Michelle Bovee

Michelle Bovée studied at James Madison University in Virginia, where she graduated with a BA in Political Science with a focus on international and comparative politics. She is currently attending the London School of Economics to get her Masters in International Relations. Michelle has been a Program and Research Intern with the SISGI Group since summer 2011, and is now a featured writer. She will post every fourth Monday on international economic development, the political and economic ramifications of the Arab Spring, and sustainable tourism.

Most commented posts

  1. Myanmar and the Politics of Tourism — 5 comments
  2. Voluntourism: the Good and the Bad — 4 comments
  3. Voluntourism Certification — 4 comments
  4. Responsible Tourism Reaches Egypt — 4 comments
  5. Abortion-Included Tours — 4 comments

Author's posts

Jun 20

International Corporate Volunteerism Partnership

On May 31st USAID announced a partnership with IBM and CDC Development Solutions, an NGO that focuses on international corporate volunteerism (ICV), which USAID believes will make ICV more effective and sustainable. The partnership spawned a new agency: The Center of Excellence for International Corporate Volunteerism (CEICV), which will be funded by USAID, IBM, and …

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Jun 15

California: An Eco-Friendly Photo Essay, part 2

For part one of my photo-essay, click here. When doing my research for my trip to California, as you may recall, I found a very short list of organic vineyards in Napa Valley; however, once we arrived, signs such as this one were discretely posted at the majority of the vineyards we visited.  I was …

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Jun 13

California: An Eco-Friendly Photo Essay, Part 1

I recently returned from a 6-day trip to California (you may remember my preparations) that turned out to be surprisingly eco-friendly, and so I thought I would deviate from the traditional blog post today to do a sort of photo-essay.  Hopefully this will help drive home the point that no matter where you are going …

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Jun 08

India’s New Rules for Ecotourism

The concept of ecotourism is frequently misunderstood despite its rising popularity across the globe, which results in an outcropping of businesses and companies that claim to be “eco-friendly” or “environmentally correct” when they are, in fact, nothing of the sort.  Being eco-friendly can be difficult; it’s much easier to cut corners while benefitting from the …

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Jun 01

California Dreaming with an Eco-friendly Twist

In a few days my family and I leave for a 6 day trip to San Francisco and Napa, and so I thought now would be an appropriate time for a practical guide on how to ‘green’ your next vacation.  This isn’t a complete guide, of course, but simply a sort of framework to give …

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May 31

The Difficult Road Ahead

When the “Arab Spring” began in mid-December, 2010, most of the news coverage was quite hopeful.  North Africa would soon become democratic, which would be beneficial for the US, and life would rapidly improve for citizens who had been oppressed by dictators like Gaddafi and Mubarak.  But it didn’t quite happen like that.  Gaddafi still …

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May 25

Curitiba A Model for Economic Development in Brazil

Brazil, with its growing economy and BRIC designation, is considered a country to watch in the global south, but few people know about the star of Brazil: Curitiba.  Curitiba, capital of the Brazilian state of Paraná, is southern Brazil’s largest city andeconomy, with a GDP that surpasses US$30 billion and a total population of over …

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May 18

Reducing Energy Consumption – Its Not Just For Hippies

Ecotourism has become something of a buzzword lately, but how many people can honestly say they know what it is or how to be a responsible tourist?  The International Ecotourism Society is a good place to start learning about sustainable tourism andhow anyone can green their next vacation.  Founded in 1989, TIES has long set the …

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May 16

Facebook Revolution

It’s rare to read a news article on the Tunisian revolt without also reading about Facebook; it was the “Facebook revolution,” the “social media revolt,” sparked by WikiLeaks and organized by Twitter users.  But how much of the credit can really be given to social media? The revolution began in December 2010, sparked by the …

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