Heather Mair is an Associate Professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at the University of Waterloo. She earned a doctorate in Rural Development and Planning from the University of Guelph in 2003. Since then, Heather has developed a program of research that has been focused on the ways sport, leisure, and tourism contribute to rural community development and wellbeing in Canada. For more than 15 years, she has worked with members of small communities across the country on projects ranging from community-based tourism planning to understanding and enhancing community development through sport and recreation. Heather is the author of more than 40 scholarly publications, 4 books, and more than a dozen book chapters and her work has been featured in Canadian Geographic, the Globe and Mail, and the Rural Routes Podcast. She grew up in rural New Brunswick (a small community called Blacks Harbour), and Heather values the strength and resilience of rural communities and brings to Gateway a commitment to working with and for members of small communities to enhance health and wellbeing for all.

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