Josh Pighetti

Background

About Josh Pighetti

I recently earned my PhD at Pennsylvania State University in the department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management. My research focus is on snowsports education as I am collaborating with PSIA-AASI to enhance the professional development and experience of snowsports instructors in the United States. I am most interested in how snowsports instructors (and other outdoor recreation instructors) can inspire students to engage as lifelong participants and learners. My undergraduate career and work experience, aligned with my passions, have both shaped my future towards providing a safer, positive learning environment for students in the outdoors. In June 2015 I graduated 2nd in my class from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo with a B.S. in Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration emphasizing Outdoor and Adventure Recreation and I continue to learn by doing. I don’t just study Outdoor and Adventure Recreation, I live and breath it, including lifeguarding the beaches of Los Angeles, teaching snowsports in the Eastern Sierras and in Chile, and living in Central America for five months learning Spanish and becoming a part of another culture. My continued work in both outdoor and adaptive recreation provides me with the opportunity to use the outdoors as my classroom and to expose my students to the physical, mental, and emotional benefits of being outside.