Dr. Joseph T. O’Leary is Professor and Head of The Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences at Texas A&M University. Prior to assuming his role at Texas A&M University, he was a Professor of Outdoor Recreation & Tourism in the Department of Forestry & Natural Resources at Purdue University. He was also formerly Coordinator and Marine Advisory Services Leader for the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Program; Asst. Director, National Laboratory for Tourism and e-Commerce; Asst. Director, Purdue Tourism and Hospitality Research Center.

His professional interests include the social behavior and travel patterns of domestic and international recreation consumers, secondary analysis of major regular national data sets and longitudinal travel and recreation related data, the analysis of recreation and leisure trends, and the social impacts of recreation resource development.

He has been involved in many organizations such as: Coordinator, National Recreation and Park Association; Moderator, Society of American Forests Annual Conference; Program Chair, International Travel and Tourism Research Association; Executive Board Member, Bryan/College Station Convention and Visitors Bureau; President, Academy of Leisure Sciences; Board Member, Texas Travel Industry Association; and Educational Committee, World Tourism Organization (WTO).

He has published over 200 research articles and publications in various outlets, including the Journal of Forestry, Journal of Leisure Research, Leisure Sciences, Human Dimensions in Wildlife, Tourism Management, and Journal of Travel Research. He is an internationally recognized scholar and has presented his research and worked in a number of places throughout the world. His research has been directly utilized by the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Canadian Park Service, Heritage Canada, Canadian Tourism Commission and agencies in a number of states and nations.

Dr. O’Leary has presented on a variety of topics which include: Yellow to Orange to Red: Tourism Responses in Challenging Times; Parks and Recreation: the 800 lb. Gorilla. A New Initiative in Tourism and e-Commerce; Typology of Adventure Travelers: Formulating Strategies for Different Target Segments; Application of Secondary Analysis in Tourism to the National Park Service; and many more.

He received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington, College of Forest Resources, his M.F.S. from Yale University, School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, and his B.S.F. from the University of New Brunswick, School of Forestry.

He was elected a member of the Academy of Leisure Sciences because of his scholarly and intellectual contributions to the study of leisure and is a faculty member of the World Leisure and Recreation Association International Centre of Excellence in the Netherlands. He has served as an advisor to the National Park Service Social Science Program and as science or research advisor to the U.S. Forest Service 2000 National Recreation Survey and the 2001 U.S. Fish and Wildlife National Survey on Hunting, Fishing and Wildlife Associated Recreation.

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