Patrick Maher

Patrick T. Maher is a Full Professor of Physical and Health Education at Nipissing University (North Bay, Ontario, Canada). He has previously held full-time academic appointments in Canada and New Zealand; as well as many visiting scholar positions across the globe.

Pat is the founder and former chair of the International Polar Tourism Research Network and lead of the University of the Arctic Thematic Network on Northern Tourism. He is one of the inaugural Grímsson Fellows (2025), a 3M National Teaching Fellow (2014), a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society (2013) and an International Fellow of the Explorer’s Club (2004). Pat held a Commonwealth Scholarship and Antarctica New Zealand/NZ Post Scholarship for his doctoral work, which focused on visitor experiences in the Ross Sea region.

Pat has published widely, in a variety of forums, he is the co-editor of: the Routledge Handbook of Mobile Technology, Social Media and the Outdoors (Routledge, 2025), Antarctic futures: Human engagement with the Antarctic environment  (Springer, 2014); Polar Tourism: Human, Environmental and Governance Dimensions  (Cognizant, 2011) and Cruise Tourism in Polar Regions: Promoting Environmental and Social Sustainability? (Earthscan, 2010). He is currently Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, as well as a member of the Editorial Boards for the Journal of Experiential Education, Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, Journal of Arctic Tourism, and the Journal of Tourism Futures, amongst others.

Research projects / interests:

• Tourist Experience
• Tourism-Science Interface
• Antarctic-Arctic Comparative Research
• Tourism and Environmental Management

Areas of interest:

• Polar Governance
• Tourism
• Antarctic Treaty System
• Environmental Management
• Polar Policy
• Human Geography
• Cultural Studies
• Environment
• Values

Keywords: Tourism, Recreation, Environmental Management, Values of Place, Arctic Connections.