Tatiana Iretskaia, PhD
Department of Community Sustainability
STPAM - Wildlife Tourism, Ecotourism, Coastal Protected Areas
Hometown: Saint Petersburg, Russia
Advisor: Dan McCole
Tanya's (preferred nickname for Tatiana) previous education includes BS and MS degrees from Russia and France (in International Management, Applied Environmental Sciences, and Territory Development).
Prior to MSU Tanya was part of several biological and environmental projects around the planet, such as trail building in Iceland, work with nesting sea turtles in Galapagos and Costa Rica, biological reef monitoring in Madagascar, following wild capuchin monkeys in Argentina, and monitoring for wildlife in winter Montana. She has also spent several seasons as a tour guide on Russian Waterways, as well as leading small-group trips throughout Russia, Mongolia and China. In addition, she has served as facilitator for the Open World Program for ten years. Last but not least, she has spent nine months with the Aldo Leopold Foundation in Wisconsin as their stewardship fellow.
Tanya's combined multicultural and travel upbringing and experiences, apprehension for the natural environment and the concept of 'land ethics', the desire to give back as well as constant search for new challenges have brought her back to academia and to the PhD STPAM program within the CSUS. Here she hopes to develop her research skills and to contribute to the missions of the department.
Tanya is the recipient of the C.S. Mott Predoctoral Fellowship Award, the Academic Achievement Graduate Assistantship, and the Harriette B. Sherman Scholarship in Recreation and Tourism Systems. She is pursuing a graduate specialization in Ecological Foods and Farming Systems, as well as the Certificate in College Teaching. This year she is working as graduate research assistant to Dr. Perry, and as a tutor within the MSU Upward Bound program.