Past Contributors

Amanda "Mandy" Abbott

Research Assistant

Mandy is a native of Henderson, North Carolina. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion from Duke University in 2008 and is currently a second-year student in the Master of Public Administration program at ECU, where her areas of emphasis include state and local administration and public policy. After graduating from Duke, she interned at the John W. Pope Civitas Institute in Raleigh, where she conducted legislative and public policy research, primarily in the area of family and life issues. Upon completing her master's degree, she plans to attend law school and to pursue a career in administrative law.

Mandy Dough

Research Assistant

Mandy is an English graduate student with a BA in anthropology and English. The immediate goal of her assistantship is to examine the research literature on renewable energy and tourism and to produce a literature review, a white paper, and other material that can be shared with researchers and business leaders involved in sustainable tourism. In her fee time she likes to bird watch, walk her dog, read, garden, and travel.

David Evans

Research Assistant

David has an MS in Recreation and Leisure Facilities and Services Administration and holds a BS in Management of Recreation Facilities and Services. For the center, David is working to identify sustainable tourism practices across North Carolina. This information will become part of a database housed at the center of the many actions carried out by tourism businesses and companies in sustainability. Once established, the database will be a searchable tool that tourists visiting North Carolina can utilize in an effort to reduce the environmental impact of their stay. David's current interests include the preservation of designated Wilderness, how humans can minimize their impact on the environment, and educating the public on the proper and necessary behaviors to ensure environmental sustainability. He spends all of his leisure time with the advocacy of skateboarding.

Sarah Jessop

Research Assistant

Sarah Jessop graduated from the University of North Carolina at Asheville in May of 2009 with her BS in Atmospheric Science. She is currently working toward her MA in geography. Her interests lie in climatology and how people are affected by climatological or atmospheric occurrences. Sarah's work at the center includes building a data base on how North Carolina tourism businesses are currently using climate and weather data in both short and long-term business decision making, as well as a cooperative project with the geography department in developing weather indices along coastal North Carolina. Her experiences include a two week storm chasing trip in May of 2008, volunteering at the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, VA and two winters collecting northwest snowfall data in the mountains of Tennessee. Sarah enjoys hiking, kayaking, wake-boarding and knee-boarding, and tries to be outdoors whenever possible.

Mohamad Kashef 

His research contributes to a pioneering generation of urban design research that investigates the relations between physical, social, historical, and cultural dimensions of city spaces. It revolves around the study of the dialectics of form and function with an emphasis on the social logic governing the generation of urban space both on macro and micro levels.

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Tetiana Lysenko

Research Assistant

Tetiana received her Bachelor of Science Degree in international Tourism from Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University, Ukraine. She is now working towards a master’s degree in Recreation and Leisure studies with emphasis in Facilities and Services Administration. Her previous experiences include work in the tourism industry on the Outer Banks, NC and in Virginia Beach, VA. She is currently involved in a project examining second home tourism development influences on resort communities. Tetiana is also interested in recreational resources of Australia, tourism infrastructure in Ukraine, international workforce in resort communities of USA and hospitality in general.

Jessie Messina

Research Assistant

Jessie Messina is currently working on her Master's degree for the Geography Department. She graduated in 2006 with a BA in Geography and a minor in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. Jessie's work for the center focuses on a project called "Developing Community-Sponsored Sustainable Agro-Business for Economic Growth in North Carolina." This project is looking at North Carolina's declining tobacco farming industry and the numerous small family farms that are selling out to developers as a result. The goal of this project is to introduce organic farming as an alternative to selling and is also being used to promote economic, social, and cultural growth for North Carolina. Jessie's research interest's include the HIV/AIDS policies in South Africa and the overarching messages that are being promoted with respect to the epidemic.

Jillian Mistak

Special Events Coordinator and Webmaster

Jillian is a graduate student in the College of Business and holds a BA in Technical and Professional Communications. She is developing the Center website to provide an online resource that promotes research, advocacy, and education in sustainability and tourism. Additionally, Jillian is working on an inventory of current program initiatives and individual faculties at ECU in support of sustainability and tourism. In her free time, she enjoys running, outdoor adventures, traveling, furry friends, and reading.

Maria D. Allen

Administrative Assistant

Mrs. Allen served as Administrative Assistant for the Center for Sustainable Tourism during its first year courtesy of Academic Affairs. She is a co-author of a tourism text titled Tourism Policy and Planning: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (Elsevier 2008) with Dr. David L. Edgell, Sr., Dr. Ginger Smith, and Jason R. Swanson. She participated in the East Carolina University Leadership Academy and served on the planning committee for Making Tourism Work for You II, ECU's bi-annual regional tourism conference.