Dr. TA Loeffler brings 25 years of expertise leading people through significant life-changing experiences to every facet of her work. Her work and adventures have taken her to 42 different countries and all seven continents. TA has completed 6 and 4/5 of “The Seven Summits,” the highest peak on all seven continents.  In 2015, TA was named to the “Canada’s Greatest Explorers 100 Modern-Day Trailblazers List” by Canadian Geographic.

As a Professor of Outdoor Recreation at Memorial University of Newfoundland, TA has developed a reputation for excellence in experiential education because her students are more likely to be outside chasing icebergs than sitting in a classroom. TA inspires hope, possibility, and vision in those whose lives she touches. Over the past ten years, TA has shared her message of “Big Dreams, Big Goals” with over 90,000 youth in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

TA believes that we all long for a balanced, engaged, and creative life that challenges us to be the best we can possibly be. She models this belief in her life on a daily basis and combines her broad range of skills to inspire all to create the life they truly want.

Using her vast collection of outdoor adventures to create metaphors that provide new ways to see and transform the inevitable obstacles of life, TA’s multimedia presentations inform, inspire, and motivate. As an award-winning educator and speaker, TA understands the power of metaphor to initiate and sustain life and professional change.

TA has received international and national recognition for her innovative teaching and community engagement.

• In 2016, TA was recognized as a “Woman of Distinction” nominee by the YWCA of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.
• In 2015, TA was Selected to the Canadian Geographic “Canada’s Greatest Explorers: 100 of the Nation’s Top Modern-Day Trailblazers” List and appointed as a Chair in Teaching and Learning at Memorial University of Newfoundland.
• In 2014, TA was nominated for two awards at Memorial University of Newfoundland, the Student Union Outstanding Contribution to Student Life Award and the Glenn Roy Blundon Award.
• In 2013, TA was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for her contributions to her community and was named a Fellow of The Royal Canadian Geographical Society.
• In 2008, TA was awarded a prestigious 3M National Teaching Fellowship and named as the Minnesota State University “2008 Distinguished Alumnus” in the Humanitarian category.  Additionally, TA received the Memorial University of Newfoundland Faculty/Staff Volunteer of the Year Award.
• In 2007, TA received the Karl Rhonke Creativity Award from the Association of Experiential Education.
• In 2006, The Globe and Mail named TA, “A Class Act” and she received the Association of Atlantic Universities Distinguished Teaching Award.
• As well, the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport named TA to their 2006 Top Twenty Most Influential Women in Canadian Sport and Physical Activity List.
• TA received the Memorial University of Newfoundland President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2005
• The Association for Experiential Education named TA the Outstanding Experiential Teacher of the Year in 1999.
• TA was awarded  the Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Student’s Union Instructor of the Year Award in 1998.

TA is a talented athlete. TA uses strength training, running, tire pulling, biking, yoga, cycling and step aerobics to prepare for her expeditions. She has a passion for hockey and has played every position on the ice including goaltender. TA has coached several championship winning hockey teams and has officiated at the national championship level. Through her experience in both sports and outdoor adventure, TA intimately appreciates teamwork and knows how to bring teams together to accomplish their goals and fulfill their greatest potential.