Asst. Professor “Surf Doctor” Steven Andrew Martin Retires with Certificate of Honor at 2022 University Ceremony

How to Conduct a Systematic Review | Online Research Presentation and Webinar | Steven A Martin, PhD

Desk research (i.e. field research is not required).
Highly publishable as a research in its own right.
Highly citable once published.
Serves as a “super literature review” for future articles.
Mastery of the literature and subject area (long-term benefits).
Familiarity with scholars in the field of study.
Identification of knowledge gaps, hence justification of future research areas.
Results in a database of authors, files, references for future works.
Lead to future trend and meta-analyses.
Identify avenues for the publication of your research.

Examples: Systematic reviews of surf tourism research

Martin, S. A., & Assenov, I. (2012). The genesis of a new body of sport tourism literature: A systematic review of surf tourism research (1997-2011). Journal of Sport and Tourism, 17(4) 257–28

2012 PDF Download

Martin, S. A. (2022). From shades of grey to Web of Science: A systematic review of surf tourism research in international journals (2011-2020). Journal of Sport & Tourism, 26(2) 125–146. https://doi.org/10.1080/14775085.2022.2037453

2022 PDF Download

Searching & Referencing for Academic Papers

Generally, academic writing adheres to a given style guide or 'school of style'. Common examples include APA (American Psychological Association), CMS (Chicago Manual of Style) and MLA (Modern Language Association).

APA style guidelines: www.apastyle.apa.org
CMS style guidelines: www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/
MLA style guidelines: www.mla.org/style

Example: MLA Style | My 1999 freshman paper | Toponymy of Hawaii

Many publishers of books and journals suggest the Harvard Citation Style (i.e. author-date referencing) although there is actually no official guideline or institutional connection. However, the Harvard University Press does have its own code of formatting author-date citations and reference lists.

Note that publishers of international journals often have unique citation and referencing formats.

While it is important to recognize a variety of formatting styles in academic writing and publishing, our course will focus on undergraduate students gaining proficiency in APA style.

APA references | Conferences papers and presentations

Martin, S. A., & Assenov, I. (2012). Towards a surf resource sustainability index: A global model for surf site conservation and Thailand case study. Proceedings of the 18th Asia Pacific Tourism Association Annual Conference (APTA) Hospitality & Tourism Education: New Tourism & New Waves (pp. 745–760). Taipei, ROC, June 26–29. Busan, Korea: School of International Tourism, Dong-A University.

Martin, S. A., & Ritchie, R. (2018). Towards an ASEAN community: A scoping study and case for teaching the geography of Thailand in the English language. Proceedings of the PSU Phuket International Conference 50th Anniversary Celebration: Creativity and Innovations for Global Development (p. 54). Prince of Songkla University, Phuket, Thailand, March 11–12.

In-text references (or in-text citations) provide a source (author and year of publication) for each piece of information used in your academic writing. In-text citations are commonly placed either at the beginning or end of a sentence or paragraph to identify where information actually came from and are important in order to avoid plagiarism.

Plagiarism is the use of the published work of another person without acknowledgement and is easily avoidable by using an in-text citation to indicate who the original author/s is/are.

Worksheets for today's lesson

Midterm literature review guidelines | PDF

Topic selection and outline

Write a comprehensive literature review based on the topics and annotated bibliographies as developed, discussed and approved during our previous lessons.
The literature review should follow the APA style for in-text citations and references.

The literature review consists of five parts

A brief introduction.
Three to five relevant subtopics of at least two paragraphs each.
Brief discussion or conclusion highlighting key points of interest and/or knowledge gaps (if any).
Brief suggestions for future research.
A reference list with at least 15 sources representing journals, books, websites, etc.

Formatting

Spacing: 1.5.
Font: Times New Roman 12pt.
Length: 1,500 to 2,000 words.
Referencing: APA style (American Psychological Association)

TOPIC 9

How to use YouTube for searching and referencing

Video, documentary film and scholarly presentations: the case of YouTube in searching and referencing online educational films and videos

With digital transformations in education, online films and videos bring to light more than just content, we are exposed to – and adapt to – the use of technology in teaching and learning. For example, searching and referencing videos on YouTube suggest an awareness of search strategies one might employ while identifying diverse genres of videos and experts in a given field or topic area.

