MEDIA, ENVIRONMENT AND TOURISM

Directory of MET Participants

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Directory of MET Participants

Les Beletsky
Wildlife biologist/guidebook author
Seattle, WA USA
- My main job is writing and editing wildlife field-guides for ecotourists. These books help tourists identify, learn about, and appreciate wildlife and also provide basic information on local geography, ecology, and national parks. There are Ecotravel Wildlife Guides for Costa Rica, Belize, Tropical Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Alaska, Hawaii and Florida.
Book: Tropical Mexico: The Ecotravellers' Wildlife Guide
Book: Belize and Northern Guatemala: The Ecotravellers' Wildlife Guide

Wayne Bernhardson
Moon Handbooks/Avalon Travel
Oakland, CA USA
- I am the author of several editions of several Lonely Planet guidebooks specializing in the Southern Cone and most recently I've written the Guatemala Handbook (Moon Travel Handbooks). My background is more academic and research-oriented than most guidebook writers as I have advanced degrees in Geography from UC Berkeley.
Book: Chile and Easter Island

Beatrice Blake
Guidebook author
- I have been updating The New Key since 1982, and have been working (with many colleagues) for the last 11 years on perfecting a "green rating" for steering tourists toward projects that really benefit local communities and cultures while protecting the environment. This rating system has appeared in different forms in the last four editions of my book.
Book: The New Key to Costa Rica

Tim Burford
Guidebook author
Cambridge, UK
- I began ten years ago with a guide to hiking in Romania just after the Berlin Wall came down. Then I went to Central America and Mexico to write ecotourism guides. Since then I've taken over the Bradt guide to Hiking in Chile and Argentina. I also lead hiking groups in Romania, Slovakia, the Alps and Chile.
Book: Backpacking and Hiking in Chile and Argentina

Bruce & June Conord
Freelance travel writers
USA
- We are freelance travel writers as well as travel guidebook writers for Hunter Publishing. Our most recent book Cancun, Cozumel & Riviera Maya Alive! is a concise guidebook for the more typical North American tourists who stay in resort areas and do day trips. Our other book, Adventure Guide to the Yucatan, won this year's "Best Travel Book" award from the North American Journalists Association.
Book: Adventure Guide to the Yucatan

Susan Cunningham
Freelance journalist
Bangkok, THAILAND
- I am a freelance journalist living in Bangkok and have almost 20 years of journalism experience. I have covered many topics over the years and most recently, I've been writing on environmental issues. Some of my work has included updating Apa guidebooks to Thailand and Vietnam, writing city guides, crafts books and articles for in-flight magazines. I dream of producing a magazine and/or a Web site on adventure travel in Asia.

Wayne Curtis
Freelance writer
USA
- I am a freelance writer who's long been curious about the process by which tourism can alter or maim the very thing that it needs to survive in the first place -- a distinct sense of place. I am the author of several travel guides, including Maine Off the Beaten Path, Frommer's Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, and Frommer's Nova Scotia. I have also written articles for Preservation, Atlantic Monthly, and the New York Times Sunday travel section.

Julie Fanselow
Travel writer/co-founder, Guidebookwriters.com
USA
- I am a co-founder of Guidebookwriters.com, a co-sponsor of this conference, and a travel writer specializing in Western North America. My books include Traveling the Lewis & Clark Trail, Traveling the Oregon Trail, Idaho Off the Beaten Path, and the Lonely Planet books on Texas and British Columbia. Through my books and articles I try to give exposure to travel-related businesses that try to operate in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Dominic Hamilton
Travel writer
UK
- I wrote the Traveler's Venezuela Companion guide, and recently updated the Traveler's Ecuador Companion (out in December). I'm a freelancer based in London, and have written for all sorts: the Independent on Sunday, BBC Wildlife, Geographical. I'm a contributing editor of South American Explorer magazine.
Book: Traveler's Venezuela Companion
Web: http://www.nomadom.net

George Hatch
EcoAmericas
USA
- I edit and publish EcoAmericas, a monthly report on development and the environment in Latin America. We produce EcoAmericas in the U.S., but the reporting is done by our Latin America correspondents. We haven't run as many ecotourism articles as we should, but thanks to Ron's contributions, most of those we've published have taken on essential questions facing the field.
Web: http://www.ecoamericas.com

