Dells. Before selling her investment in Sundara Inn & Spa, it was named the Number #3 Favorite Spa Escape in America by ABC’s “Good Morning America.” In 1996, she opened her own firm, specializing in marketing, communications and customer relations programs for the tourism industry. Ms. Trumble also developed The Entertainment Network, an in-area cable television show featuring “what’s new and things to do” in Wisconsin Dells.

Costas Christ: Judging Chairman, World Travel and Tourism Council -Tourism for Tomorrow Awards

Costas Christ is an internationally recognized expert on sustainable tourism and serves as Chairman of the World Travel and Tourism Council – Tourism for Tomorrow Awards that promote global tourism best practices. He is a contributing editor and columnist for National Geographic Adventure magazine and Chairman of the Adventures in Travel Expo Conferences. Costas works with Big Five Tours and Expeditions on their “Spirit of Big Five” travel philanthropy program that helps to protect the cultural and natural heritage of our planet. His travels and sustainable tourism work have taken him to more than 100 countries and six continents. He is a founding member and former Chairman of the Board of The International Ecotourism Society and served as a Senior Director for Ecotourism at Conservation International in Washington DC, where he supervised sustainable tourism development projects in 22 countries. In addition to his monthly column in National Geographic Adventure, Costas’ articles and essays on travel and tourism have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Boston Globe, International Herald Tribune, and Times of London. He is the lead author of Tourism and Biodiversity: Mapping Tourism Global Footprint and a contributing author in Wilderness: Earth’s Last Wild Places and has appeared many times on television and radio, including CNN, BBC, National Public Radio, CBS, ABC, and NBC. He is a frequent keynote speaker at international tourism conferences and has designed and led sustainable tourism training programs and workshops worldwide.

Mary Jo Viederman: Vice President of Communications, Lindblad Expedition

MJ is Vice President of Communications, Lindblad Expeditions, the expedition travel leader known for pioneering adventure travel in regions from Antarctica to the Galapagos with a mission that embodies respectful tourism practices. Before joining Lindblad in June of 2004, MJ ran her own firm, Living Out Loud Communications, dedicated to the strategic communications, branding and advocacy initiatives of many leading socially responsible consumer brands from Odwalla and Fresh Samantha to Honest Tea and Stonyfield Farm, where she served as Communications VP for five years. MJ believes that business is the most important social institution that has to get behind issues of social and environmental change in order for them to succeed. Her husband MJ and her husband Dan have two children and live in Western Massachusetts. Dan leads Verite an independent, non-profit social auditing and research organization that works worldwide to ensure safe, fair and legal working conditions for workers.

Mary C. Pearl: President, Wildlife Trust

Mary C. Pearl is the president of Wildlife Trust, a global organization dedicated to innovative conservation science, linking ecology and health, and building careers of local scientists and educators in 20 high-biodiversity countries in North America, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. She is the co-founder of the Consortium for Conservation Medicine, a collaborative comprised of Wildlife Trust, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine Center for Conservation Medicine, The University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, The University of Wisconsin-Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, and the USGS National Wildlife Health Center. She is also a co-founder of the Center for Environmental Research and Conservation at Columbia University, where she serves as an adjunct research scientist.

Dr. Pearl is editor of the series “Methods and Cases in Conservation Science” at Columbia University Press, and is co-editor of Conservation Medicine (Oxford 2002) and Conservation for the 21st Century (Oxford 1990). Dr. Pearl has published numerous scientific papers and is associate editor of the academic journal EcoHealth (Springer) and on the editorial board of Conservation in Practice. She received her undergraduate and doctoral degrees from Yale University, and holds an honorary doctorate from Marist College. Newsweek magazine profiled Dr. Pearl with an in-depth interview describing her as a leading wildlife biologist who has “spearheaded the development of ‘Conservation Medicine’ – a scientific exploration of the links between the health of humans, wildlife and ecosystems.”

She is a member of the International Women’s Forum and the Belizean Grove, two networks of leading women in business, government, and the public sector, and recently served as member of the Task Force on Environmental Sustainability of the UN Millennium Project. She serves on the boards of Brazil’s Institute for Ecological Research, the Belize Audubon Society, and Sustainable Travel International. Dr. Pearl is a member of Newsweek Magazine’s Global Environment and Leadership Advisory Committee.