In the case of searching and referencing Greece and Asia Minor videos – free and available on YouTube – the following genres come to light and are explored.

Academic lectures and presentations
Mainstream documentary films and series
Diverse videos of interest
Animated video presentations
Travel videos and vlogs

Many academic journals and databases require a subscription or fee to view or download articles. For students and researchers at PSU Phuket, our university has purchased subscriptions to a variety of journals and databases.

You may need to login on campus or through the Prince of Songkla University Phuket Campus Library in order to gain access. This will allow journals and databases to automatically verify the PSU IP address.

Shortist of online databases

Systematic reviews of surf tourism research

Martin, S. A., & Assenov, I. (2012). The genesis of a new body of sport tourism literature: A systematic review of surf tourism research (1997-2011). Journal of Sport and Tourism, 17(4) 257–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/14775085.2013.766528

2012 PDF Download

2022 PDF Download

For the scholar who studies or works in a university, doing scholarly research and publishing the findings in the form of articles in peer-reviewed international journals are some of the most important academic activities. It is important to learn how to do it yourself so you can set-up your own career.

This workshop includes a number of advanced topics regarding how to publish a paper in international journals. It is very good opportunity for learning from the experience and techniques of an experienced publisher of papers. Emphasis is on practical information on how to do it, and what Dr. Ritchie has leant from experience, that is, what works and what does not.

Jewel of Travel Award Winning Essay

My dream of international travel

In my early thirties, I was lucky enough to be able to realize some of those dreams. I visited the Far East and the Middle East. I paddled a boat through the Amazon Rainforest, drove a camper through the Australian Outback, and trekked through the Tibetan Plateau. I saw the Great Pyramid at Giza, skateboarded along the Great Wall of China, and saw the sunset at the Taj Mahal. I crossed the Yangtze, cruised down the Nile and studied the archaeological sites along the Indus. I visited the great museums and historical sites of London, Paris and Rome.

20 to 30 countries

Between 20 and 30 countries, I was in a process of personal realization.

Along with fulfilling my colorful dream of world travel, I had directly encountered appalling acts of deliberate pollution, manufactured poverty, environmental disruption and human suffering.

In every corner of our world, I found a one-sided, undeclared war against nature. I realized that my own jet-set carbon footprint was contributing to the problem, and that I, like almost everyone else, did not know how to be part of the solution.

Global issues

I had seen DDT powder scooped into baskets with bare hands in markets in Ecuador, and found gold- and oil-mining companies spilling mercury and lead into Amazon tributaries. I had witnessed organized religion tearing apart a Holy Land.

I had endured air pollution in China so thick that I could feel my life expectancy drop with each breath. I had witnessed violence, sickness and hunger in India and Africa. I had seen sewage, plastics, and nuclear waste dumped into our seas and oceans.

Everywhere I had met people who were concerned about these issues but could offer no solutions.

Burden of knowledge

Travel has taught me that I must, without surrender, be grateful for whatever happens.

Albert Einstein explained that the most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is all comprehensible. Those who want to understand the current state and complexity of today's world are destined to carry the burden of that knowledge.

As I confront the geopolitical, economic and environmental issues that are harming our species and our planet, I inevitably feel deeply concerned and accountable. The more I know, the more I owe.

Mekong Delta Exploratory Research

Mekong Delta is an expansive floodplain of 40,000 sq. km. populated by over 17 million people across 13 provinces. It is responsible for 60% of Viet Nam’s rice production (90% of this is exported) and 60% of the country’s fruit.

There is a large export industry of fish, and 65% of fishery production is sent to the USA. While there is a considerable fishing fleet working the offshore areas around the Delta, the majority of production is based in aquaculture. For the most part, local peoples eat the small fish and sell the big fish.

