Schedule

12:30 PM

Registration and Welcoming Address

Charles E. Button, Ph.D., GESAC Founder; Chair & Professor, Geography & Sustainability, Central Connecticut State University

12:45 PM

Opening Address

Dr. Robert S. Wolff, Dean, Carol A. Ammon College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

1:00 PM - 1:45 PM

Session A:

Sustainable Tourism

Kiva Couchon, Director of Industry Affairs, Arizona Office of Tourism

2:00 PM - 2:45 PM

Session B

Food & Beverage Sustainability

Rose Forrest, CEC, Sodexo Sustainability Coordinator MA/RI

Explore student eating habits and the shift to plant-based eating as rolled out to Massachusetts and Rhode Island, as well as the proposed plans for Connecticut. Additionally, Ms. Forrest will discuss some of the programming happening on campuses around sustainability & food insecurity.

3:00 PM - 3:45 PM

Session C

Hotel Sustainability

Jay Mitchell, Regional Director Of Operations, Buffalo Lodging Associates, LLC

This session focuses on sustainable practices in the hotel and lodging industry. Examples of the newest sustainable trends will be explored as well as future directions in sustainability for the hotel industry.

4:00 PM - 4:45 PM

Session D

Event Planning Sustainability

Melody Zielke, Senior in Tourism & Hospitality Studies (THS) and President of THS Club, CCSU

This session will focus on sustainable methods used in events planning. Wasteful practices will be described as well as sustainable measures that can be taken that are not only less wasteful, but also more profitable for planning companies.

5:00 PM - 6:30 PM

Research Poster Session

An interactive display of illustrated research posters on topics relating to sustainability, transportation, and the environment. This poster session is open to all; presenters include researchers, practitioners, and graduate and undergraduate students.

If you are interested in presenting a poster, please contact Dr. Charles Button at buttonche@ccsu.edu.

Social Mixer

A social mixer designed to bring students and professionals together, including a cash bar, hors d'oeuvres, and the sweet jazz stylings of Brown Paper Sax.