Outdoor Leadership

Outdoor Leadership

Certificate

Build a career around your passion for outdoor adventures with a GCC outdoor leadership certificate.

Program Contact

Bob Tremblay
(413) 775-1126
tremblayb@gcc.mass.edu

Upcoming Events

Adventure Education Info Session GCC event

Adventure Education Info Session

Friday May 9 - 2:00pm

Accelerate your preparation for a career as a professional outdoor leader. You can earn GCC’s outdoor leadership certificate in one year of full-time classes. Our program will provide you with the knowledge and skills to lead entry-level or more advanced adventure programs and services. The certificate program prepares you to design and deliver experiences in five areas: backcountry travel, rock climbing, paddling sports, Nordic skiing and challenge course work. You’ll learn by doing: Activities are primarily hands-on and field-oriented. You’ll also develop your ability to be a leader, to work collaboratively, to foster teamwork and to respond to emergencies in the field.

35-37

credits

Certificate

Certificates are typically completed in one (1) year and designed for immediate workforce entry

Accredited by the Association for Experiential Education Learn More
  • Plan, conduct, and evaluate a wide range of safe and educationally effective adventure experiences.
  • Demonstrate personal and professional competency in leadership skills, techniques, and methods of instruction
  • Demonstrate technical competency in a range of adventure sport activities and environments
  • Assess and facilitate individual and group dynamics during field experiences with diverse client populations and peer groups
  • Work effectively and collaboratively in co-leader and team situations
  • Plan and prepare for personal and program wilderness rescue responses in a wide range of hazardous environments
  • Identify and implement effective institutional risk mitigation methods
  • Plan, conduct and evaluate a range of interactive, outdoor-based experiences for diverse populations
  • Model professional and environmentally sound ethics and practices
  • Identify and effectively utilize a range of information sources available to the adventure industry
  • Demonstrate knowledge of appropriate professional organizations, certifications, memberships, and networking practices

Richard Adamczyk

Adjunct Faculty

Adventure Education and Outdoor Leadership

N101 1-413-775-1128 AdamczykR@gcc.mass.edu

Brent Arsenault

Adjunct Faculty

Academic Affairs

ArsenaultB@gcc.mass.edu

Bob Tremblay

Faculty, Department Chair

Outdoor Leadership

B.A., M.A., Prescott College

N101 1-413-775-1126 TremblayB@gcc.mass.edu

Bob has dedicated his adult life to adventure education and has developed a wide variety of professional-level outdoor skills including backpacking, winter camping, whitewater canoeing and expeditioning, ice climbing, caving, dog sledding, skiing, wilderness survival, and even llama trekking. "Since I began working as an outdoor leader in 1982, I have been committed to connecting people of all ages to the natural world and to their inner selves. Through my career working with thousands of students and customers, I have been witness to the power our field has to affect change in participants. I am especially interested in using challenging outdoor activities as a modality for teaching students about environmental science and environmental issues. In addition, I am very interested in promoting the outdoor industry in New England as a whole and in western Massachusetts in particular". Bob acts as a mentor to graduate students at Prescott College in pursuit of graduate degrees and scholarly research in the fields of Adventure Education and Education, and brings entrepreneurship experience in the adventure industry as the prior President, Co-founder and Field Director for Mountain Lynx Outdoor Adventures in Ashburnham.