Land reclamation is evident throughout the Delta, with gravel and dirt-laden barges destined for low-lying properties and canal banks. Farmers also dredge local canals every few years and use the silt to reinforce the sides. Busy barge-based cranes used for large-scale dredging of the main river branches are nearly always in view on the horizon.

The ancient network of rural mangrove-lined canals invite visitors to reflect on the country's enigmatic past, while the new palm-lined highway to Saigon represents the fast lane the country is taking to its future at the heart of the economically vibrant and socially diverse ASEAN community.

The water level is higher during the rainy season, and this ‘wet time’ is utilized for fishing, while the ‘dry time’ is best for vegetables and potatoes. Climate change is evident and local farmers explain that nowadays the seasons are not so distinct.

The biodiversity of the region is still wide-open to exploration and inquiry, with thousands of new species discovered in recent years. However, there is an unfortunate war-torn legacy of ‘agent orange’, the chemical defoliant dropped by American forces upstream of the Delta, and as many as 2 million people are affected by it today.

The Delta was once part of the Funan (68-550 AD) and Chenla (550-760 AD) empires with ties to early Chinese trade networks, and later saw Champa settlements (associated with central Vietnam) and Khmer settlements (associated with Cambodia). Some Khmer still live in the west of the delta region near Cambodia.

According to my Delta guide, the Khmer never actually left the region; rather they mixed and integrated with the North Vietnamese (i.e., the ‘Kinh’ ethnic group) who migrated to the Delta over time.

The feelings of the North Vietnamese about their Delta settlement are represented in the local music which carries sad tones and lyrics, voicing their homesick emotions.

There was also a significant era of assimilation 300 years ago, when Chinese, Vietnamese and Khmer cultures mixed together.

Interview with Prof. Dr. Sombo Manara, a leading expert in Khmer ancient history. The interview took place at the Po Nagar Temple in Nha Trang, Vietnam, a 7th - 12th century Hindu temple and vestige of the once powerful Champa Kingdom.

Cham is an Austronesian language, part of a super-family of languages generally associated with the seafaring peoples of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Visit Chasing Jade: Archaeology and the Batanes Islands Cultural Atlas to learn more about Austronesian prehistory.

The Mekong Delta is a beautiful place to visit, an exotic tropical landscape steeped in ancient tradition with modern geographical significance. At 4,350 km, the Mekong is the world’s 12th-longest river, the lifeblood of mainland Southeast Asia – a trans-boundary network known as the ‘Greater Mekong Subregion’ (GMS).

The Mekong derives its name from the Sanskirt word ‘ganga’ after the Ganges River in India, and the toponym evolved in Thai and Laotian languages to ‘Mae Nam Khong’, literally ‘mother water Khong’.

The mouth of the Mekong called to traders, invaders, and great cultures and philosophers from India and China, providing them safe harbor and entry to upstream riches, including Cambodia’s fish-laden lake, the ‘Tonle Sap’, and the Khmer Kingdom at Angkor.

Coined by the French as "Indochina", friends, foods and freedoms await in the mighty Mekong Delta, an eclectic blend of culture, race and religion along Southeast Asia’s greatest of rivers.

Surfing Experience & Lifestyle

Surfers live with the ocean, rising and falling with its waves. Their naturally photogenic lives are enriched not only by the healthy exercise of life at the beach, but also by the intercultural experiences that come with traveling around the world to find the best breaks.

In my early twenties, while working as an assistant chef, I began to look for ways to bring the surfing lifestyle into my work. Surfing was my favorite activity; that was what I did before and after work, and on my days off.

So I asked myself: Could I find work at the beach, or in the surf, and get paid for being in my chosen element?

Sadly, I was not good enough at surfing to be a professional surfer, but I had developed a personal philosophy of doing what I love, and loving what I do – and surfing was clearly what I loved to do.

I asked around at the five-star hotel where I’d been working, and sure enough, I was able to transfer to a new position at the same hotel, working with the beach and pool department as a lifeguard. From that day forward, my life changed.

