Mark Orams
personal information
- Contact
Associate Director (Coastal & Marine Tourism) NZTRI
Faculty of Applied Humanities
Auckland University of Technology
Phone: 09 921 9999
Email: mark.orams@aut.ac.nz- Biography
Professor Mark Orams is a respected researcher with interests in marine science, coastal and marine tourism, sport management and sustainable development. He is based at the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute and the School of Hospitality and Tourism at AUT University. Mark holds a Bachelor’s degree in environmental planning, a Master of Science and completed his PhD in 1995 at the School of Marine Science at the University of Queensland. His doctoral research focused on marine mammal tourism. He has published three books, including the first published text on marine tourism, and over 30 scientific papers on the subject.
Mark’s research interests are diverse but he is primarily interested in applied research projects that have tangible benefits for resource management. He is particularly attracted to pursuing research outcomes that focus on informing wise decision making for policy makers, managers and industry practitioners. Topics of interest include; coastal, marine and island recreation and tourism, ecotourism and nature-based tourism, sport tourism and special events, extreme and adventure tourism, wilderness and wildlife.
Mark also has a competitive sporting background as an accomplished yachtsman. He has held twelve New Zealand titles in different yachting classes and was the Laser Radial Masters World Champion in 1999, 2005 and in 2008. In 1990 he received the New Zealand Yachtsman of the Year award as part of the crew of Steinlager 2, the winner of the 1989/90 Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race. He was a member of Team New Zealand, the successful defender of the America’s Cup in 2000 and was also involved in the defence of the Cup in 2003.
Mark was the onboard scientist and scientific adviser for Blakexpeditions onboard the expedition yacht Seamaster and he continues to explore offshore and remote islands onboard the research yacht Jocara.
Mark is particularly passionate about education and research and the important contribution it makes to a better world. He welcomes the opportunity to mentor, support and encourage post-graduate research students and is an experienced and enthusiastic supervisor of master’s and PhD research students. He is a founding member of the Coastal-Marine Research Group.
- Qualifications
- 1996 University of Queensland, Australia: PhD - topic; managing marine mammal tourism in a commercial tourist resort setting.
- 1992 Florida International University, Miami, Florida: MSc. Marine protected area management.
- 1987 Massey University, New Zealand: Bachelor of Regional Planning, First Class Honours.
- Consultancies and advisory work
- Deparment of Conservation - The impact of tourism on Hector’s dolphins in Akaroa Harbour (with PhD student Emmanuelle Martinez)
- SPARC - The influence of perceived risk on participation in outdoor education in pre-teen children in NZ (with MPhil student Mark Jones)
- Tongan Whale Watch Operators Association - Developing training programmes for whale watch guides in Tonga (with Co-op student Salote Polota)
- Tonga Ministry of Tourism - The socio-economic impact of whale watching on Vava’u. Tonga
Community outreach activities:
- Air New Zealand Environment Trust - Governance and strategic planning as part of board of trustees.
- Sir Peter Blake Marine Education and Recreation Centre - Governance and strategic planning as part of board of trustees.
- Project Litefoot - Governance and strategic planning as part of board of trustees.
- Yachting New Zealand - Selector, 2010 New Zealand Yachting Youth Team.
- Publications
Over 30 papers published in internationally recognised, refereed journals including: Tourism Management, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Tourism in Marine Environments, Progress in Tourism and Hospitality Management, International Journal of Sustainable Development, Coastal Management, Journal of Coastal Research, Aquatic Mammals, Marine Mammal Science, Science of the Total Environment, Marine Ecology Progress Series, Science for Conservation
• Authored and co-authored books including: Marine Tourism: Development, Impacts and Management (Routledge publishers, 1999), Blake. Leader. Leadership Lessons from a Great New Zealander (Random House publishers, 2009).
• Authored/co-authored 18 chapters in books including invited pieces for: Recent Advances in Marine Science and Technology (PACON, 1995 and 1997); Marine Mammal Research in the Southern Hemisphere (Surrey, Beatty and Sons, 1997); Tourism Management. Towards the New Millennium (Elsevier, 2000); Between Species. Celebrating the Dolphin – Human Bond (Sierra Club Books, 2003); Marine Ecotourism: Issues and Experiences (Channel View Publications, 2003); The Oceans: Key Issues in Marine Affairs (Kulwer Academic, 2004); Taking Tourism to the Limits: Issues, Concepts and Managerial Perspectives - Advances in Tourism Research, (Elsevier, 2005); Nature-based Tourism in Peripheral Areas: Development or Disaster (Channel View, 2005); Nautical Tourism. Concepts and Issues (Cognizant Communication, 2007); Encyclopedia of Tourism and Recreation in Marine Environments. (CABI, 2008).
Download Mark Orams' Publications
Full list of research outputs and publications (PDF)
- Presentations
Over 10 papers published in refereed conference proceedings, including papers in Encounters With Whales ’95; Proceedings of the 1996 World Congress on Coastal and Marine Tourism; Taking Tourism to the Limits Conference, 2003; Ecotourism, Wilderness and Mountain Tourism: Issues, Strategies and Regional Development Conference, 2002; Proceedings of the 5th International Coastal and Marine Tourism Congress, 2007; Proceedings of the 6th International Coastal and Marine Tourism Congress, 2009.
• Addresses to over 60 international conferences.
• Over 200 presentations to community groups and organisations.
- Full Curriculum Vitae
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