Bonnie Hayskar
PANGAEA Publications
USA
- For ten years my company, PANGAEA, has been publishing books which focus on nature and cultures of the world. I believe that in order to protect the natural world and indigenous cultures, we must come to know them. Once you know them you have a reason to care about them and their well-being.
Book: Natural Patagonia
Book: Natural Cuba
Book: Coqui and His Friends
Web: http://pangaea.org

Herb Hiller
Freelance writer
Georgetown, FL USA
- My fields are Florida and the Caribbean. I am former VP of Norwegian Caribbean Lines, executive director of the Caribbean Travel Assn., and initiator of the Caribbean Tourism Organization. I have served as founding editor of The International Ecotourism Society. I also write travel pieces for many magazines and newspapers in Florida. My chief concern in Florida is how to make tourism more responsive to protecting environmental and other heritage resources. He also coordinates workshops with the Society for American Travel Writers.
Web: http://www.satw.org

Bill Hinchberger
BrazilMax
Sao Paulo, Brazil
- I am editor and publisher of BrazilMax, a website that I tout as "the hip gringo's guide to Brazil." I also write feature articles for a diverse stable of clients including ARTnews, Science and International Wildlife. I hope that we'll explore the issue of in-country vs. parachute journalists in travel writing and international reporting in general.
Web: http://www.BrazilMax.com

Peter Hutchison
Freelance journalist
London, UK
- I am a freelance journalist based in London covering Latin America. At present, I am editor of the Central America and Mexico Handbook. I have authored and co-authored several travel guides including the Costa Rica Handbook (Footprint Handbooks) and the Amazon (Bradt Travel Guides) and I write for several UK based magazines. The success of an article covering environment and tourism is in convincing as many people as possible to be less destructive.
Book: Footprint Mexico and Central America

Nancy J. Johnston
Freelance writer and photographer
USA
- I am a freelance writer and photographer with credits in the adventure travel genre for an assortment of magazines: Sierra, Canadian Living, Wildlife Conservation, and Cruising Helmsman. I love to write about people and culture and sense of place. My goal for this conference is to network with other people who support low-impact travel that respects local values. I divide my time between New England and the Big Island of Hawaii, and write about both.
Web: http://www.njjohnston.com

Diane Jukofsky
Neotropics Communications
USA/COSTA RICA
- I am director of the Rainforest Alliance's Neotropics Communication Program. I write about conservation issues and projects in the Neotropics for a bimonthly, bilingual news bulletin (Eco-Exchange/Ambien-Tema), hold training workshops for U.S. and Latin American journalists and nongovernmental organizations, and manage and edit a bilingual Web site called the Eco-Index, a searchable almanac of conservation initiatives in Mexico and Central America.
Web: http://www.eco-index.org

Helena Katz
Freelance journalist
Montreal, CANADA
- I have been a freelance journalist for eight years, writing news, business, human interest and travel stories. For about three years I've been writing travel stories focusing on the outdoors. My work frequently appears in Hooked on the Outdoors. At the moment I'm writing mostly about Canada, but am interested in Central America as well. I'd like to learn more about ecotourism and figure out ways to take my stories beyond the standard destination pieces.
Web: http://www.ruhooked.com

Perri Knize
Travel writer
USA
- I am a long-time freelance writer covering the environment and public policy for magazines, including The Atlantic Monthly, Audubon, Sports Illustrated, and Outside. I've also done some travel writing and travel criticism for two of the Conde Nast books: Traveler, and the now-defunct Women's Sports and Fitness. Also in the travel vein, I've been a long-time contributor to Skiing Magazine. Currently I am at work on a long-term project to assess the performance of the media in covering the environment, for the non-profit Institutes for Journalism and Natural Resources
Web: http://www.ijnr.org

Jimmy Langman
Freelance writer
CHILE/BOLIVIA
- I write about environmental and other issues in Chile, Bolivia and occasionally other countries in the region. I write a lot for newspapers such as the San Francisco Chronicle, Toronto Globe and Mail, and the Miami Herald, and occasionally for Newsweek and Americas magazine. In my view one of the best ways to save wild places, especially in developing countries, is to generate more ecotourism and without a doubt the media plays a big role in that.
Web: http://www.geocities.com/jelangman/webpage

