Center for Sustainable Tourism to hold Open House

The East Carolina University Center for Sustainable Tourism will celebrate its fourth anniversary with an Open House on campus beginning at 12:30 p.m. Jan. 26 in Mendenhall Student Center Great Rooms 1 and 2.

University of Utah professor Dr. Kelly S. Bricker will kick off the event with the keynote presentation on ecotourism, “Working Towards a Greater Good: The Role of Sustainable Tourism in Supporting the Millennium Development Goals.”

Dr. Kelly Bricker

Bricker is associate professor of parks, recreation and tourism management at the University of Utah. She is executive director of The International Ecotourism Society, co-chair of the Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference and a board member of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.

Following Bricker’s presentation, reaction and comments will be provided by Dr. Deb Jordan, chair of ECU’s Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies; Dr. David Emmerling, executive director of the Pamlico-Tar River Foundation; and Dr. Marieke Van Willigen, chair of the Department of Sociology. Graduate student research posters will be on display at 2 p.m.

A faculty panel from the center will lead a discussion of interdisciplinary perspectives on sustainability and tourism at 2:30 p.m., with the following faculty members and their discussion topics:  Dr. Tom Rickenbach, climate change and geography; Dr. Tarek Abdel-Salam, energy renewable energy and engineering; Dr. Stephanie Jilcott, public health and sustainability; and Dr. Jon Kirschoff, green marketing and business.

Dr. Lisa Clough, chair of ECU’s Coastal Maritime Council, will present “North Carolina’s Dynamic Coasts: An update on ECU’s Coastal Maritime Council activities,” at 3:30 p.m.

For additional information on the scheduled presentations, review descriptions of the presentations scheduled for the Open House.

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