Biography

Dr. TA Loeffler brings 25 years of expertise leading people through significant life-changing experiences to every facet of her work. Her work and adventures have taken her to 40 different countries and all seven continents.

TA has received international and national recognition for her innovative teaching:

  • In 2008, TA was awarded a prestigious 3M National Teaching Fellowship.
  • Minnesota State University-Mankato named TA as the 2008 Distinguished Alumnus in the Humanitarian category.
  • In 2007, TA received the Karl Rhonke Creativity Award from the Association of Experiential Education.
  • In 2006, The Globe and Mail named TA, "A Class Act" and she received the Association of Atlantic Universities Distinguished Teaching Award.
  • The Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport named TA to their 2006 Top Twenty Most Influential Women in Canadian Sport and Physical Activity List.
  • As well, TA received the Memorial University Presidents Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2005.
  • In 2001, the Society of Parks and Recreation Educators awarded TA a Teaching Innovation Award.
  • The Association for Experiential Education named TA the Outstanding Experiential Teacher of the Year in 1999.

TA is a recognized expert in the area of gender and outdoor education. She has several publications in this area. Her work in the area of competency development in outdoor education is well respected and frequently cited. TA has presented this body of work throughout Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia.

Recently, TA has been doing very innovative work using visually based research methods to further the study of outdoor phenomenology. Several publications, scholarly presentations, and media coverage have resulted from this work. She recently co-edited the fourth edition of the Theory of Experiential Education.

TA is also an outdoor adventurer, climber, and keynote speaker. After climbing Mount McKinley, she set a goal of climbing Mount Everest and the rest of the seven summits, the highest peaks on each of the seven continents.