Russell R. Pate, PhD, FACSM, is a Professor in the Department of Exercise Science in the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina. He has held several administrative positions including Chair, Department of Exercise Science; Associate Dean for Research, Arnold School of Public Health; and Vice Provost for Health Sciences. Pate is an exercise physiologist with interests in physical activity and physical fitness in children and the health implications of physical activity. He has published more than 300 scholarly papers and has authored or edited eight books. His research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Heart Association, and several private foundations and corporations. He heads a research team that is currently supported by multiple grants from the National Institutes of Health and from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He coordinated the effort that led to the development of the recommendation on Physical Activity and Public Health of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine (1995). He served on the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (2003-04), the U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee (2007-08), and an Institute of Medicine panel that developed guidelines on prevention of childhood obesity. He currently serves as Chair of the National Physical Activity Plan Alliance. Pate has served in several leadership positions with the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), and in 1993-94 served as that organization’s president. He is a past-president of the National Coalition on Promoting Physical Activity. In 2012 he received the Honor Award from the American College of Sports Medicine.
Andrew Mowen, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Management at The Pennsylvania State University. His research is focused on assessing the role of parks in shaping individual and community health. Mowen spearheaded a National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) study that examined health partnership practices within the field and was a Co-Principal Investigator on the 2008-2013 Pennsylvania Outdoor Recreation Plan. He has also partnered with public health researchers to assess the impact of natural disasters on neighborhood parks and how these spaces can be leveraged in disaster planning and rebuilding efforts. More recently, he finished a study which examined changes to the built park environment and how these renovations corresponded with improved visitor experiences, physical activity, and health. In addition to this research, he has co-authored a white paper for the United States National Physical Activity Plan, a research synthesis on Parks, Playgrounds and Active Living for Active Living Research, and a state-of-knowledge summary on The Benefits of Physical Activity Provided by Park and Recreation Services for NRPA. Mowen’s clients include a wide variety of public and non-profit agencies including the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Gateway National Recreation Area, the Fairfax County Park Authority, the Trust for Public Land, Active Living Research, and Playworld Systems, Inc. His research and viewpoints are published in the Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, Leisure Sciences, Park and Recreation Business, Preventive Medicine, the Journal of Physical Activity & Health, and the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. He is an active member of the NRPA Research Advisory Committee and a board member for the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation.
Part two of "Implementing Strategies to Promote Physical Activity," a series of three webinars exploring health promotion, Education; Parks, Recreation, Sport; and Non-profit Strategies discussed the promotion of physical activity based upon case studies included in the book Implementing Physical Activity Strategies. The case studies illustrate high-priority strategies of the National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP).
After a brief introduction to current activities of the NPAP Alliance, the webinar addresses the following topics: volunteer and nonprofit strategies, presented by Russel Pate, PhD, FACSM, co-editor; education strategies, presented by Elizabeth Romero, MS, section editor; and parks, recreation, fitness, and sport strategies, presented by Andrew Mowen, PhD, section editor.
