New faculty affiliate leads charge on character development, wellbeing through the outdoors
Prevention Research Center welcomes Pete Allison, associate teaching professor in the Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management
pete allison story art
Pete Allison, a new Prevention Research Center affiliate, has combined his passion for community with the outdoors and wilderness. Allison's research focuses on experimental learning through expeditions and how it can provide a sense of belonging to individuals throughout the lifespan.
February 6, 2026
By Teresa Phelan
Pete Allison, an associate teaching professor in Penn State's College of Health and Human Development, brings his expertise in experiential learning to the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Center.
His research sits at the intersection of character building and experiential learning with a broad focus on how communities and individuals can promote health and well-being. There is a high emphasis on the richness of experience, the way people develop their values, identity, and a sense of self.
Allison, who has led outdoor expeditions with students, says his love of the wilderness began at an early age.
"When I was young, I did not really like school. I did not really see the point of it, and most of what I learned as I was growing up, I did not really learn at school," he said. "I learned extracurricular activities outdoors, being involved in expeditions, climbing, riding my bike, and being outside."
These formative experiences have shaped his belief that development and growth are complex, non-linear processes worth studying.
"It seemed to me that growth, human development, the way we learn, is much more complex than that, and we kind of spiral around and there's a rich tapestry of building together our different experiences that help us to develop our own identities and develop our own values, and then we do that in community and in relationship with other people," Allison said.
“It is about what I can give, or what questions I can ask that might help us all to become even better at what we do. To help our community understand health and well-being from a range of different perspectives.”
– Pete Allison, associate teaching professor, Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management, Penn State
Trained as a philosopher, his work spans disciplines, including sociology and psychology, and he remains committed to exploring and learning about curiosity, humility and civic character.
"We learn a lot from people who are different from us, or who see the world differently from us, and that is often uncomfortable and often challenging, but it's also where the richest learning opportunities are in my experience," he said.
His work with participants in experiential and expedition-based programs allows them to explore personal reflection and connection, providing the opportunity to take away what they need.
"For some people, that is talking, it's verbal. For others, it might be drawing, it might be writing, it might be journals and reflection; it might be a combination of those things. It might be finding, identifying mentors," Allison said. "There are lots of different ways in which people take that learning, and that is another thing that really interests me."
Allison's affiliation with the Prevention Research Center reflects his interest in the enrichment of individuals' lives as a form of prevention. While he says his work doesn't align with traditional prevention, the connection between engagement, empathy and long-term health and well-being pairs well with work that is already being conducted at the center.
"One of the things that I'm really interested in is relationships between pity and compassion and empathy, and how those different things connect or not, and what the kind of relationships of those are, both conceptually and philosophically," he said. "Then also in applied context as well, and what that might mean for education in a range of different forms."
Allison's future projects will continue to further his research on character development and the community's role in the well-being of its citizens.
"I'm working on a grant at the moment to get some support to progress my work around character and character education, and particularly civic character and civic service and engagement and how that can help people to form a sense of community," he said. "Hopefully, it can address a lot of issues around loneliness, which I see as growing, and issues around anxiety."
Allison is excited to work with other affiliates at the PRC, hoping to expand his work's impact and contribute to the communities around him.
"It is about what I can give, or what questions I can ask that might help us all to become even better at what we do. To help our community understand health and well-being from a range of different perspectives," Allison said.
Recent News
New faculty affiliate leads charge on character development, wellbeing through the outdoors
Prevention Research Center welcomes Pete Allison, associate teaching professor in the Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management
pete allison story art
Pete Allison, a new Prevention Research Center affiliate, has combined his passion for community with the outdoors and wilderness. Allison's research focuses on experimental learning through expeditions and how it can provide a sense of belonging to individuals throughout the lifespan.
February 6, 2026
By Teresa Phelan
Pete Allison, an associate teaching professor in Penn State's College of Health and Human Development, brings his expertise in experiential learning to the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Center.
His research sits at the intersection of character building and experiential learning with a broad focus on how communities and individuals can promote health and well-being. There is a high emphasis on the richness of experience, the way people develop their values, identity, and a sense of self.
Allison, who has led outdoor expeditions with students, says his love of the wilderness began at an early age.
"When I was young, I did not really like school. I did not really see the point of it, and most of what I learned as I was growing up, I did not really learn at school," he said. "I learned extracurricular activities outdoors, being involved in expeditions, climbing, riding my bike, and being outside."
These formative experiences have shaped his belief that development and growth are complex, non-linear processes worth studying.
"It seemed to me that growth, human development, the way we learn, is much more complex than that, and we kind of spiral around and there's a rich tapestry of building together our different experiences that help us to develop our own identities and develop our own values, and then we do that in community and in relationship with other people," Allison said.
“It is about what I can give, or what questions I can ask that might help us all to become even better at what we do. To help our community understand health and well-being from a range of different perspectives.”
– Pete Allison, associate teaching professor, Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management, Penn State
Trained as a philosopher, his work spans disciplines, including sociology and psychology, and he remains committed to exploring and learning about curiosity, humility and civic character.
"We learn a lot from people who are different from us, or who see the world differently from us, and that is often uncomfortable and often challenging, but it's also where the richest learning opportunities are in my experience," he said.
His work with participants in experiential and expedition-based programs allows them to explore personal reflection and connection, providing the opportunity to take away what they need.
"For some people, that is talking, it's verbal. For others, it might be drawing, it might be writing, it might be journals and reflection; it might be a combination of those things. It might be finding, identifying mentors," Allison said. "There are lots of different ways in which people take that learning, and that is another thing that really interests me."
Allison's affiliation with the Prevention Research Center reflects his interest in the enrichment of individuals' lives as a form of prevention. While he says his work doesn't align with traditional prevention, the connection between engagement, empathy and long-term health and well-being pairs well with work that is already being conducted at the center.
"One of the things that I'm really interested in is relationships between pity and compassion and empathy, and how those different things connect or not, and what the kind of relationships of those are, both conceptually and philosophically," he said. "Then also in applied context as well, and what that might mean for education in a range of different forms."
Allison's future projects will continue to further his research on character development and the community's role in the well-being of its citizens.
"I'm working on a grant at the moment to get some support to progress my work around character and character education, and particularly civic character and civic service and engagement and how that can help people to form a sense of community," he said. "Hopefully, it can address a lot of issues around loneliness, which I see as growing, and issues around anxiety."
Allison is excited to work with other affiliates at the PRC, hoping to expand his work's impact and contribute to the communities around him.
"It is about what I can give, or what questions I can ask that might help us all to become even better at what we do. To help our community understand health and well-being from a range of different perspectives," Allison said.
