Introduction to Recreation and Leisure

Tyler Tapps, PhD, is the assistant vice president for health and well-being at Northwest Missouri State University and was formerly an associate professor and the assistant director for health sciences. He received his PhD in health, leisure, and human performance from Oklahoma State University in 2009. In 2015, he was certified as a park and recreation professional by the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), from which he also received the Robert W. Crawford Young Professional Award. Tapps is a military veteran with recreation programming experience in the military. He is a past president of the Leisure Educators section of the Missouri Park and Recreation Association.

Mary Sara Wells, PhD, is an associate professor in the department of parks, recreation, and tourism at the University of Utah, where she serves as the director of undergraduate studies. She teaches courses in youth development, community recreation, and sport management. She has been a member of The Academy of Leisure Sciences (TALS), the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), and Society of Park and Recreation Educators (SPRE) since 2004. Wells has researched issues of sporting conduct in youth sport. She has published her research in numerous journals, presented at several national and international conferences, and conducted trainings and evaluations for multiple municipal youth sport agencies across the country.