I was getting paid to train as a lifeguard and swim on the beach every day, and encouraged to have fun surfing on my breaks.

Do what you love, and love what you do. Great advice!

After working on the beach and making ocean rescues for about three years, I applied for a full-time job as a Hawaii County Lifeguard. In 1992, I was offered an opportunity to attend lifeguard training at Huntington Beach, California, and soon become a certified California State Lifeguard, stationed at San Clemente, Orange Coast District.

Once I started college in 1994 and learned that I could study abroad in wave-rich countries like South Africa, Spain, and Taiwan, the idea of combining work, study and other life pursuits with surfing opened up a world of possibilities.

In 1998, after good day of surfing in Tel-Aviv, Israel, I made the decision to return home to Hawaii and start a surfing school. Based on my experience in lifeguarding, I named the school "Hawaii Lifeguard Surf Instructors" (HLSI), and set up shop at a beach house near Kahaluu Beach Park in Kailua-Kona (see photos below).

After his first wave, Scott exclaimed, "Surfing is out of this world!"

One thing led to another and over the next year I found myself imagining the entire shuttle crew to coming to the Big Island of Hawaii to surf and appear at local schools.

The next year Scott and fellow astronaut Pat Forrester came to Hawaii, officially representing the NASA Space Program, and appearing at schools across the island and catching a few waves.

I wrote a short article named, "The Space Ambassadors" to share the experience in the Kona Views Magazine.

NASA Astronaut Hawaii Appearances 2001 Press Release | West Hawaii

When it was time to start Graduate school and do my PhD, once again I found that surfing was my ticket to combining work, education and lifestyle. I wrote my MBA thesis on surf tourism in Thailand.

The more I traveled, surfed, and learned about the environmental issues at surf sites and other coastal areas, the more I was moved to study the social, economic and environmental significance of surfing.

After my MBA, I chose to do a Ph.D. in Environmental Management, dedicating three years of my life to researching surf site sustainability and developing the Surf Resource Sustainability Index (SRSI).

Currently, I am still surfing and sharing the surfing stoke with my students in Environmental Studies at Prince of Songkla University, Phuket, Thailand.

2012 | The genesis of a new body of sport tourism literature: A systematic review of surf tourism research (1997-2011). Journal of Sport and Tourism
2014 | Developing a surf resource sustainability index as a global model for surf beach conservation and tourism research. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research
2014 | Investigating the importance of surf resource sustainability indicators: Stakeholder perspectives for surf tourism planning and development. Tourism Planning and Development
2015 | Measuring the conservation aptitude of surf beaches in Phuket, Thailand: An application of the surf resource sustainability index. International Journal of Tourism Research
2017 | Part 2: A systems approach – Chapter 2. Surf resource system boundaries. Sustainable Surfing
2019 | A social science index and conceptual framework for assigning weights in surf tourism planning and development. Tourism Planning and Development
2022 | From shades of grey to Web of Science: A systematic review of surf tourism research in international journals (2011-2020). Journal of Sport & Tourism

Lifeguarding & Ocean Safety

The sport of surfing has inherent risks, and practical experience and an understanding of ocean safety go hand and hand. It is common for surfers seek advanced water safety or lifeguard training, especially if they are thinking of working at the beach. My case was no exception, and now I reflect on forty years of ocean experience in twenty-five countries, including five years' service as a Hawaii County Water Safety Officer, and seasonal service as a California State Park Lifeguard. Although lifeguarding was not my only career, it has been a continuous theme in personal and professional life.

In 1987, I was introduced to instructor programs with American Red Cross through a Hawaiian friend at the beach, and this was when I first became a teacher. I continued teaching these courses until 1997. Mainly I taught courses in Advanced Lifesaving, Lifeguarding, First-aid, and CPR.

Hapuna State Beach has a long history of drowning and near-drowning incidents. During the 1970s and 80s, while Hawaii County provided lifeguard services at County beach parks, State beach parks were left unguarded.

Hapuna State Beach was particularly dangerous due to the deep water and north-west exposure, making the beach wide open to large and powerful north-west ocean swells during the winter months.

