Opportunities for Students

As a Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management (RPTM) major, you’ll have the opportunity to work with wide array of world-renowned research projects that span various disciplines and tackle myriad different challenges.

For example, you can work with colleagues across Penn State campuses in fields of psychology, biobehavioral health, acoustic engineering, arts and humanities, and ethics to collaborate on research projects. Or, you can embark on collaborative research projects with Utah State University, Boise State University, Resource Systems Group, Inc., Applied Trails Research, the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, the National Park Service Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division (NSNSD), and other esteemed program partners.

As a consortium of individuals and organizations, RPTM represents a diverse array of interests associated with outdoor experiential leadership in various forms and welcomes a variety of methodological approaches. Focused on sharing best practices informing educational policy and connecting research and practice for undergraduate and graduate studies as well as for professional development, our students aspire to enhance the quality of work happening with individuals and groups, positively influence policy at all levels, and collaborate to maximize the value of that research.

As a student, you’ll contribute greatly to our research mission while gaining firsthand experience in conducting groundbreaking research, working with participants, collecting data, conducting data analyses, publishing papers, and presenting your findings at academic conferences.