George Leposky
Ampersand Communications
Miami, FL USA
- I am editor and co-owner of Ampersand Communications, a newsfeatures syndicate. Our product line includes a weekly environmental column and two monthly travel columns -- Travel Adventures and Traveling the South -- that often deal with ecotouristic destinations. From 1985 throug 2001, I edited Vacation Industry Review, a trade magazine published by Interval International, a global vacation-exchange and leisure-services company.
Web: http://www.ampersandcom.com

Jonathan Lerner
Freelance writer
Atlanta, Georgia USA
- I am a freelance writer living in Atlanta. My articles have two main focuses: architecture, design, and historic preservation; and travel and food. They appear in magazines such as Travel+Leisure, Metropolis and InStyle.
Web: http://www.penpowerpublishing.homestead.com/storylinks.html

Ron Mader
Webhost-director-editor-graphics artists-sales manager behind the Planeta.com website
Oaxaca, MEXICO
- I am an independent writer and public speaker, focusing on environmental business and environmental travel in Latin America. I've worked in this field for the past 15 years and plan to continue along these lines for the next 30! For the past decade I have been a professional writer and journalist. My work highlights the connections between economic and environmental issues in the Americas. Since 1994 I have been the editor/publisher of Planeta journal which became the backbone of the award-winning Planeta.com website. I authored the Mexico: Adventures in Nature guidebook and co-authored the first edition of the Honduras: Adventures in Nature book.
Book: Mexico: Adventures in Nature
Web:http://www.planeta.com

Richard Mahler
Freelance Writer, Guidebook Author
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Book: Guatemala: Adventures in Nature
Book: Belize: Adventures in Nature

Jean McNeil
Latin America Bureau
London, UK
- My personal interest in the conference comes from being the author/contributor to the Rough Guides to Costa Rica and Central America and an occasional travel writer and broadcaster. Presently, I work for the Latin America Bureau in London, which works to further development education about Latin America and the Caribbean in the UK. We have recently received the support of the European Union to develop a modest three-year project to investigate tourism's relation to development issues in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Book: Last Resorts: The Cost of Tourism in the Caribbean
Web: http://www.lab.org.uk

Hitesh Mehta
Writer, Editor
USA
- I am an Ecolodge Architect and Landscape Architect and also specialize in Ecotourism Planning. For the past four years, i have written numerous articles for magazines (Landscape Architecture, Green Hotelier) and newsletters such as TIES. Last year, I helped a fellow writer on an article that he wrote for "Audubon" magazine on ecotourism travel and the top ecolodges in the world. I am currently the editor of a book that will go to publishing in a few months - "International Ecolodge Guidelines".

Maribeth Mellin
Freelance journalist and photographer
USA
- I am a freelance journalist and photographer specializing in Latin America. I have authored books on Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, Argentina, California, and Hawaii for the Traveler's Companion series. Most of my books are geared toward well-educated travelers, and I am able to write essays on the environmental issues affecting each country.

Jerry Mills
Freelance writer
Oakville, Ontario CANADA
- For the past 15 years I have been a corporate communications consultant for such travel-related clients as Canadian Pacific, Doubletree, and Amex. For the past 5 years, I have been with American Express Travel's 3DreamScapes magazine. This is how I met Ron Mader in Acapulco at Tianguis '97. Since this time, I have started concentrating on destinations with appeal to older and more mature target audiences: people who were looking beyond beaches, bare bums, babes and booze for their Mexico travel experiences.
Web: http://www.planeta.com/planeta/00/0003mxtampico.html

Elena Pappas
Environmental consultant
Washington, DC USA
- I have been working in environmental conservation and sustainable tourism in the US and Greece for the past eight years. I published an article in National Geographic Traveler (March 2001) on the controversy surrounding plans for the construction of a facility for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games on an ecologically and historically significant site in Marathon, Greece.