In 1990, the State opened a contract for private lifeguarding organizations to provide water safety services at Hapuna for the first time. Honolulu-based Lifeguards Hawaii State, owned and operated by John Quincy Adams (aka, JQA), took charge of the lifeguard program for first three years.

Following the precedent set in January 1992, when the City and County of Honolulu was elected to place lifeguards at the notoriously dangerous Keawaula Beach on Oahu, an agreement was soon reached on the Big Island between Hawaii County and the State of Hawaii, leading to County lifeguards being stationed at Hapuna State Beach.

I was fortunate enough to be active during this formative period in the Big Island's water safety programs, having worked for the County, as well as Lifeguards Hawaii State.

Just prior to County guards being officially stationed at Hapuna, I was accepted to the California State Park Lifeguard Training Program at Huntington Beach. Luckily, I survived the rigorous training and testing period at Huntington and got hired as a California State Park Lifeguard in San Clemente, Orange Coast District – a great place to be a surfer-lifeguard!

San Clemente was home to the surf beaks known collectively as "Trestles" at San Onofre State Beach, and being from out of state, I was allowed to camp and use the facilities at Trestles Headquarters (THQ) overlooking the breaks during the summer of 1992.

After moving to the resort island of Phuket, Thailand, in 2007, to study for my MBA in Hospitality and Tourism Management, I became interested in ocean safety at local beaches.

During my first week on the island, I made several surf-related rescues at unguarded beaches. That year, during the Southwest Monsoon (May to October), I rescued five tourists in the surf, and decided to conduct water safety research on the island. My study found that surfers were unintentionally acting as surrogate lifeguards at Phuket beaches, assisting tourists and the general public who got into trouble in the surf.

I wrote several articles for a local magazine on related subjects, created the Phuket Ocean Safety Guide, and in April of 2010, the research made the front page of the Phuket Gazette. I also discussed this issue in my Master's (MBA) thesis, "Coastal resource assessment for surf tourism in Thailand," and on local radio.

1991-2019 Lifeguards Hawaii State

Water Safety Consultant

1998-2003 Hawaii Lifeguard Surf Instructors (HLSI)

Surfing and Ocean Safety Instructor

1987-1997 American Red Cross, Hawaii Island Chapter

Instructor in Lifeguarding, Swimming, First Aid and CPR
Water Safety Instructor (WSI)

1991-1992 California State Park Lifeguard

State Lifeguard – California Department of Parks and Recreation

1985-1991 County of Hawaii

Water Safety Officer (WSO II)

1992-1993 Boy Scouts of America

Boy Scout Merit Badge Instructor in First Aid and CPR

1988-1990 Ocean Sports Waikoloa

First Aid and CPR Instructor

1987-1997 Red Cross Swimming and Water Safety Instructor

Swimming, Water Safety and Lifeguard Instructor
First Aid and CPR Instructor

1988-1992 Parker High School, Hawaii

Swimming Coach, Water Safety and Lifeguard Instructor
First Aid and CPR Instructor

Egypt and Israel

The only time that I ever really thought I was going to die was in Egypt.

Not from militants, drowning in the Nile, or heat stroke – It was the food!

Sailing south on the Nile from the Aswan Dam, I ate something that I shouldn't have. In a half coma for 3 days, my eyes transfixed on banks of the Nile as the boat drifted downstream with the current, I watched men watering their herds and women washing their clothes.

I thought about the great explorers of yesteryear who had perished on this very stretch of river, and never before did my life seem so insignificant.

After crossing the Sinai Desert by bus, my camera and film were held hostage at the Israeli border.

I was somewhat annoyed while the Israeli police X-ray scanned my film with heavy-duty equipment more than a dozen times. Once they were finished, the film was damaged, and I never bothered to share the remaining pictures with anyone.

The good news was that I eventually passed through the border near Palestine and was on my way to Jerusalem in time to find a hostel for the night.

The photos shown here are from the original 1998 prints dug out of a shoebox.

Click on photos to enlarge.