Benoni L Amsden

March 29th, 2012 by Bridget

Interim Director

Ben Amsden

Ben Amsden

Ben Amsden is the Interim Director of the Center for Rural Partnerships and a Research Assistant Professor of Social Science and Tourism Policy. His research, teaching, and engagement focus on resource-based recreation and tourism in the contexts of community, rural sustainability, and the natural environment. Examples of his work include an examination of place attachment and volunteering in a tourism-dependent community in rural Alaska; an appraisal of stakeholder response to alternative transportation strategies in the White Mountain National Forest; the analysis of economic models assessing the impact of visitor spending at federally-managed reservoirs including Raystown Lake in Pennsylvania and Lake Lanier in Georgia; and the exploration of a concept called “agrileisure” that connects agriculture, tourism, and social change. Ben also teaches graduate and undergraduate courses including Environment and Society, Methods of Social Research, and Rural Sociology.

Frances M Belcher

March 28th, 2012 by CfRP

Health and Social Welfare Partnerships Coordinator

 

Frances Belcher

Frances Belcher

 

Fran Belcher’s extensive experience in community development, multi-sector collaboration, public policy, and philanthropy has been a perfect fit for PSU’s rural engagement mission. Prior to joining the Center in November of 2008, Fran served as Director of the NHHEAF Network Educational Foundation and served as program officer to numerous charitable foundations focused upon higher education, family development and community health programs in NH.

Melissa Greenawalt-Yelle

March 28th, 2012 by Alice

Project Assistant

Melissa Greenawalt-Yelle grew up in southwestern Pennsylvania, spent some time as an AmeriCorps VISTA in Casper, Wyoming, and came to the Northeast in search of trees and greenery.  She fell in love with the forests, fields, trails, and people of New Hampshire and is thoroughly enjoying her stay.

Melissa holds a B.A. in English from Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA and an M.S. in Environmental Science and Policy from Plymouth State University.  For her Master’s thesis, she conducted a watershed tributary study of the Lake Waukewan Watershed which examined the relationship between water chemistry, habitat quality, and macroinvertebrate communities and watershed development.  The study established baseline water quality data for tributary streams and will help communities continue to protect valuable drinking water supplies.

Melissa is passionate about protecting and maintaining working rural landscapes and served as co-chair of the Campton Conservation Commission for several years—the happy end result of a trail guide writing project for the Blair Woodlands Natural Area in Campton.  She is also an avid photographer, and a juried member of Artistic Roots Gallery in Plymouth.

When she’s not working, you’ll likely find Melissa either cycling, telemark skiing, hiking, or kayaking, or with her camera pointed at something she finds particularly fascinating…like moss…or flowing water…or bugs…or cows.

Marylynn Cote

March 28th, 2012 by CfRP
Marylynn Cote

Marylynn Cote

Administrative Assistant

Marylynn Cote grew up in the beautiful Lakes Region of New Hampshire.  Striving for the serenity of North, she relocated to the White Mountains.  For 5 years she called Holderness, NH home.  She enrolled at Plymouth State Univeristy in the Spring of 2007 through the Frost School of Continuing and Professional Studies.  While living and working locally Marylynn was able to further her B.A. in Communication Studies, by enrolling in many online and evening courses at PSU.  She recently purchased her first home in nearby Ashland, NH and looks forward to taking part in lasting contributions to PSU and surrounding communities.

Linda Upham-Bornstein

March 27th, 2012 by Alice

History, Heritage, and Culture Coordinator

Linda Upham-Bornstein

Northern New Hampshire has been my home for most of my adult life.  The region’s rich history, heritage, and culture were the impetus for my pursuit of a Ph.D. in United States history.  My dissertation, “The Taxpayer as Reformer: ‘Pocketbook Politics’ and the Law, 1860 – 1940,” examines taxpayers as political and legal actors, who saw paying taxes as a source of political legitimacy and empowerment, and the development and expansion of the taxpaying citizen’s right to hold public officials accountable. While I am primarily a legal and socio-political historian, my research and teaching also embrace labor, economic, and immigration history.

Thaddeus C Guldbrandsen

March 29th, 2011 by Bridget

On Leave

Thaddeus Guldbrandsen is the founding director of the Center for Rural Partnerships and a member of the faculty of Social Science and Environmental Science & Policy at Plymouth State University.

He is co-author of the award winning book Local Democracy Under Siege: Activism, Public Interests, and Private Politics (NYU Press 2007) and several other articles and book chapters on topics related to globalization, local democracy, regionalism, sustainable development, and social inequality. His dissertation, Bull City Futures, examined economic globalization and regional planning efforts in the Research Triangle and Durham, North Carolina as that city made the postindustrial transition from “the City of Tobacco” to “the City of Medicine” at the end of the 20th Century.