The winter scenery of the New Hampshire highlands has a wild Alpine beauty which merits the admiration of all lovers of Nature and calls forth the attention of increasing numbers of tourists every year.

– from Moses Foster Sweetser’s Views In The White Mountains (1879)

About the Area

A Nice Place to Visit, A Great Place to Live. With New Hampshire’s White Mountains and the Lakes Region in our back yard, and the Pemigewasset and Baker Rivers bordering our campus, Plymouth State University is surrounded by some of the nation’s most beautiful and accessible natural landscapes.

Feature Story

‘I Thought It Was Perfect … The Location Is Excellent’

Christian Bisson

Christian Bisson
Associate professor of adventure education
Co-editor, Teaching Adventure Education: Best Practices, 2009

Photo by PSU adventure education major Chris Grosjean

Six years ago, Christian Bisson was a tenure-track faculty member at a small college in Wisconsin. He and his wife had recently had a child. He certainly wasn’t looking to move halfway across the country.

But Plymouth State University—and Plymouth, N.H.—were too good to pass up.

“When I saw this position, by chance, I thought it was perfect,” says the associate professor of adventure education. “The location is excellent. We’re between the mountains and the Lakes Region, but also right on the highway. So we’re near mountains, lakes, forests … but can also easily get to urban areas, like Boston or Montreal.”

It’s an understatement to call Bisson an avid outdoorsman. The Quebec native has spent nearly two decades working in outdoor and adventure education with the National Outdoor Leadership School. At PSU, he teaches classes in rock climbing, canoeing, wilderness expedition, and adventure leadership, as well as theory classes in adventure education. He has led expeditions all over North America and a service learning trip in Nepal, while his personal travels have brought him to Australia and New Zealand.

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