Here she goes again. One of Memorial University's most prolific professors is gearing up to lead a backpacking expedition next month in Utah's Canyonlands. Dr. T. A. Loeffler, a professor with the School of Human Kinetics and Recreation, is spending the first month of her sabbatical taking part in the trip with a colleague from another university. The trek comes on the heals of an extensive bike trip through the Himalayas in Tibet earlier this fall. Dr. Loeffler travelled through the world-renowned mountains from Sept. 26 to Oct. 12. If that wasn't enough, earlier this summer she reached the summit of Mount McKinley, North America's highest mountain, a feat accomplished by only a select few climbers in the world. McKinley is located in Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve.

Dr. Loeffler said she chose to do her bike trip so quickly after her climb to capitalize on her excellent physical fitness. “I wanted to keep the momentum going,” she said. “I was on a non-teaching semester wanting to develop connections in the Himalayan region for future research and development projects. I'm trying to develop a model of empowerment based on sharing adventure experiences.”

One of Memorial's best-known outdoor educators, Dr. Loeffler recently attended a conference on experiential education in Arizona. This fall she received Memorial's President's Award for Distinguished Teaching.

She said she has a few more challenges up her sleeve for 2006, including the backpack trip through the Canyonlands. “We will be exploring some new routes with students from Hampshire College,” explained Dr. Loeffler. “In April and May I will be attending a sea kayaking instructor's course off the coast of British Columbia. We will travel 175 miles of exposed coastline on a 35-day expedition. This will enable me to expand our outdoor offerings here at the St. John's campus.”

From there, she has been invited to spend several weeks at the National Institute of Education in Bhutan, offering workshops to their lecturers and students about experiential and adventure education. Dr. Loeffler said there will no doubt be another physical challenge waiting for her when she arrives in Bhutan.

“I'm not sure if that trip will happen this spring or next fall. If the trip is this spring, then I will probably attempt to climb Cho Oyu in September,” she said. “It's the sixth largest peak in the world. If I am off to Bhutan in the fall, then I may attempt Pumori, the daughter of Everest, this spring.”

Dr. Loeffler has long yearned to attempt to climb Mount Everest, the world's highest mount. She quickly pointed out that such trips and challenges would not only be for her own personal satisfaction; there would be an underlying motivation in the expedition. “If I climb Everest, I imagine it will be coupled with a campaign to get folks across the province physically active,” she said.

“I'm a person who is driven by passion, determination, and discipline. I found that as I trained for and climbed Denali that I was an inspiration to many others - folks recovering from illness, folks wanting to get physically active, folks wanting to undertake big projects of their own,” Dr. Loeffler added. “It is such a gift to me to give back to the world and people and students around me and that now motivates me to continue my work in this area.”

To view Dr. Loeffler's personal homepage, visit www.taloeffler.com/