Clark Zealand

Experience

• Extensive professional and academic background in sport management and outdoor recreation.
• Proven leadership in academic instruction, research, and program development.
• Founder and executive leader of organizations advancing advocacy, community engagement, and purpose-driven practice in sport and recreation.
• Active collaboration with global industry partners to enhance event operations, participant experience, and evidence-based management.

Biography

Dr. Clark Zealand serves as Professor in the Department of Hospitality & Sport Management with Liberty University’s School of Business. His teaching and research emphasize evidence-based practice, strategic decision-making, and the experiential dimensions of sport, recreation, and tourism. Drawing upon more than two decades of experience as an educator, researcher, and practitioner, Dr. Zealand integrates academic rigor with applied leadership in event management and outdoor adventures.

An entrepreneur at heart, Dr. Zealand has established and grown several ventures that translate his academic expertise into applied practice. As Founder and Race Director of the Grindstone Trail Running Festival by UTMB, he directs a premier international event acclaimed for its world-class operations and community-centered design. Through his consulting and research initiative, Compass & Cause, Dr. Zealand advances purpose-driven initiatives that enhance outdoor accessibility for families in the autism community to experience connection, restoration, and belonging through nature-based recreation.

Dr. Zealand’s scholarship engages interdisciplinary perspectives to examine outdoor adventure participation, the design of meaningful participant experiences, and the use of data-informed methods to improve decision-making within recreation and endurance sport contexts. His publications and presentations span academic and industry audiences alike, demonstrating a purposeful integration of scholarship, leadership, and service through scholarly outlets, professional forums, and international conference proceedings.

Selected Publications

• Zealand, C. T. W. (2025). Research design & methods: An applied guide for sport, tourism, hospitality, and outdoor recreation. Liberty University.
• Zealand, C.T.W., & Kester, E. P. (2024). Safetyism in outdoor adventure: A content analysis of antithetical perspectives on risk and freedom in nature-based activities. Proceedings of the 5th Annual Sport Leadership Summit, Liberty University.
• Zealand, C.T.W., & Kester, E. P. (2024). Exploring motivations among trail runners: A critical examination of the Motivations of Marathoners Scale. Proceedings of the 46th Annual Southeastern Recreation Research Conference, Unicoi State Park, Helen, GA.
• Zealand, C. T. W. (2021). Mental maps and ASD in outdoor recreation: Developing a methodological framework. World Leisure Congress Proceedings, Beijing, China.
• Zealand, C. T. W. (2019). Therapeutic landscapes: Exploring unstructured outdoor recreation opportunities for families with a child with ASD. Australian and New Zealand Association for Leisure Studies Biennial Conference Proceedings. Queenstown, New Zealand.
• Zealand, C.T.W. (2019). Racing ecologies: Narratives of place, non-place, and placelessness in running 100 miles. Proceedings of the 2019 National Outdoor Recreation Conference, Holiday Inn Rushmore Plaza, Rapid City, SD.
• Zealand, C. T. W. (2018). Trail work for training: A case study of participatory experience tourism among 100-mile runners. Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education Conference. National Conference Proceedings. Snowbird, UT.