Kate Dashper

Professor Kate Dashper is Director of Postgraduate Research Degrees at Leeds Beckett University's Carnegie School of Sport. Her research focuses on gender studies and human-animal relationships in events, tourism, sport, and leisure. She is internationally recognized for pioneering work in multispecies tourism and equestrian ethics. Current roles include Managing Editor of Leisure Studies and Associate Editor of Event Management.

Research Interests: Human-animal interactions, gender equity in sport, sustainable tourism practices, and inclusive event design. Key projects include Natural England’s National Nature Reserves responsible recreation initiative and a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) to enhance EDI provision.

• Consulted for ECB’s Inclusive Matchday Toolkit and Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust
• Leading Humans, Horses and Event Management (CABI, 2021) and Human-animal relations in tourism, leisure and development (2025)

Grants & Collaborations: Collaborations with Sheffield Hallam University on Natural England’s NNR project, and PGMOL’s diversity initiatives. Editorial board memberships include World Leisure Journal and Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events.

Labs/Teams: Centre for Social Justice in Sport and Society, Events Tourism and Hospitality Management research group.