Objective: To determine whether students who engage in a sedentary task in an urban park-like setting experience improved mood and whether this effect is moderated by mindfulness meditation. Participants: 234 (133 females) undergraduate students, who either engaged in outdoor recreation frequently or infrequently. Methods: Participants engaged in…

Campus outdoor recreation programs can play an integral role in developing student leaders. In this study, we sought a better understanding of the shared positive elements exemplary outdoor programs are using to develop their student leaders. The study was designed using a collective case study methodology and the theoretical lens of the…

This paper argues that the adoption of theories of racial capitalism as a framework for analysis can help shift dominant pedagogies in Outdoor Adventure Education (OAE) to not just be more inclusive, but to reimagine ways that communities of outdoor education, recreation, and leadership can build awareness of the reproduction of the Wilderness and…

During two decades of teaching, we have observed that writing students seem more emotionally honest when their writing class is accompanied by an outdoor recreation component. The ability to take perceived risks is important to both outdoor recreation and writing; thus, we postulated that confidence gained in taking risks in outdoor experiences…

Campus outdoor recreation programs and facilities have faced a number of public attacks questioning their value for students. Climbing walls in particular have become, to some, emblematic of waste and financial excess in higher education. Despite these claims, this literature review uncovers numerous benefits for participants and schools provided…

Smartphone use in outdoor recreation settings is somewhat controversial. Some individuals claim smartphones engage audiences and promote access to resources. Others claim they distract from the setting and disrupt others' experiences. This study examined the perceptions of 151 outdoor instructors regarding appropriate student smartphone use during…

This study examines Leave No Trace (LNT) knowledge among rock climbers in Kentucky's Red River Gorge (RRG), looking to establish if knowing more about LNT practices alters subsequent actions while climbing. The study uses survey data collected over one year in the RRG climbing areas. Ordinary Least Squares regression analysis reveals a positive…

Mitigating the environmental impact of rock climbing remains an important task for land managers. Leave No Trace (LNT) Principles offer a proven approach to minimizing outdoor recreation users' impacts on public lands, and this approach has similarly been shown effective among climbers. In recent years, climbing organizations have introduced…

Sometimes environmental philosophers write only for other environmental philosophers, and their insights on the nature-human relationship do not reach environmental educators and adventure programmers. This article investigates one aspect of environmental philosophy and the differences between anthropocentric and ecocentric thinking, and applies…

This paper illustrates the relevance of campus recreation to higher education through a University of Utah case study. Offering Utah's Experiential Learning and Outdoor Recreation Education (U-EXPLORE) program as our exemplar, we advance four lines of thought. First, we establish the relationship between an active body and an active mind. Second,…

Leave No Trace (LNT) principles help reduce outdoor recreation users' impacts on the natural and social environment. Rock climbers and climbing organizations have recently embraced LNT principles yet, there is a distinct dearth of research associated with LNT practices and rock climbers' adherence to LNT principles in their self-reported…

The purpose of this study was to test predictability of environmental moral reasoning patterns of preservice science teachers (PSTs) by their epistemological beliefs and values. Four environmental moral dilemma scenarios that reflect different environmental moral dilemma situations taking place in four outdoor recreation contexts (i.e., hiking,…

"Thru-hiking," where an individual hikes the entire length of an extended trail, has increased exponentially in recent years, creating a subgroup of trail users that outdoor recreation professionals currently have little knowledge about. Understanding the physiological and psychological demands of thru-hiking, where physical challenges…

The performance and embodiment of inter and intra-personal skills, or as we have conceptualised in this paper as Affective Abilities (AA), is often considered central to the fulfilment of outdoor leader roles. This article examines Australian outdoor recreation and education higher education curricula to identify what AA training opportunities are…

This study examined the results of the diversity and inclusion (D&I) survey administered to the Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education (AORE) membership in the fall of 2016. The purpose of the study was to discover the current perceptions and experiences regarding D&I of the AORE membership, which is made up primarily of outdoor…