Megan Epler Wood

Areas of Expertise

Biography

I founded The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) in 1990. At the time, we never realized it would become the oldest and largest non-profit organization in the world dedicated to making ecotourism a tool for sustainable tourism development worldwide. I stayed on as President & CEO through 2002. In 2003, I launched my own consulting firm EplerWood International. This has given me in-depth experience aiding some of the poorest countries in the world with sustainable tourism development, including the nations of Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Sierra Leone, Mexico, El Salvador, Brazil, and Honduras.

I have published quite a few articles and books, including; Ecotourism: Principles, Practices and Policies for Sustainability for UNEP in 2002. I teach at the Harvard University Extension program, Sustainability and Environmental management program annually in the Fall, my class focuses on the environmental management of global tourism development.

As the Executive Director of the Planeterra Foundation from 2010-2012, I led a joint G Adventures/Planeterra team to raise $1 million dollars to fund community tourism supply chain development in 4 countries in Latin America from 2012-2015.

Educational Background