Dr Gayle Mayes
DipTeach Brisbane CAE, GradDipEd Qld.UT, MEdRes Qld.UT, PhD Sunshine Coast
Position: Sustainability Research Centre team member; Faculty of Business Internships and Regional Engagement Coordinator; Lecturer in Tourism, Leisure and Events and Sports Marketing
Office: IC1.22
Tel: +61 7 5430 2894
Email: gmayes@usc.edu.au
Teaching areas
- Business Internships
- Sport and Event Marketing
- Tourism, Leisure and Event Management
- Tourism Policy, Planning and Destination Management
Research areas
- tourism and climate change
- small scale sustainable development in the Pacific Region
- sustainable coastal and marine tourism
- sport and adventure tourism
- destination management
- sustainable wildlife tourism
- environmental, outdoor and adventure-based education
- interpretation in tourism
- impacts of sport, festivals and events
Profile
Gayle is a researcher with the recently formed and highly successful Sustainability Research Centre at the University. Her current research projects include sustainable coastal and marine tourism, climate change, cultural tourism and sustainable tourism development in the Pacific Islands.
Gayle has taught in universities for approximately 20 years in the interconnected fields of tourism, health and lifestyle, sport, environmental education, outdoor pursuits, leisure and events. Her successful use of experiential education (learning through experience) as her main teaching and learning strategy, earned her a national award for outstanding contribution to student learning in 2007. Her students are highly motivated to volunteer for events and participate in internships with businesses in the Sunshine Coast region in order to become more competitive in the job market and prepare themselves for the workplace after university.
Her strong interest in sport and events developed through competing at world championship level in numerous paddle sports, including the women's 500 metre flat water kayak event in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. After retiring from elite sport, Gayle coached teams and individuals to international level, attended the Atlanta and Beijing Olympics as a spectator and worked as a volunteer for the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Gayle has introduced an opportunity for students from all faculties to participate in educational tourism expeditions to remote destinations in the Pacific Islands region to participate in health, education and business based projects and activities. These expeditions give students a unique hands-on experience with small scale businesses and corporate social responsibility, and empowers them to become change agents for sustainability.
Her strengths are: use of innovative teaching methods, high levels of enthusiasm and energy, community engagement, service, and a passion for researching. She is committed to using her research and teaching to assist in the sustainable development and management of tourism, businesses and regions.
Publications
Many of Gayle Mayes' publications are available from the Coast Research Database.
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