Kelsey Frenkiel is a Program Manager at the Center for Responsible Travel (CREST), where she provides support for a wide range of research and consulting projects, manages CREST’s internship program, and oversees CREST’s Academic Affiliates program. Her particular areas of focus include circular economies and food waste; biodiversity conservation; and national parks and protected areas, with emphasis on research and analysis in the US and Caribbean. Currently, Kelsey is working with a community in Michigan to enhance economic opportunities and quality of life through responsible community-based tourism. She is also managing a project with World Wildlife Fund to understand challenges, opportunities, and the policy landscape of food waste management in the Caribbean tourism sector. Kelsey is also a co-editor for the book Overtourism: Lessons for a Better Future (2021), which tracks the causes and impacts of overtourism, while also assessing experiments underway to mitigate it.

Kelsey holds a Masters of Science degree from Oxford Brookes University in Primate Conservation and graduated from the College of William & Mary with a B.A. in Anthropology. She is also a freelance travel writer and researcher, having supported publications for National Geographic, Washingtonian, and other outlets. Kelsey is passionate about the sustainable tourism industry and its intersection with cultural and natural heritage, local livelihoods, and biodiversity conservation.