Harry S. Pariser
Manatee Press
San Francisco, CA USA
- I have authored travel guides to the Caribbean and Central America including Barbados, Belize, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. I wrote two guides to Costa Rica: Adventure Guide to Costa Rica and Explore Costa Rica and my most recent book is Explore Barbados.
Web: http://www.savethemanatee.com

Polly Patullo
Journalist
UK
- I am a journalist specializing in the Caribbean. I have authored Last Resorts: the cost of tourism in the Caribbean and Fire from the Mountain. Currently, I am part of a team working on a proposal for a national hiking trail in Dominica.
Book: Last Resorts: The Cost of Tourism in the Caribbean

Holly Quan
Freelance writer/editor
Calgary, Alberta CANADA
- I began writing professionally 15 years ago providing brochure and advertising copy for Brewster, a major tour operator in Banff. Now, I am a freelancer and much of my travel and commercial writing is focused on western Canada, especially Calgary, Banff and the Canadian Rockies. I have also produced a number of interpretive books and guides for tourists taking Brewster tours.

Abigail Rome
Freelance writer
Washington, DC USA
- - I am a freelance writer and independent consultant in conservation and ecotourism. My academic training is in plant ecology (Duke University) and I have been doing conservation work for the past 16 years. The ecotourism aspect came about as I worked with several environmental NGOs in Ecuador and found that the most effective way to bring about conservation is by encouraging people living in and around natural areas to invest in their protection. I do this by working directly with ecotourism providers and community members in touristed areas, as well as by writing travel articles and reports, always with a strong emphasis on applying the principles of ecotourism.

Theresa Russell
Freelance writer
USA
- I am a freelance writer who specializes in active travel. I have written Bed, Breakfast & Bike Midwest, a bestseller of the series, and am currently writing a bicycling guide to the Yucatan. I have led bicycling tours to the Baja Peninsula, the Yucatan, and New Zealand.
Web: http://www.travelnearandfar.com/bbbweb.html

Zoya Skoropadenko
Environmental journalist
Ukraine
-I work for the environmental NGO Ecopravo-Lviv (Environmental Advocacy) as a journalist and PR manager. I am involved in some projects concerning green tourism and green information in Ukraine and Poland.
Web: http://www.ecopravo.lviv.ua

Julian Smith
Travel writer/conservationist
USA
- I am a travel writer and have authored On Your Own in El Salvador and the Moon Handbooks for Virginia and Ecuador. In creating my books I've always been concerned with socially and ecologically responsible tourism. As a conservationist, I have worked as a USFS Field Biologist, NPS Park Ranger and a naturalist guide in the Costa Rican rainforest. My recently completed master's thesis explores the ecological, economic, and social aspects of ecotourism in the form of grizzly bear viewing on the coast of British Columbia.
Web: http://www.moon.com

Nancy V. Sont
Travel writer
Canada
- I'm a nature writer with about 22 newspapers and magazines to my credit. The biggest ones are Better Homes and Gardens, Outdoor Life, Hooked on the Outdoors, The Globe and Mail in Toronto, The Ottawa Citizen, The Toronto Star, The Houston Chronicle, etc.

Polly Stupples
Freelance journalist/writer
NEW ZEALAND
- I am a freelance journalist specializing in environmental feature writing, adventure travel and tourism. I am currently the South Island editor of New Zealand's Backpacking magazine as well as a freelancer. Tourism is New Zealand's second largest industry and as we encourage more and more tourists to visit, their impacts are becoming more and more visible. Presently, there is much heated debate about development within national parks.

Jonathan Tourtellot
National Geographic Traveler
Washington, DC USA
- I am senior editor at National Geographic Traveler magazine specializing in sustainable tourism. Traveler is happy to be a co-sponsor of this conference, as we are making destination stewardship a major editorial theme. My department in the magazine, "Travelwatch," addresses sustainability and stewardship. I also host an online "Tourism Forum" for readers. In addition, I've been encouraging the National Geographic Society as a whole to take a more active role in disseminating information about responsible and constructive tourism.
Web: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/traveler

Sue Wheat
Freelance journalist
UK
- I am a freelance environmental and development journalist. I write for the national papers and for various magazines such as Geographical and BBC Wildlife. I have worked with the British tourism campaign group, Tourism Concern. Recently, I edited a women's magazine on ethical travel for Tourism Concern.
Web: http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk
Web: http://groups.yahoo.com/messages/fairtradetourism

Brad Wieners
Writer/Editor
USA
- I was a senior editor at Outside magazine, and reported a few short pieces of my own, but mostly commissioned pieces. Am now an independent journalist based in new york.

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