Interim Director

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.

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Health and Social Welfare Partnerships Coordinator

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.

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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.

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.

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