Mechelle BEst, phd

Barbados uh cum from ... and I love to travel!

Ph.D. Tourism, University of Florida (2008), Fulbright/OAS for Eastern Caribbean 2004-06

M.Sc. Natural Resource Management, University of the West Indies, Barbados (2002)

B.Sc. Hotel Management, University of the West Indies, Bahamas & Jamaica (1995, 1st Class Hons.)

I was born and raised in Barbados, a beautiful island in the Eastern Caribbean. I joined CSUN in fall 2008 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Recreation & Tourism Management. It has been a marvelous challenge thus far, allowing me to use my professional experience in managing and consulting in the tourism industry to really engage my students in the classroom and in the field. I have had the pleasure of both visiting and working in many of the countries of the Caribbean and plan to share my home with my students as much as possible. This plan got off to a great start with a study trip to the Cayman Islands during spring break 2009. I'm sure my Tourism Planning class will agree that this fieldwork definitely enhanced the quality of their university experience. Since 2009 I've taken my students on study/research trips or conferences to Barbados and a number of California destinations including Santa Barbara, Sacramento and Catalina Island as well as to Park City in Utah.

My exciting journey is ongoing with sugar heritage tourism research in the Caribbean and tourism education research in Barbados. Both heritage and education are crucial to sustainability in tourism. On the campus sustainability side I'm working on a few projects which help me to engage my students in service learning activities in campus housing and staff/faculty offices.

INTERESTS

Myrresearch interests include 'greening' or environmental management in hospitality & tourism; ecotourism and nature-based tourism; tourism impacts; and community participation in tourism. I am currently conducting research on greening initiatives in California's lodging sector, tourism education in secondary schools in the Caribbean, and sugar heritage tourism in the Caribbean.

I'm a faculty associate with CSUN's Institute for Sustainability and an active member of the core greening committee. As part of my work with the Institute I co-teach sustainability related courses, sit on the campus sustainability curriculum committee, and co-chair the sustainable living sub-committee.

I am also a member of the International Association for Society & Natural Resources, Travel & Tourism Research Association, US Travel Association and California Travel Association.

NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

CSU CSUSustains Hospitality and Tourism in California

* Tourism Forum at CSUN featuring Distinguished Visiting Speaker:

Mr. Hugh Riley

CEO & Secretary General

The Caribbean Tourism Organization

Mr. Riley's presentation

Video of Mr. Riley's presentation

*Minor in Sustainability!

A new university Minor in Sustainability started in Fall 2011.

The goal of the new program is to broadly educate students about the fundamental concepts of sustainability including economic, environmental, and social aspects. It is designed to supplement education in other disciplines and to provide knowledge of the considerations necessary to make decisions in a world where resources are limited.

The minor comprises three core courses in sustainability (SUST300, SUST310, SUST401) and three electives to be selected from existing courses within departments throughout the university (18 units total).

The minor is housed in the Department of Liberal Studies in the College of Humanities, and advisors are located in Education Room 100.