Sustainable Surfing

In the past few years there has been a visible increase in the scholarly work relating to different aspects of surfing. This is an exciting development as it recognises the depth and versatility that exploring surfing as a focus for a broader understanding of the world can offer. What was clearly absent from this body of work was a central point that could inform the relationship between surfing and sustainability. Sustainable Surfing draws together some of the worlds leading authorities on different aspects on surfing related research.

Meet the Experts

Jess Ponting is an Associate Professor and Founder and Director of the Center for Surf Research at San Diego State University. His research interests include the sustainability of surf tourism, policy level management of surf tourism resources, surf resource governance, and the emerging surf park industry.

Rob is the Director of Griffith Centre for Sustainable Enterprise. His current teaching areas are MBA - Sustainability and systems thinking, Sustainable Tourism and Sustainable Enterprises.

Professor Jon Anderson is a Reader in Human Geography in Cardiff University. His research interests focus on the relations between culture, place and identity, particularly the geographies, politics, and practices that emerge from these. His key publications include: Understanding Cultural Geography: Places and Traces (2010, 2015 Second Edition), Water Worlds: Human Geographies of the Ocean (edited with Peters, K, 2014), and Page and Place: Ongoing Compositions of Plot (2014).

Dr Anna Gerke is Assistant Professor at Audencia Business School and she manages the Specialised Master Programme in the Management of Sport Organisations. Her research interests are organizational theory, innovation, and strategy in sport. She has published in peer-reviewed journals like Sport Management Review and European Sport Management Quarterly and participates actively at international conferences including EURAM, NASSM, EASM, and SMAANZ. Since 2015 she is Programme Chair for the SIG Managing Sport at EURAM conference and she conducts peer reviews for various journals

Chris Gibson is Professor of Human Geography at the University of Wollongong, Australia, and currently Editor-in-Chief of the academic journal Australian Geographer. His research explores cultural economies of creative, manufacturing and rural industries, from festivals to surfboards and musical instruments. He is the author of several books including Sound Tracks: Popular Music, Identity and Space (2003), Music Festivals and Regional Development in Australia (2013) and, with Andrew Warren, Surfing Places, Surfboard Makers (2014).

Dr Neil Lazarow is a science-policy specialist with Australia’s national scientific agency the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). Neil’s primary research interests focus on how society makes complex trade-offs in resource constrained environments. His work extends to global development challenges such as climate, water security, sustainable cities and food security, as well as coasts, recreation and tourism. Neil’s pioneering work in Surf Economics has helped to establish this field of research and he remains a critical thinker in this area

Steven Andrew Martin is an American academic and tenured lecturer at the Faculty of International Studies Department of Thai and ASEAN Studies, Prince of Songkla University, Phuket, Thailand. A researcher in environmental management, Steven developed the Surf Resource Sustainability Index (SRSI), a methodology and modular approach to surf site field assessment employing qualitative and quantitative metrics. His work combines personal, professional and academic experience to highlight the value and significance of coastal surfing resources.

Leon carries a Ph.D in energy and environmental policy from the University of Delaware. He is the co-founder of Sea State, an organization that runs surf themed study abroad programs. He is also the associate director of the center for surf research, a founding member of the international association of surf academics, and the outdoor recreation and ecotourism program director at Kalu Yala Institute in Panama.

Danny O’Brien is an Associate Professor and Head of Program, Sport Management, in the Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine at Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia. Danny’s primary research interest is in sustainable surf tourism and its ability to contribute to community building in remote developing country contexts. His other main research interests explore event leverage, and organisational change in sport, and has been published in journals such as Annals of Tourism Research; Journal of Sport Management; Sport Management Review; and, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, among others. Each of Danny’s research areas O shares the common sport-for-development thread and the aim to assist stakeholders in realising sustainable community-building outcomes from sport.

Rebecca Olive teaches at Southern Cross University in Australia. Her research uses feminist cultural studies approaches to explore women's experiences of recreational surfing and beach cultures, including the role of social media in constructing embodied and cultural knowledges. She has published in journals including 'International Journal of Cultural Studies', 'Sport, Education & Society', and 'Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies', and is the co-editor of 'Women in Action Sports: Power, Identity and Experiences'.

Professor Mark Orams is the Head of School of Sport and Recreation and Associate Dean for AUT Millennium (high performance sport) campus for the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. He also serves as the Founding Co-Chair of the International Coastal and Marine Tourism Society, is on the editorial boards for the journals Tourism in Marine Environments and Coastal Management and is a member of the Steering Committee for the International Congresses on Coastal and Marine Tourism. A former winner of the around the world yacht race, multiple world sailing champion, and Olympic coach he remains an avid surfer and waterman who is passionate about the sea and ensuring we take action to look after it.

Jason Scorse completed his Ph.D. in Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics at UC-Berkley in 2005 with a focus on environmental economics and policy, international development, and behavioral economics. Upon graduation, he joined the faculty of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. He teaches courses in environmental and natural resource economics, ocean and coastal economics, behavioral economics, and sustainable development, and is Director of the Center for the Blue Economy

Lindsay E. Usher is an assistant professor of Park, Recreation and Tourism Studies in the Human Movement Sciences Department at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.A. Her research interests include recreation conflict, surf culture and tourism, and climate change in coastal communities

Andrew Warren is Lecturer in Economic Geography at the University of Wollongong, Australia, and an avid surfer from the New South Wales south coast. His research interests span labour, class, and cultural and political economy. He completed a PhD on surfboard making in Australia, California and Hawai'i, and with Chris Gibson, authored Surfing Places, Surfboard Makers (University of Hawai'i Press, 2014), which was shortlisted for the 2015 Ka Palapala Poʻokela Awards Hawai’i Book of the Year; and won the 2015 Australian Society for Sports History Book Prize.