Major Award for JAEOL Editor
The Association for Experiential Education (AEE) is pleased to announce that Patrick T. Maher, Ph.D., Professor in the School of Physical and Health Education at Nipissing University, will receive the Dr. Betty van der Smissen Distinguished Researcher Award at the 2026 AEE International Conference in Estes Park, Colorado.
The Dr. Betty van der Smissen Distinguished Researcher Award recognizes sustained and productive research that makes significant contributions to the fields in which experiential education principles are used, as well as researchers who make their work visible and meaningful to broad audiences. Established in 2010 and renamed in 2022 to honor pioneering outdoor researcher Dr. Betty van der Smissen, the award recognizes the lasting importance of research to experiential education.
Maher’s career reflects more than three decades of engagement with outdoor and experiential education—as a practitioner, educator, researcher, editor, and mentor. His engagement with AEE began in 1997, when he attended the International Conference in Asheville, North Carolina, as an undergraduate student. Since then, he has attended 14 AEE International Conferences and contributed to the Association in numerous capacities. From 2007 to 2010, he led AEE’s International Affiliation Group, helping create space for international members to connect and participate in the Association’s community.
Maher’s research has crossed disciplinary and geographic boundaries. His scholarship spans outdoor and experiential education, tourism, sustainability, polar studies, community engagement, and teaching and learning. Maher’s publication record includes more than 80 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, numerous other research and knowledge-mobilization contributions, and five edited academic books. His recent work includes the 2025 Routledge Handbook on Mobile Technology, Social Media and the Outdoors, co-edited with Simon K. Beames, as well as research addressing the future of outdoor learning, adventure education, Arctic tourism, sustainability, and the relationship between technology and outdoor experiences.
Beyond his own research, Maher has made an especially significant contribution through editorial leadership. He served as lead editor of the Journal of Experiential Education from 2010 to 2016 and helped guide its transition from an in-house publication to its current publishing arrangement with SAGE. He subsequently served as co-editor of the Canadian Journal of Environmental Education and, since 2023, has served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning. He also continues to serve on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Experiential Education.
Maher will be presented with the Dr. Betty van der Smissen Distinguished Researcher Award during AEE’s 54th Annual International Experiential Education Conference, ASCEND: Growing Community, Elevating Practice, taking place November 12–14, 2026, at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, Colorado.
The Association for Experiential Education is a global community of experiential educators and practitioners dedicated to enriching lives through experiential learning. The association connects a diverse network of educators, practitioners, and researchers to promote and expand the field of experiential education.
For more information about the Betty van der Smissen Distinguished Researcher Award and the Association for Experiential Education, please visit www.aee.org.
