Students teach kids how to scale the climbing wall.
As an outdoor adventure leadership (OAL) major, you’ll develop the technical, teaching, and management skills necessary to help others appreciate, respect, and enjoy the natural environment. Our major is accredited by the Wilderness Education Association (WEA).
The program emphasizes outdoor program administration, team building, problem solving, adventure leadership, and natural resource management. It also incorporates the WEA's six core competencies, which stress sound judgment and decision making in outdoor adventure pursuits. As a successful graduate, you’ll be awarded outdoor leadership certification by the WEA -- recognized across the country for enhancing the safety standards of adventure travel and promoting environmental ethics.
The greater Ithaca area is a living lab of gorges, forests, and lakes that provides numerous opportunities to learn and test your backpacking, kayaking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, orienteering, and outdoor leadership skills.
As an OAL major, you may also pursue more advanced travel to practice what you’ve learned in some of the world’s most spectacular outdoor settings. Recently, students have explored Mexico's Baja peninsula and the south island of New Zealand, as well as the North Cascades and Olympic National Park in Washington State, Everglades National Park in Florida, the Wasatch National Forest in Utah, and various areas in Idaho and Montana.
Career opportunities exist in outdoor leadership, ecotourism, outdoor education, camp management, natural resource management, environmental interpretation, youth-at-risk programs, and the adventure education and travel industry. As these industries flourish, the demand for skilled outdoor adventure leaders will grow. And as an Ithaca graduate, you will be at the top of the list.