Episode 9: Meet Dr Javier Leon, creator of the Geography of Surfing course at the University of the Sunshine Coast

I was intrigued when I found out that the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) near Noosa, Australia, announced a new course called "Geography of Surfing" elective for Bachelor students. In the wake of this announcement, I had to talk to the course's coordinator, Dr Javier Leon...

Javier is a USC professor, a bodyboarder and a longboarder, who has a PhD in Coastal Geomorphology. His passion has always been the ocean and his research has enabled him to work along the world's coastlines to fulfill his "duties" as a scientist.

Javier has been spending the past 3 years preparing a new course called "Geography of Surfing" for undergraduate students. It's a field elective at the USC near Noosa. He has and has curated a set of surf related subjects and research studies for his lucky students. He has convinced the crème de la crème of Australian surfing legends to teach some of the subjects that you'll find about in our conversation.
During the episode, we find out what students learn, how to sign up and what guest star teachers students will have the privilege of meeting.

I sometimes wish I was 20 again, just to enroll in this awesome course. It is believed that this is the only course of its kind in Australia, and most probably, the world.

The Geography of Surfing elective includes lessons on the history of surfing, how surfing participates in the economy (a term called « surfonomics »), the impact of surfing on environmental management and many other fascinating surf related academic subjects.

If there is anything to take from this episode, it's that academics and surfing go really well together. So go off and tell your parents (or your kids)! Dr Leon is a living breathing example of it. Also, taking this course in your career can be hard to start (you must study a lot) but the reward in life quality is immense.

You never know, work hard and with a bit of dedication, you could become a Doctor in Surfing!

With this academic approach to surfing, Javier and his colleagues are definitely pulverizing the beach bum archetype.

I guess you could say it's about time!

In our conversation we talk about the issues the surf world faces with the gentrification of surf spots and the environmental management it imposes, the fascinating development of wave pools and the necessary protection of our coastlines. He even shares his advice on how to surf Noosa without the crowds!

Javier shares his experience of the kinds of research subjects that are intertwined with surfing and that will ultimately have an impact on jobs around the world.

I hope that it either encourages you (or your kids) to think about going to this awesome University. For the students (who know what a GPA is), there is no minimum GPA required, so just contact Dr Leon or the University via email for the admission procedures. Alternatively, you can go and meet him at the next Noosa Festival of Surfing in March 2019 where he will be helping raise awareness on the sustainability of this surfers' paradise.

To connect with Dr Javier Leon, his email is [email protected].

I would like to give a massive thank you to Javier for getting up super early in the morning to be on this podcast. He was up at 4:30 am to be in front of his computer and compromised a dawnie at Noosa (of all places), for the show!

The Oceanriders Podcast is a non profit operation and, I would like to thank you ever so much for being more and more listeners every week. You guys rock! If you enjoy listening, please rate or review the podcast on iTunes. The more reviews and rates I get, the closer I am to getting into the « new and noteworthy » section of Apple Podcasts and the more people get to discover the awesome guests in my podcasts.

If you want to get in touch with me there are loads of ways: email [email protected], via my linktr.ee page here that will take you to wherever you want.

You can also connect with me and other listeners on my Facebook group called The Oceanriders Community. I post surf-related job offers so if you're looking for a position near a surf spot, or for a surf brand, you may find your dream job there. Likewise, if you're hiring, please feel free to share your post on the group too. The more the merrier!

Links
University of the Sunshine Coast,
Javier Leon's course « Geography of Surfing »,
Article on Surfonomics,
About Phil Jaratt,
About Tom Wegener,